Investigation over: State drops inquiry into complaints against local brewery

A view of the new 450 North Brewing Co. and Simmons Winery expansion in Columbus, Ind., pictured Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019. Mike Wolanin | The Republic

The Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission has closed an investigation into complaints against a local brewery related to alcohol-by-volume calculations listed on some of its product labels.

The commission had received several complaints against 450 North Brewing Company, 8111 E. County Road 450N, regarding incorrect alcohol-by-volume (ABV) calculations on its products, said commission spokeswoman and counsel Lindsay Hyer. She declined to provide more information about the investigation or copies of the complaints.

“We’ve had four complaints regarding this issue,” Hyer said. After assigning the case to an excise officer, Hyer said Monday afternoon the investigation was closed, but had no further details.

An officer, identified as Corbin Smith from the excise police in the Seymour district, had a friendly five-minute chat with owners at the restaurant and found no violations, 450 North owner David Simmons said in a telephone interview Monday afternoon.

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“They found no violations and that was it,” Simmons said.

Recently, 450 North caused some commotion on social media after acknowledging in a statement posted on its Facebook page that its calculation process for alcohol-by-volume for its Slushy line of beers was “critically flawed.”

ABV is a measure of how much alcohol is in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage and is typically expressed as percentage.

“After being made aware of possible inconsistencies in the ABV levels of our Slushy line of beers, we sent samples to be tested by an independent lab,” 450 North’s social media posts said. “The findings were unexpected. The independent testing of multiple Slushys has determined that our calculation process was ‘critically flawed.’”

Simmons said that the problem has been corrected. “From now on, everything will be correct,” he said of the ABV labels.

Simmons said the ABV inconsistencies affected “some of the Slushys,” but declined to say what caused the inconsistencies after learning about the investigation and complaints.

One of the brewery’s innovations has been beer Slushys, in flavors as varied as buttered popcorn, cotton candy and the recently released Golden Lion XXL, a blend of mango, passion fruit, pineapple and pink guava.

Some of the complaints surfacing on social media were from customers attending 450 North’s practice of having beer release days, when hundreds of people converge on the brewery and form a line, some even camping overnight, to buy new beer and slushy releases. There were 262 people from around the United States who gathered on the property at last fall’s beer release, some staying in their cars overnight.

Some of those customers complained that for the price, they did not receive what was being advertised as alcohol content on the label.

In the fall beer event, the Simmons family sold more than 1,000 cases of the nine-beer offering, representing 6,000 four-packs in those cases. Some people, including those from Massachusetts, Georgia and California, among other states, waited 27 to 28 hours in line.

The Brewers of Indiana Guild, a non-profit trade association for craft breweries and brewpubs in Indiana, said it commends 450 North for taking a “quality-related issue seriously.”

“We certainly appreciate that 450 North has taken this quality-related issue seriously and is dealing with it directly,” said guild executive director Rob Caputo. “One of the pillars of Brewers of Indiana Guild’s mission statement is related to quality, and the guild’s commitment to quality includes a quality testing program which is available to all of its members.”

It is unclear what potential infractions state officials could be investigating. Hyer said Indiana Code Title 7.1, which governs alcohol and tobacco in the state, does not include any ABV label requirements. The federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, or TTB, is the federal body that regulates alcoholic beverages — including ABV labeling, among other regulations — in the United States.

TTB officials did not respond to phone calls and emails seeking comment.

ABV is typically not required to be included on labels, said Chris Swersey, supply chain specialist at the Brewer’s Association, a Colorado-based trade group. Caputo also pointed to federal regulations that suggested that ABV labeling is optional unless required or prohibited by state law.

“If you choose to put ABV on the label, TTB has certain requirements as far as accuracy,” Swersey said.

Bart Herriman, former chairman of the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission and attorney at law firm Clark Quinn, said ABV labeling “is not an issue that comes up quite often” at the state level because it typically falls under federal jurisdiction.

Generally, the commission will contact the Indiana State Excise Police to investigate complaints, Herriman said.

If a brewery is cited for a violation, an Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission prosecutor would then start the process of determining what action to take, including possibilities of fining a brewery or, in some cases, revoking its license.

The idea, Herriman said, is to “get the permit-holder in compliance as best they can,” Herriman said.

There are several ways to test for ABV in beer, said Caputo and Swersey.

“As for ABV calculations, this is typically a measurement of specific gravity before fermentation begins, periodically during the fermentation process, and then again after fermentation is complete,” Caputo said. “There are a variety of different devices available to measure specific gravity, with most small brewers opting for a simple hydrometer.”

However, Swersey said a hydrometer “only gets you so close” to actual ABV and can be off by 0.5% to 1%.

Other methods include using refractometer or a device called an “alcolyzer,” which can be relatively expensive for small breweries, Swersey said.

The next batch of Slushy beers is expected to be released on Jan. 24 with corrected ABV labels, according to a statement posted Jan. 2 on 450 North’s Facebook page.

“We’re pushing this release back a week to get everything in order. Correctly adjusted ABVs will be displayed on all Slushy cans,” the Facebook post states.

Simmons allowed that calculating ABV can be difficult.

“This is not just us. This is an industry-wide issue,” Simmons said. “I don’t know why we’re getting picked on like this.”

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The Simmons Family opened a new building for its 450 North winery, brewery and restaurant at the end of 2019, a more than 8,000-square-foot building just to the west of its current facility that houses a larger restaurant, craft brewery and wine tasting room.

Planned since 2018, the new winery and brewing company offers expansive room when compared to the current facility, and has allowed the family to install new brewing equipment that will be visible from the dining room where customers will be seated.

The new facility pays homage to its roots with a room-long mural above the serving area, by artist Keith Neltner. The large mural mentions “Est. 1827,” and although that’s not the year the 450 North Brewery was established, it was the year the Simmons ancestors established themselves on the land where the brewery now is located.

450 North’s beer board, a long-time popular staple letting customers know what beers are on tap, returned in the new restaurant, and as many as 30 beers are on tap in the new tap room.

For more, visit the brewery’s Facebook page at: facebook.com/450northbrewingcompany/.

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