Craft Brewing + Distilleries
Craft Brewing + Distilleries
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Craft lawyering in Alberta since 1915 – since the days of beer in wooden barrels we’ve been helping Alberta and Northern businesses of all kinds with keeping the wheels on, and the customers happy. With offices in Calgary, Canmore, Edmonton and Yellowknife, we are a regional firm and see Alberta and NWT’s craft brewers and craft distillers as kindred spirits – home-grown businesses proud of their passionate, community-minded and collaborative approach to business.

Our feature taps – no rotating seasonal law practices here – always available, experienced advice in the many legal areas a brewer, distiller or brewing industry partner could need. Like trademarks, copyright, patenting, licensing, corporate and shareholder issues, corporate finance, leasing, employment, distribution and other contracts, immigration, and, for when the schwarzbier hits the fan, litigation services.

As always - please lawyer up responsibly. Contact Richard Stobbe to answer your questions about the legal side of owning and operating a craft brewing or distilling operation.  

Our latest "Case of Beer" articles: 

Beer Brand Battle at the 100th Meridian

Big Beer Barley Belt Brand Battle Brews

Small Craft Brewers + Constitutional Battles

Craft Beer Trademarks: The Ol' Cease & Desist

Pour a Glass of Trademarks

August 17, 2022
Employment Law Fundamentals
ASBA Taps + Tips
Join Kelly Nicholson and the Alberta Small Brewers Association for a presentation and Q+A session on employment law fundamentals.Topics covered will include: Why employers should have a written employment agreement Most important provisions to in...
January 2022
Meet Our Newest Partners
Field Law welcomes Jill Bishop and Richard Stobbe to its partnership.Field Law is pleased to welcome Jill Bishop and Richard Stobbe as firm partners, starting January 1, 2022.“Both Richard and Jill have demonstrated leadership and commitment to e...
June 21, 2021
Harassment, Discrimination + Violence in the Workplace: Legal Considerations for ASBA Members
Q+A Session
February 2021 - 1 min read
Beer Brand Battle at the 100th Meridian
A Canadian band, The Tragically Hip, has sued a brewer for the use of a beer name that mimics the title of one of the band’s popular songs.Mill Street Brewery, a brand owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev (the world’s largest brewer), has a beer b...
February 2020
Big Beer Barley Belt Brand Battle Brews
In a story that seems tailor made for alliterative headlines, the recent acquisition of Calgary’s Banded Peak Brewing by Labatt Breweries of Canada has raised questions about the fate of the trademark BARLEY BELT.  Banded Peak Brewing a...
December 2019
Another Case of Beer: Small Craft Brewers + Constitutional Battles
It seems a long way from Alberta’s basement breweries to the halls of the Court of Appeal.  But that line was connected in a long running dispute known as Steam Whistle Brewing Inc. v AGLC.  With enough reading to make any constitutiona...
May 2019
Craft Beer Trademarks: The Ol’ Cease & Desist
Local Alberta breweries Elite Brewing (visited, love the carbon fibre bar) and Bow River Brewing have been on the receiving end of a cease and desist letter from the City of Calgary over a beer label for Fort Cal...
December 2018
Pour a Glass of Trademarks
In time for the holidays, this is a tale of competing brands sloshing around the marketplace. Please enjoy responsibly.Diageo North America, Inc. is purveyor of some of the world’s best-known brands of spirits and beer, some of which are probably...
August 2018
Flippin' to the B-Side
Craft Beer Trademarks
In 2015, an Ontario craft brewer, Beau’s All Natural Brewing Company (Beau’s) applied for a trademark for B-SIDE BREWING LABEL, for use in association with Ontario craft beers. The “B-Side Brewing Label” is an innovative promoti...
June 2018
The $2 Million Case of Beer
Alberta Loses Yet Another Round in Supporting Craft Brewers
Steam Whistle Brewing Inc. v. Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission – June 19, 2018Sir Mick Jagger informed us that “you can’t always get what you want,” and this time, the Alberta government gets more of what they don&...
June 2018
Of Beer and Borders
Alberta Loses Another Round In Its Support of Alberta Craft Brewers
Right now, Alberta Premier Notley and her government are thinking "stupid laws!", because they can't seem to get around the ones that affect subsidies or grants for Alberta craft brewers. Alberta's latest attempt, its 2016 Small ...