According to the state, any malt beverage weighing in at 4 percent alcohol or less earns a beer label, taxed at 19.4 cents a gallon. Above 4 percent and it becomes an ale, malt liquor, porter or stout, earning 19.8 cents a gallon. Imported beers create even greater confusion. Alcohol content, then, is everything. Johnson claims that it takes only two weeks, generally, for his team to approve malt beverage products, depending on the backlog.
Retailers say the system works pretty well.
For the purpose of alcoholic beverage approval, the state interacts directly with the manufacturers. The manufacturers then ship approved products to wholesalers, who distribute the stuff to retail outlets. Consumers sit at the bottom of the chain, powerless. If you want a rare item such as a Thomas Hardy's Ale, you must generally forget about it and settle for a lesser ale. Local establishments waited six months for TABC to approve bottles of L'Espirit de Courvoisier, the ultraexpensive cognac blended from Napoleon's own collection, and Johnson blames the manufacturer.