Five Maine craft brewers are worried they won’t be able to sell their beer in Massachusetts for three months, following a disciplinary action against the Craft Brewers Guild, a major distributor of Maine beers to bars and retail stores in the Bay State.

The Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission on Friday suspended the beer distributor’s license for 90 days for engaging in a scheme in which the company gave money to bars in Greater Boston to serve specific beers. The commission called Craft Brewers Guild’s conduct, “a pervasive illegal enterprise involving numerous retailers and corporations,” according to the Friday’s ruling, provided to the Press Herald by the commission.

Although the investigation and disciplinary action were handled in Massachusetts, several Maine brewers could be affected.

According to the Craft Brewers Guild website, it serves as the Massachusetts distributor for five Maine craft beer companies: Allagash, Sebago Brewing, Gritty McDuff’s, Geary’s and Maine Beer Co. If the distributor shuts down for 90 days, that means bars, restaurants and other retailers will not get any of those brewers’ products.

Sean Sullivan, executive director of the Maine Brewers Guild, which is not affiliated with Craft Brewers Guild, said the impact could be significant because Massachusetts is a big market for Maine brewers.

Sullivan said, in practical terms, none of the Maine brewers would likely be able to find a different distributor for that 90-day period and would lose out on revenue.

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“It’s a little early to make a judgment because we just don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said.

The commission held a hearing last September related to the allegations of “pay to play,” against the Everett, Massachusetts-based company that distributes roughly 200 brands of craft beer from all over the world throughout greater Boston. The company admitted the allegations, which amounted to $120,000 in payments dating back five years. In general, the company would pay an establishment upwards of $2,000 per tap to carry a specific beer. Craft Brewers Guild argued last fall that the ban on payments had never been enforced under the state’s ancient alcohol laws. Indeed, Friday’s decision was the first of its kind and could send a message to other distributors.

In the wake of Friday’s decision, Craft Brewers Guild now must decide whether to accept the penalty or appeal.

Representatives for Craft Brewers Guild could not be reached Friday for comment but a spokesman said in an email Thursday to the Boston Globe that the company was “disappointed” with the decision and “evaluating all our available options.”

Those options include either taking the suspension, paying the fine equivalent to 90 days revenue or appealing the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission’s decision in court. It was not clear Friday how long Craft Brewers Guild had to make a decision. If Craft Brewers Guild pays the fine, the Maine breweries would not be affected.

Jeff Pillet-Shore, marketing director for Allagash Brewing Co. in Portland, said his company knew very little about the ruling in Massachusetts but would watch developments closely.

“We just have to see how it plays out,” he said. “I can say that Massachusetts is an important market for us.”

Representatives from the other Maine brewers served by Craft Brewers Guild did not return calls for comment on Friday.

No brewers, either in Massachusetts or elsewhere, were implicated in the charges against Craft Brewers Guild. The commission did, however, charge five restaurants in greater Boston for improperly accepting payments from the company.


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