• The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Friday, June 8, 2007 11:30 AM

Bars and retailers in the U.S. are facing low inventories of European beers, such as Stella, Bass and Beck's. That's because of distribution problems since Anheuser-Busch became the exclusive U.S. importer of 19 brands made by InBev SA--the world's largest brewer--in February. At the root of the problem are the complicated rules of the U.S. beer business.

Under a law dating to the end of Prohibition, brewers generally must sell their beers through wholesalers that distribute to bars, restaurants and retailers. Previously, few of A-B's wholesalers handled beers made by InBev. Now, in many states, distributors that work for A-B have a legal right to take on distribution--but that typically means paying the previous distributor for the contract.

Some wholesalers preparing to sell their contracts curtailed orders for InBev beers, while new distributors had to wait to place orders. Also involved is the lead-time required for orders shipped across the Atlantic.

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