Other Half calls out retailer over illegal reselling

Brooklyn-based brewery Other Half called out a Bushwick retailer on social media over the weekend for illegally reselling beer just hours after they released it in a sale to customers at their brewery. The brewery released cases of 16-ounce Mosaic IPA cans on Saturday morning for $90 per case, and $16 for a four-pack. Just hours later, Fine Fare, a supermarket on Myrtle Avenue in Bushwick, was bragging about selling the cans for $24 per four-pack to in-store customers and to those who wished to have it shipped. This was the most recent of several instances of the store selling their beer, which they could only have obtained by buying at retail at the brewery.

Other Half finally spoke out about the illegal resale in a Facebook post, where they also highlighted why they choose direct-to-consumer sales. “The goal is to never have a retailer ever sell our beer at the price point they have chosen.” Fine Fare was reselling the beer with a 60% markup above Other Half’s case price. “No retailer we will ever deal with would be allowed to sell our beer for this much of a premium,” the brewery said.



Fans of Other Half were quick to jump on the offending store to call them out in social media, and the owners of the Instagram account for the store deleted any reference to Other Half’s beers within hours.

Other Half’s rising popularity has led to occasional lines at the brewery on days of their can sales. Cans of their All Green Everything sold out in less than two hours on Saturday, but the brewery has been adding more canning days with a mobile canner to meet the demand. “We are doing our best to compensate for increased demand so that more and more people will have the chance to stop by the brewery and buy beer without worrying about supply running out,” Other Half promised in the post.



Of course, in the meantime, that doesn’t give Fine Fare the right to break New York state law, which is very clear: beer purchased at retail, even at a brewery, cannot be resold at retail. The beer must be sold to the retailer by a wholesale beer distributor or a self-distributing brewery, and transported to the retailer in a permitted vehicle. Shipping beer, while legal for retailers in the state of New York, is also subject to the laws of states where the beer is being shipped.



Locals looking to drink Other Half’s beers can find them on tap at many locations across the city, including their taproom. The brewery’s next can sale will be announced soon, and will continue every two weeks “for the foreseeable future,” they say.

