Sebastian home brew saga: Florida man, Muggles no match for Monster, lawyer | Opinion

During the week, Devin Giles works on refrigerators. On the weekend, he works to brew the most unusual butter beer I’ve ever had.

The 30-year-old Sebastian man is an award-winning home brewer seen the past five years at beer festivals as part of Indian River County’s Boil Over Boys, State of Sunshine Brewing or his own Florida Man Beerworks, launched in 2020.

Florida Man, however, was no match for Monster.

That’s Monster as in the Monster Beverage Corp., traded on the NASDAQ market, which in January spent $330 million to acquire and array of craft breweries, including Tampa’s Cigar City.

Last month, Giles stopped using the Florida Man brand after he got an email from Monster’s vice president and senior legal counsel. In the email Giles shared with me, Greg Gabriel noted Cigar City had been selling Florida Man double IPA since at least 2015 and that Cigar City’s owners had owned the Florida Man Brewing Co. federal trademark (since 2017).  

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Cease-and-desist letter a minor hitch

The email, which said the company hoped to settle the issue "amicably," suggested Giles come up with a reasonable phase-out period. But if the company did not hear back within five days, it would "have no choice" but to litigate.

Giles, who hopes to run his own brewery some day, initially wasn’t happy, but understands the issue — even if Monster doesn’t operate a Florida Man Brewery.

“I’m OK with it,” the home brewer said of Monster's request. “I kind of see it as a blessing. Luckily I don’t have much in the brand. I’m not losing too much money.”

Money, which basically amounts to some logoed hats, stickers and limited brand recognition.

“At least I didn’t buy a (branded) tent (routinely used at beer festivals) for $2,000,” he said.

It struck me as a David vs. Goliath story — not that Giles had any shot or intention of taking down Monster.

The case isn't surprising. While Gabriel would not comment on his company's trademark enforcement efforts, Google searches show cease-and-desist orders are as common as a hoppy IPA. Giant, big and small brewers all send them out.

Perhaps the most public case in Florida came in 2016, when Schnebly Redland's Winery — which includes Miami Brewing Co. — asked nearby M.I.A. Beer Co. to use a different name, according to the Miami New Times. Earlier this year M.I.A. stopped distribution to focus on patrons in its Doral taproom.

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Naming issues happen locally, too

There also have been cases involving beer names. Pete Anderson, who owns Pareidolia Brewing in Sebastian, said a small Colorado brewer asked him to stop using the term “Howdy” in a beer name.

There's no way breweries, which release beers and titles regularly, can federally trademark each name.

After all, according to Untappd, an app that lets drinkers log and rate beers they'd have, as of April 1, 2020, 49,000 beers were listed from 38,000 breweries in 187 countries. Mark Lasbury, an Indiana beer blogger, estimated 42,000 beer names would be needed if each U.S. craft brewery produced six beers a year.

If you’re still drinking Miller or Budweiser — mass-produced domestics still have 65.9% of the beer market — you might not know craft beer sales increased by 21% in 2021 to 13% of the market, according to the Brewers Association.

The number of American breweries increased from 1,447 in 2005 to 9,247 in 2021. Craft breweries alone increased from 4,803 in 2015 to 9,118 in 2021, which was up 4.4% from 2020.

I’ve often wondered how difficult it must be to come up with beer names. I’ve only had to work on two — Ink by the Barrel and Paper by the Ton, a schwarzbier and golden ale, the Press Journal made for its centennial (and Vero Beach’s) in conjunction with Walking Tree Brewery in 2019.

Surprisingly, they remain the only beers in Untappd with those names.

One of Giles’ beers is an IPA called Crocs And Socks. The other day I found 15 beers from 13 breweries with similar verbiage.

There are only so many phrases to go around.

That said, investing in a trademark to ensure no other brewery uses the name of the award-winning beer you seek to distribute regionally or nationally makes sense. I just hope the big guys aren’t buying up names to stifle the competition, which they theoretically could afford to do — as some companies did with internet URLs years ago.

More: State of Sunshine Brewing hopes to open brewery on Treasure Coast

Home brewers need a legal team?

Still, I feel bad for Giles. Home brewers shouldn’t have to hire a lawyer to have a little fun. After all, he donated beer to festivals, which raised money for charity.

He plans to come up with a new name to trademark, keeping his colorful mosquito logo. He set up a GoFundMe page to offset the cost of creating the brand and a limited liability corporation.

The former Sailfish Brewery employee hopes to be back in action for festivals in Cocoa and Vero Beach in February.

I’m rooting for him.

A 2010 graduate of Sebastian River High School, Giles did not like the Busch beer his father used to drink. When Giles turned 21, he bought his own Budweiser Black Crown and got turned onto dark beer.

Enjoying some at Pareidolia Brewery in 2017, he met Chris Russell of the Sebastian home brew club, who invited Giles to get involved.

Eventually, Giles said he visited Scortino and Sons, a Sebastian beer supply store, and asked for help brewing his first beer: an eggnog porter.

“(Joe Scortino) looked at me as if I had two heads,” Giles said, adding Scortino helped him with the recipe.

Russell helped him on his second beer, a smooth ginger saison, which was paired with a baked beans, a rib and the best pulled pork taco I’ve ever had, from Tommy T’s Catering of Vero Beach. The pairing was voted the best at the 2018 VIP party for the Rotary Club Sunrise’s Craft Brew and Wingfest.

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Harry Potter, Muggles and more

Last month, two of his brews — a peanut butter and strawberry jelly brown ale and a Harry Potter-inspired Not Your Muggles Butterbeer, a cream ale (which he sometimes serves with a special, sweet lactose-based topping — were among top beers at the Treasure Coast Beer Festival in Stuart.

Now he’s working on another award-winner, an ode to Funky Buddha’s Last Snow. Giles’ Last Mosquito coconut coffee porter, he said, is perfect for cooler weather when the last of the skeeters buzz before winter sets in.

“I hope to get my brand out there and get a following,” he said. “Eventually that can turn into opening a good brewery.”

That’s when he’ll be able to fix all the equipment, and make some unique beer.

This column reflects the opinion of Laurence Reisman. Support his work by subscribing to TCPalm. Contact him via email at larry.reisman@tcpalm.com, phone at 772-978-2223, Facebook.com/larryreisman or Twitter @LaurenceReisman

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Florida Man home brew taken down by Monster Energy