Collaboration, not litigation
Once in awhile the world gets blindsided by a wave of hope. The American craft brewing industry has been the catalyst for this most recent hope-wave. Two breweries, Russian River Brewing Company and Avery Brewing, realized that they both had a beer named “Salvation.” Instead of taking this spat to the courtroom, they decided to settle it in the taproom. Both beers were of a similar style, and the two breweries worked to combine the best of both of their Salvation beers into one “super-brew,” which they have named Collaboration, Not Litigation Ale. Brilliant. Thank you, American craft brewers, for showing us the best in ourselves. And somehow, I don’t see Miller and Budweiser doing the same thing…
[...] As in many other industries, microbrewers are extremely passionate about what they do â?? and not only about what they do, but about beer in general. They appreciate beer, which necessarily means appreciating other brewers. Add to this a “David and Goliath” mentality of the little brewers vs. the A-B’s and the Miller’s of the world, and you’ve got a strong affinity between smaller brewers. This kind of affinity is best epitomized by outright collaboration: something like Russian River and Avery’s “Collaboration, not Litigation Ale.” [...]
[...] But I think the bigger news here is the continued trend of small breweries working together, like Avery and Russian River’s Collaboration Not Litigation Ale. This is an industry like no [...]