Oklahoma authorities raid ale house for offering free beer to protesting teachers

Officials in Oklahoma raided an ale house and confiscated two kegs of beer that were intended to be delivered as gifts to protesting teachers.

Local news station KOKH reports that the Patriarch Craft Beer House and Lawn this past weekend announced that it had prepared two kegs of beer as a gift for Oklahoma teachers protesting for greater education funding for public schools.

"We believe in and support our local public school teachers!!" the beer house announced in a Facebook post. "Starting at 3:00 Tuesday, we’ve split the bill with Roughtail Brewing to offer free pours of 'Respect Party,' a Belgian table beer from RT! Come help us kill 2 kegs EPS teachers!!"

But the Facebook post ran afoul of Oklahoma's alcoholic beverages agency, called the ABLE Commission, which proceeded to raid the ale house and seize the kegs.

"According to the ABLE Commission the brewery had not paid a 'brand registration fee' for the beer that was to be given away to teachers," reports KOKH. "So, the ABLE officers took the donated teacher beer and issued a citation to Patriarch."

Authorities also said it was illegal for ale houses to give away beer above a certain alcohol content under state laws, so Patriarch had to resort to giving protesting teachers cans of "light" beer instead.