Flattery or unfair? 'Vermont' beer pops up out of state

I was sitting at my kitchen table on a Saturday afternoon, making a grocery list when my phone buzzed. I had two text messages from Shaun Hill, owner of Hill Farmstead Brewery in Greensboro.

He had sent me a photo of a Fieldwork Brewing Co. beer can depicting a bucolic farm field of waving barley and an old brown barn. The label says the beer’s name is “The Meadows” and style is called “Vermont Farmhouse Ale.”

I thought this must be a new Vermont brewery opening soon. But no. Fieldwork Brewing Co. is located in Berkeley, California. Not exactly a Vermont-made farmhouse ale.

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Hill says the label’s use of “Vermont Farmhouse Ale” is an unfair capitalization on Vermont’s brand as a leader in craft brewing. He questions whether it violates the state’s “Representation of Vermont Origin Rule” that regulates and protects the word “Vermont” when it appears on food products.

This rule, enacted in 2006, was a response to growing concerns that businesses outside of the Green Mountain State were cashing in on Vermont’s reputation for products like maple syrup and cheese by using labels or marketing that could confuse consumers into thinking the products were made in Vermont.

The rule, also called Consumer Protection Rule 120, gives the state legal footing to protect the “Vermont brand” and made-in-Vermont food products, but beer is not specifically mentioned in either the text of the rule, nor the FAQ page.

Christopher J. Curtis, public protection division chief at the Vermont Attorney General’s Office, said the rule would apply to beer and that this issue is one his office is aware of. He declined to say whether his office is currently investigating specific instances.

“Vermonters can expect that this office will continue to monitor and vigorously enforce Vermont’s consumer protection laws with respect to Vermont origins and the Vermont brand,” Curtis said.

Matt Cohen, owner of Fiddlehead Brewery in Shelburne echoed Curtis' comments.

"We have to be protective of the beers brewed in the state," Cohen said. "I have, and a lot of others have, worked really hard to build the Vermont brand. I don't know what steps we need to take, but something needs to be done to protect the Vermont name."

Imitation is said to be the most sincere form of flattery, but should brewers outside of the Green Mountain State be allowed to use the word “Vermont” when describing their products? Or should they be held to saying a beer is “Vermont-style,” such as a Vermont-style IPA.

The practice could also violate federal rules.

Even when brewers are paying tribute to a beer style that originated in a certain place, there are federal requirements for labeling. According to Hill, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, the agency who regulates beer labels, won’t approve a label that says something like “Belgian Tripel” if the beer isn’t brewed in Belgium. The label would have to say “Belgian-style Tripel.”

I’m a big proponent of giving credit where credit is due, and believe in honoring the origins of specialty products. (Soap box moment: Champagne only comes from Champagne, France!)

Vermont has become well-known in the beer world, and has thus far exported at least two distinct beer styles: the Black IPA, which was developed in Burlington in the early 1990s at Vermont Pub & Brewery, and the Vermont-style IPA, pioneered by The Alchemist and Hill Farmstead in the mid-2000s. The Black IPA had its moment in the sun, but national popularity has waned in recent years. The Vermont-style IPA, however, is such a hot trend that NPR recently ran a story about it.

Breweries around the Northeast caught on to the hazy, soft, and citrusy Vermont-style IPA and now the style is also referred to as “New England-style IPA” and “Northeast IPA.”

I’ve advocated in this column since 2012 for the moniker “Vermont-style IPA” and called for its use by out-of-state brewers who were brewing beers in this style, much in the way that brewers say “Kölsch-style” or “Belgian-style” - paying homage to the style, but acknowledging that they aren’t brewing within the region of origin.

But not everyone acknowledges that Vermont-style IPA is a distinct style, so the use of the term could confuse consumers into thinking the beer was made in Vermont, according to Curtis.

“Because ‘Vermont Style’ beer is not a distinctive type of malt beverage, it appears that the federal rule on misleading brand names (§7.23(b)) would apply,” Curtis said.

Lawmakers are also concerned with protecting the Vermont brand.

“This is the first I've heard that breweries outside of Vermont are using ‘Vermont’ on their beer labels,” said  Senate President Pro Tem Tim Ashe via email. “On the one hand, this mimicry highlights just how high the quality of Vermont beermaking is these days. On the other, like with other ‘Vermont brands,’ we should not and cannot allow vendors to reap financial rewards by misleading customers that Vermont craftsmanship or Vermont ingredients went into making their products.”

The international beer community has also noticed that Vermont is producing award-winning, world-class beers, and now the Vermont-style IPA is popping up all over the globe.

