John Gottberg Anderson / file photoIdaho authorities see a potential problem with allowing a large corporation like Anheuser-Busch, which recently bought 10 Barrel Brewing, to own a brewpub.

10 Barrel Brewing Co., based in Bend but now the property of Anheuser-Busch, is too big for Boise, according to beverage distributors in the state of Idaho.

Idaho Alcohol Beverage Control last week transferred 10 Barrel’s license for its Boise brewpub to Anheuser-Busch, the U.S. arm of the Belgium-based multinational beverage giant Anheuser-Busch Inbev.

The Idaho Beer and Wine Distributors Association sees a potential problem allowing a large corporation such as Anheuser-Busch the same exemption designed to afford small brewers a leg up in the market, its executive director said Tuesday.

“Idaho statutes don’t allow a brewer to own either a distributing facility or a retail facility unless that brewer brews less than 30,000 barrels a year,” said Jeremy Pisca, a Boise lawyer and the association executive director. “When the world’s largest brewer applies for a (brewpub) license, of course it’s going to get attention.”

But officials with both 10 Barrel and Anheuser-Busch, whose purchase of the Bend brewer closed this month, said it’s business as usual in Boise.

10 Barrel’s Idaho license allows it to make and sell beer, including other brands, an exemption to Idaho law that keeps brewers, distributors and retailers financially separate. The exemption gives brewers who make 30,000 barrels or less annually a chance to get into the marketplace at a lower cost, Pisca said.

Neither Anheuser-Busch nor 10 Barrel claims to brew more than 30,000 barrels of beer in Idaho. However, the Idaho distributors argue, in a petition filed with the Idaho ABC, that the agency should consider the amount of beer brewed by the applicant outside of Idaho.

Anheuser-Busch shipped 96.6 million barrels from its U.S. breweries last year, according to BeerInsights.com, a beer industry information website. 10 Barrel will not brew more than 30,000 barrels of beer each year in Boise, according to information an attorney for Anheuser-Bush provided Idaho ABC.

10 Barrel in September reported selling 18,700 barrels in Oregon in the first nine months of the year, according to the Oregon Liquor Control Commission.

The association holds that state law is clear. “A plain reading of the statutes … leads to the conclusion that the location of brewing is irrelevant,” its petition states.

The Idaho ABC, an arm of the Idaho State Police, disagreed.

“We don’t believe that’s what the code says. We believe it’s beer manufactured in Idaho,” state police Lt. Russell Wheatley, ABC bureau chief, said Tuesday.

10 Barrel Idaho LLC opened the brewpub at 826 W. Bannock St. in April 2013. The Dec. 4 petition filed by Jason Risch, Pisca’s law partner, asks the agency to clarify its interpretation of the law “and ensure that licensing practices do not effectively erode” the Idaho three-tier system. That could give unfair advantage to large businesses and lead to “distinct and palpable injury” to brewers, distributors and retailers in Idaho, Risch wrote.

The Idaho State Police director, Col. Ralph Powell, will review the petition, Wheatley said.

Pisca said that if the distributors association disagrees with the director’s ruling, it may appeal to the state courts. He said Tuesday the association is not targeting 10 Barrel or Anheuser-Busch specifically.

Garrett Wales, vice president of pub operations for 10 Barrel, in a statement Tuesday said beer will continue to flow on West Bannock Street.

“We have all our Idaho licenses, and we’re good to go with the state,” he wrote in an email. “Nothing is changing at the Boise pub. We’re staying focused on what we’ve always done: provide great service, great food and innovative beers on tap brewed in our Boise brewhouse by Shawn Kelso.”

Anheuser-Busch also released a statement by Andy Goeler, CEO of Anheuser-Busch’s craft beer division: “State law in Idaho allows for brewpub ownership, and we look forward to providing the service and offerings 10 Barrel brewpub guests expect.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7815, jditzler@bendbulletin.com