Two Types Of Liquor Licenses And When You Will Need To Apply For Them

Most people who head to a bar for a beer after work know that the bar they drink at has to have a license to serve liquor. However, if you are in the alcoholic beverage business, you know there are more types of licenses than just the proprietor license. If you want to expand your business to include a microbrewery, or open a brewery offsite, then you are going to need a different type of license.

Making Your Own Strange Brew

Brewpubs have grown in popularity in recent years, especially in states that have a high ethnic concentration of German peoples and ancestry. Whether or not you are German is irrelevant when you want to open, own, and operate your own brewpub. In this case, you will not only need to apply for a proprietor's liquor license so you can serve beer and wine, but you will also need to apply for a brewer's license. Your entire operation will be under frequent scrutiny by the state in which you operate, since you are creating a fermented product for consumption. Ergo, you may have to apply for both a state and local liquor production license.

Opening a Separate Brewery or Winery Offsite

When you open a brewery or winery that is not connected to a restaurant or pub, you need a third type of liquor license. Because your intent is to produce batches of an alcoholic beverage to sell to local or national bars, restaurants, and stores, you need a brewer's or vintner's license. In order to apply for this type of license, you need to have a pretty good idea of how much of an alcoholic beverage you will produce monthly and to whom you expect to sell your wares. If your brewery or winery grows and expands to the point that you sell liquor nationally or internationally, then you will need more licenses beyond just a vintner's or brewer's.

Multiple Variations on a Theme

Because the laws vary so much from state to state, you will have to check with your local and state ordinances about additional licensing practices. For example, bars located on a university campus are required to have a different type of license than bars located off-campus in most states. Home-brewed beer is legal to consume and sell in some states, but not in others without a license. If you need help navigating licensing laws where you live, consult a professional like Arizona Liquor Industry Consultants within this area of expertise.