As you may have now heard, Oasis TX Brewery is embroiled in a trademark lawsuit with New Belgium Brewing out of Fort Collins, CO for the name Slow Ride. I won’t rehash the details and accusations of both sides, but feel free to read the following articles: Oasis’ take and also New Belgium’s. There has been much chatter online in the last day or so on this issue, and unfortunately with the proliferation of breweries and beers in our country (which is undeniably a good thing), there will also inevitably be an increase in trademark disputes.

As Oasis TX attempts to defend their Slow Ride brand in court, they will no doubt have to expend money to do so. As a fellow entrepreneur, I can attest to the dreaded feeling of having to spend money on something (in this case, lawyers) that does not directly impact the product you make or the customer experience you want to deliver. Every dollar spent on lawyer fees is a dollar that can’t be reinvested in growing your business. I am not a lawyer so I won’t attempt to argue the finer points of trademark law.

A discussion on the Facebook group Austin Let’s Talk Craft Beer kicked up today about having a day to support Oasis TX as they move through this process. The group picked Monday, March 2nd, as this is Texas’ Independence Day, and the tie-in here was just too good to pass up.

We at WhichCraft would love to help in any way we can, so we’ll be hosting a tasting event at the store where we’ll be sampling Slow Ride in addition to the other OTXBC beers for free from 6-8pm. We’ll also sell 6 packs of these beers for only $7 all day long. Hamilton from the brewery will be joining us and hopefully a few other folks from the brewery will as well.

For us at WhichCraft, this is less about choosing sides or being anti-New Belgium, but instead about positively supporting a local brand that is helping to create jobs & quality beer right here in our community by buying their beer.

We hope to see you Monday 3/2.

Cheers–

Jody Reyes

Founder & Owner, WhichCraft