Beer and disgust on the champagne route.
US beer importers woke up after Belgian customs officials destroyed a massive shipment of Miller High Life for using “Champagne” in their packaging.
Agents reportedly seized 2,352 cans of the American discount drink in February after it arrived in Antwerp en route to Germany, CBS reported.
They then opened each can and dumped out the offending foam like something out of an old “Prohibition” era newsreel.
This “Boston Tea Party” style destruction was executed at the behest of the Champagne Committee, the committee appointed to protect the distinction of French sparkling wine that was not happy with the beer’s slogan calling itself “Champagne of Beers”.
According to European law, products cannot be imported with the word “Champagne” on their packaging, unless they come from that specific region in southwestern France.
Naturally, they didn’t feel like the cheap beer brewed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which has gone by the moniker since 1906, was a perfect fit.
Belgian customs chief Kristian Vanderwaeren told reporters the slogan went against the “Champagne protected designation of origin, and this goes against European regulations.”
The case is peculiar, given that Molson Coors Beverage Co., Miller High Life’s parent company, does not currently export it to the EU, the AP reported.
Meanwhile, Belgian customs officials have refused to divulge who gave the order to create the concoction, haha.
Since then, Molson Coors Beverage Co. has had a hand in destroying its foam.
Representatives for the beer supplier acknowledged that while the company “respects local restrictions” around the champagne designation, they are not ashamed of the product or its tagline.
“We remain proud of Miller High Life, its nickname and its origin in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,” the company said. “We invite our friends in Europe to the US at any time to toast the good life together.”
