Section 28-3A-6
Manufacturer licensing and requirements; tastings or samplings; charitable event donations.
(a) Upon the applicant's compliance with this chapter and the rules adopted under this chapter, the board shall issue to the applicant a manufacturer license which authorizes the licensee to manufacture or otherwise distill, produce, ferment, brew, bottle, rectify, or compound alcoholic beverages within this state for sale or distribution within this state. No person shall manufacture or otherwise distill, produce, ferment, brew, bottle, rectify, or compound alcoholic beverages within this state or for sale or distribution within this state or to the state, the board, or any licensee of the board, unless the person or the authorized representative of the person shall be granted a manufacturer license issued by the board. The board may consider each type of alcoholic beverage manufactured, whether beer, wine, or liquor, as a separate and distinct operation, and the license shall contain a designation of each type of alcoholic beverage for which a federal basic permit or brewer's notice has been filed. No licensee shall manufacture a specified type of alcoholic beverage until the license contains the designation for that type.
(b) No manufacturer licensee shall sell any alcoholic beverages direct to any retailer or for consumption on the premises where sold except as specified under subsection (h), nor sell or deliver any alcoholic beverages in other than original containers approved as to capacity by the board and in accordance with standards of fill prescribed by the U.S. Treasury Department, nor maintain or operate within the state any place or places, other than the place or places covered by the manufacturer license, where alcoholic beverages are sold or where orders are taken.
(c) Each manufacturer licensee shall file with the board, prior to making any sales in Alabama, a list of its labels to be sold in Alabama and shall file with the board its federal certificate of label approvals or its certificates of exemption as required by the U.S. Treasury Department. All liquors and wines whose labels have not been registered as herein provided for shall be considered contraband and may be seized by the board or its agents, or any peace officer of the State of Alabama without a warrant and the goods shall be delivered to the board and disposed of as provided by law.
(d) All manufacturer licensees shall be required to mail to the board prior to the twentieth day of each month a consolidated report of all shipments of alcoholic beverages made to each wholesaler during the preceding month. The reports shall be in the form and containing information as the board may prescribe.
(e) Every manufacturer shall keep at its principal place of business within the state, daily permanent records that show the quantities of raw materials received and used in the manufacture of alcoholic beverages, and the quantities of alcoholic beverages manufactured and stored, the sale of alcoholic beverages, the quantities of alcoholic beverages stored for hire or transported for hire by or for the licensee, and the names and addresses of the purchasers or other recipients thereof.
(f) Every place licensed as a manufacturer shall be subject to inspection by members of the board or by individuals authorized and designated by the board at any time of the day or night as they may deem necessary, for the detection of violations of this chapter, of any law, or of the rules of the board, or for the purpose of ascertaining the correctness of the records required to be kept by the licensees. The books and records of licensees shall, at all times, be open to inspection by members of the board, or by individuals authorized and designated by the board. Members of the board and its authorized agents, without hindrance, may enter any place that is subject to inspection hereunder or any place where records are kept for the purpose of making inspections and making transcripts thereof.
(g) Licenses issued under this section, unless revoked in the manner provided in this chapter, shall be valid for the license year commencing January 1 of each year.
(h)(1) A manufacturer licensee actively and continuously engaged in the manufacture of alcoholic beverages on the manufacturer's licensed premises in the state may conduct tastings or samplings on the licensed premises, as regulated by the board except as to quantity and hours of operation, or as otherwise provided by law, and for that purpose may give away or sell alcoholic beverages manufactured there for consumption on only one premises where manufactured. All alcoholic beverages manufactured and retained on the manufacturer's licensed premises for tasting or sampling shall remain on the premises and be dispensed from a barrel or keg or other original containers.
(2) Notwithstanding subdivision (1), a manufacturer licensee engaged in the manufacture of less than 60,000 barrels of beer per year may sell at retail on its licensed premises in the state, for off-premises consumption, beer produced at that licensed premises; provided, however, beer sold for off-premises consumption: May not exceed 864 ounces per customer per day; may not be produced pursuant to a contract with another manufacturer; and shall be sealed, labeled, packaged, and taxed in accordance with state and federal laws and regulations. For the purposes of calculation, the 60,000 barrel limit shall include all beer produced by the manufacturer, all beer produced by a parent, subsidiary, or affiliate of the manufacturer, and all beer brewed exclusively for the manufacturer.
