North Carolina puts a cap on craft beer: Lawsuit

North Carolina is trying to limit the flow of craft brew, according to a lawsuit filed Monday against the state. 

The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery, NoDa Brewing Co. and the Craft Freedom initiative filed the lawsuit allegjng the state is artificially suppressing economic growth through two unconstitutional laws — the distribution cap and franchise law, according to the Charlotte Business Journal. 

“They punish small-business owners for their hard work by stripping them of their businesses when they achieve ‘too much success’ forcing them to hand their businesses to private parties who reap the profits,” the lawsuit, accessed by the newspaper, reads. 

North Carolina’s distribution cap requires breweries to relinquish their rights to private distributors if they sell more than 25,000 barrels. The lawsuit claims that cap is “arbitrary and ensnares small but successful craft breweries.”