I contacted Robert Tepiak, a beer industry colleague who lives in Poland, and asked him about the “Vermont IPA” brewed by a brewery there, Browar Pinta. It's something that is totally sexy for the past four months," Tepiak wrote about the style.

“Breweries here have made something similar,” he said. "Whether I would say it's as good is a difficult call.”

I reached out to Fieldwork Brewing to find out why they chose to use the phrase “Vermont Farmhouse Ale,” which the brewery’s website says is a hybrid of two styles: A Northeast IPA and farmhouse ale.

The reply came in an email signed “Barry,” presumably Fieldwork co-founder, Barry Braden. He declined to comment, except to say that “The Meadows” is a one-off, meaning it won’t be brewed again, and that they do not sell beer in Vermont, nor do they have plans to in the future.

The only problem is that they do, in fact, sell beer in Vermont. While researching this column I confirmed at least two draft lines in the state were pouring Fieldwork beers. I pushed Barry on the subject and he confirmed that they had sent one shipment of beer for a special event.

In Leesburg, Virginia, the one year-old Vanish Farmwoods Brewery also brewed a beer called “Vermont IPA,” which is now its flagship house beer, and has been renamed “Ghost Fleet IPA.” Tommy Skelly, the marketing manager for Vanish, explained that the original name for the beer was just a placeholder while the brewery sought feedback.

Skelly said that although many acknowledge Vermont brewers for developing this style of IPA, he thinks more people now know it as the New England-style IPA.

Sean Lawson, owner of Lawson's Finest Liquids (Warren, VT) and President of the Vermont Brewers Association declined to comment, but said the VBA is aware of the situation. "Our mission is to promote and strengthen the culture of craft brewing in Vermont through marketing, education and advocacy for Vermont-made beer. This issue falls within the range of something we will look at...The governance committee is currently discussing in order to make a recommendation to the board of directors."

“I think the state of Vermont needs to step in. It’s gone too far,” Shaun Hill said. Hill says he has contacted Rep. Samuel Young, D-Glover, about this issue.

Ashe has also contacted the Vermont Attorney General’s office to investigate this situation.

“If they determine that a new law is needed to protect Vermont brewers from having their well-earned craftsmanship appropriated by others, I'll introduce legislation to make it happen.”

Examples of breweries using “Vermont” in beer titles come from around the globe:

• Roc Brewing Co. (Rochester, New York) released an IPA called “The Full Vermonty,” which seems to playfully pay homage to origins of the Vermont-style IPA.
• Black Hammer Brewing in San Francisco, California, released a beer in September called “Vermont Session IPA,” according to its Twitter account, @blackhammerbrew
• Brighton Bier of Brighton, England, produces a beer advertised on its website called “Freshman - Vermont IPA,” but qualifies it in the description as “brewed in the ‘Vermont’ style.”
• Poland-based Browar Pinta makes a beer simply called “Vermont IPA.” On its website, they acknowledge that this style of IPA was first brewed in Vermont and attribute this particular recipe to Ziemowit Fałat and Paweł Masłowski. It appears that this beer is only available in Poland.
• In mid-2015 Manor Hill Brewing in Ellicott City, Maryland, released “Vermont DIPA.” In response to a tweet asking if they still brewed this beer, “Manor Hill Ben” (@Here4DaBeer) responded, “no plans in the near future. Our Hidden Hopyards are of the same concept, though.”
• United Kingdom punk-brewers BrewDog recently made a collaboration with Cloudwater Brew Co., also located in the UK, called “BrewDog vs. Cloudwater.” They interchangeably describe the beer as “Vermont IPA” and “Vermont-style IPA.” In a post on BrewDog’s blog they said the goal was to dial "up the perfect Vermont IPA.”
• Besides “The Meadows - Vermont Farmhouse Ale,” Fieldwork Brewing Co. brews IPAs such as “Pulp” and “Overripe,” which are brewed with “Vermont yeast,” according to its website. The brewery, however, labels these beers as “Northeast IPA.”
• New Image Brewing, a brewpub in Arvada, Colorado, released a beer called "East Coast Transplant" and listed the style on the label as "Vermont DIPA." On New Image's website, the style is listed as "Vermont-style DIPA."

Jeff S. Baker II is the Curator of the Curriculum for Farrell Distributing. You can find him on Twitter and Instagram @aPhilosophyOf. Jeff co-hosts the “It’s the Beer Talking” podcast found on iTunes and Soundcloud. More info at www.burlingtonfreepress.com/news/podcasts​