Alabama Supreme Court rules in favor of Sweetwater
“In 2012, the Atlanta brewer notified AlaBev (then called Birmingham Beverage Company) of its intent to switch to Supreme Beverage. AlaBev sued Sweetwater for breach of contract and alleged that the brewer did not follow the process laid out in Alabama law to switch distributors.
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Under Alabama law, a beer producer can only have one wholesaler for a given territory, usually counties. The law requires a producer and a wholesaler have a territorial agreement in writing and on file with the state Alcohol Beverage Control Board.
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[The lower court judge] cited in his 2015 ruling that there’s no evidence that a written territorial agreement between SweetWater and AlaBev ever existed or was on file with the ABC Board in his ruling for SweetWater.
The Alabama Supreme Court affirmed [the lower court judge’s] decision Friday. The court did not issue a written opinion with the decision.” — Kelly Poe, AL.com
Georgia Craft Beer Lawyer 