Beverage Distributors, Inc. v. Shearer
Beverage Distributors, Inc. v. Shearer
Opinion of the Court
The appellant, Beverage Distributors, Incorporated, filed this declaratory judgment action seeking to have the court determine whether it may legally sell and distribute in Kentucky a product labeled “Apple Vat 36” without complying with the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, KRS, Ch. 241, or the Local Option Law, KRS, Ch. 242. The circuit court’s judgment declared “Apple Vat 36” to be an alcoholic hard cider, subject to and within the purview of these laws.
Appellant argues for reversal that “Apple Vat 36” is not a preserved hard cider, but is a preserved sweet cider which is specifically excluded from regulation as an alcoholic beverage by subsection (f) of KRS 242.010.
KRS 242.010 provides:
“(1) ‘Alcoholic beverage’ means alcoholic brandy, whiskey, rum, gin, beer, ale, porter, wine and all other spirituous, vinous, malt or fermented liquors, liquids and compounds, whether medicated, proprietary, patented or not, and by whatever name called, containing more than one percent of alcohol by volume, which are fit for use for beverage purposes. It does not include :
“(f) Vinegar and preserved sweet cider; * *
We will not pursue appellant’s contention further as it is predicated upon the
We will not permit the unregulated sale or distribution of this product, which we find is an intoxicating beverage, in violation of our laws governing same. KRS, Chapters 241, 242, 243 and 244. The judgment of the circuit court was correct.
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.