MillerCoors Could Soon Evaporate from Edina Shelves

Thanks to the state shutdown, the Silver Bullet may not make any more beer runs to Edina's bars, restaurants and liquor stores in the coming days.

Doug Neville, a Minnesota Department of Public Safety spokesman, told the Star Tribune that MillerCoors failed to properly renew its brand label registration with the state before the shutdown began on July 1.

The Department of Public Safety oversees state liquor regulation.

The state has called on MillerCoors to remove all of its 39 beer products—including Coors Light, Miller Lite and Blue Moon—from shelves and bars within a matter of days, including those sold at Edina's municipal liquor stores.

Steve Grausam, director of , said he doesn't think it's possible for the state to recall millions of dollars of beer, particularly during a government shutdown.

"If retailers paid for the product, how does the state expect Miller to come in and pay for it?" Grausam asked. "I'm not going to spend my time going through my store and figuring out exactly what the inventory is that has to be returned, then turn around and tell the state to go ahead and send me a credit when they get a chance. There's no way they can do it."

In his 28 years working in the business, Grausam said he has never heard of anything as bizarre as a company having to pull its beer from retailers because of licensing issues.

"It's absolutely unreal," he said.

Grausam said a number of local bar and liquor store owners have found themselves unable to stock their operations due to expired buyer's cards—the license which allows them to purchase alcohol from wholesalers. Edina Liqour stores should be OK, provided the shutdown does not extend beyond Dec. 31.

MillerCoors products account for a significant portion of sales at Edina Liquor stores, according to Grausam. The chain of stores is running a special on Miller 12-pack bottles and 24-pack cans this month, which accounted for more than 200 cases of beer over a four-day span. Do the math and Grausam said he expects to sell another 600 to 800 cases of those before July is through.

Grausam said he hasn't started stockpiling MillerCoors products yet, and has not seen anyone come in to purchase an unusual amount of them.

"I could say something like that and try to drum up business, but I'm not going to do that," he joked.

According to the Star Tribune report, a MillerCoors spokesman said they are working with state officials to fix the problem.

“Right now we are exploring all options that are available to us," spokesman Julian Green said in the report. "We are currently in discussions and hoping that we can get a resolution with the state, with the agency that enforces the sale ... of alcohol.

Green acknowledged that Minnesota is one of MillerCoors' largest markets in the country.

Green said the company even sent in a new check, which he told the Star Tribune the state received on June 27. But the company received a letter a few days later saying their brand licenses had expired.

The report also said Anheuser-Busch will face a similar problem if the shutdown extends to October.

The brands affected:

Blue Moon, Pale Moon Belgian Style Pale Ale, Coors Banquet, Coors Light, Coors Light 3.2, Foster’s Lager Beer, Foster’s Premium Ale, Grolsch Amber Ale, Grolsch Blonde Lager, Grolsch Light Lager, Grolsch Premium Lager, Hamm’s, Hamm’s Genuine Draft Style, Hamm’s Special Light, Henry Weinhard’s Dark, Henry Weinhard’s Hefeweizen, Henry Weinhard’s Pale Ale, Henry Weinhard’s Private Reserve, Icehouse Beer, Keystone Light Beer 3.2, Killians Irish Red 3.2, MGD Light 64, Mickey’s Ice Ale, Mickey’s Malt Liquor, Miller Genuine Draft, Miller High Life 12/16 oz can, Miller High Life Ice, Miller High Life Light 12 oz can, Miller Lite 3.2%, Miller Lite Beer, Milwaukee’s Best #1, Milwaukee’s Best Ice, Milwaukee’s Best Light #1 3.2, Molson Canadian, Molson Canadian Light, Molson Golden, Molson Ice, Molson XXX, Olde English 800 Malt Liquor, Sparks Light