(3) For purposes of the retail sales permitted by a qualifying manufacturer under subdivisions (1) and (2), beer may be transferred directly between qualifying manufacturers of the same ownership in accordance with all applicable state and federal laws, rules, and regulations and sold at retail pursuant to this subsection as if it were manufactured or produced at the receiving manufacturer's licensed premises; provided, however, if at any time the combined total barrelage production of the manufacturers exceeds the 60,000-barrel limit as provided in subdivision (2), retail sales of transferred beer pursuant to this subdivision is not permitted. Taxes shall be levied at the time the beer is allocated by the receiving manufacturer for the purpose of retail sale in accordance with subdivision (i)(1). For purposes of this subdivision, "same ownership" means at least 75 percent ownership or control of one manufacturer by another manufacturer, or by the same persons for both manufacturers.
(4) A manufacturer licensee engaged in the manufacture of liquor on the manufacturer's licensed premises in the state may sell at retail on its licensed premises, for off-premises consumption, liquor manufactured at that licensed premises; provided, however, liquor sold for off-premises consumption may not exceed 4.5 liters per customer per day and shall be sealed, labeled, packaged, and taxed in accordance with state and federal laws and regulations. The manufacturer licensee shall keep and maintain records for three years of all sales for off-premises consumption.
(5) Notwithstanding subdivision (1), the board may grant a permit allowing a manufacturer licensee engaged in the manufacture of less than 50,000 gallons of table wine per year in the state to establish and operate one additional off-site tasting room to be used to conduct tastings or samplings and to sell at retail the licensee's table wine. The board may also grant a single permit allowing an association representing the majority of wineries and grape growers in the state to establish and operate one off-site tasting room to be used to conduct tastings and samplings and to sell at retail table wines produced by wine manufacturer licensees in the state. An applicant for an off-site tasting room permit shall file a written application with the board in the form and containing information as the board may prescribe, along with proof of consent and approval from the appropriate governing authority in which the off-site tasting room is to be located and a filing fee of fifty dollars ($50). All state and federal laws and regulations applicable to on-site tasting rooms shall apply to an off-site tasting room. Wine sold at an off-site tasting room for off-premises consumption may not exceed one case of wine per customer per day. For purposes of this subdivision, one case of wine means the equivalent of twelve 750-milliliter bottles of wine.
(i)(1) In addition to the licenses provided for by this chapter, and any county or municipal license, there is levied on the manufacturer of the alcoholic beverages dispensed on the premises the privilege or excise tax imposed on beer by Sections 28-3-184 and 28-3-190; and imposed on table wine by Section 28-7-18; and imposed on liquor by Sections 28-3-200 to 28-3-205, inclusive. Taxes on beer shall be levied at the time the beer is allocated by the beer manufacturer for the purpose of retail sale and not at the time the beer is dispensed for consumption. Every manufacturer licensee shall file the tax returns, pay the taxes, and perform all obligations imposed on wholesalers at the times and places set forth therein. It shall be unlawful for any manufacturer licensee who is required to pay the taxes so imposed in the first instance to fail or refuse to add to the sale price and collect from the purchaser the required amount of tax, it being the intent and purpose of this provision that each of the taxes levied is in fact a tax on the consumer, with the manufacturer licensee who pays the tax in the first instance acting merely as an agent of the state for the collection and payment of the tax levied by Section 28-3-184; as an agent for the county or municipality for the collection and payment of the tax levied by Section 28-3-190; as an agent for the county or municipality for collection and payment of the tax levied by Section 28-7-18; and as an agent for the state for collection and payment of the tax levied by Sections 28-3-200 to 28-3-205, inclusive.
(2) The manufacturer licensee shall keep and maintain all records required to be kept and maintained by manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer licensees for the tax so levied except that manufacturers are not required to maintain name, address, or other personal demographic information for sales as provided in subsection (e).
(j) A manufacturer licensee engaged in the manufacture of beer in the state may donate and deliver up to 31 gallons of the manufacturer's beer to a licensed nonprofit special event operated by or on behalf of a nonprofit organization. Donations shall be taxed in accordance with state and federal laws and regulations. Any beer remaining at the conclusion of the nonprofit event shall be returned to the manufacturer for disposal.
(k) A manufacturer licensee engaged in the manufacture of table wine in the state may donate and deliver up to two cases of the manufacturer's table wine to a licensed nonprofit special event operated by or on behalf of a nonprofit organization. Donations shall be taxed in accordance with state and federal laws and regulations. Any table wine remaining at the conclusion of the nonprofit event shall be returned to the manufacturer for disposal.
(Acts 1980, No. 80-529, p. 806, §6; Act 2011-630, p. 1488, §1; Act 2016-97, p. 133, §1; Act 2016-130, p. 305, §1; Act 2016-131, p. 388, §1; Act 2017-404, §1; Act 2018-386, §1; Act 2018-447, §6; Act 2019-400, §2; Act 2021-454, §2.)