What Is a Distiller’s and Rectifier’s Permit, and What On-Site Sales Are Texas Distilleries Allowed?
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Three kinds of on-site sales are open to a Texas distillery, and each has its own ceiling: samples of up to half an ounce; drinks for consumption at the distillery, up to 3,000 gallons a year, where local voters have legalized mixed beverages; and bottles to take home, up to 3,500 gallons a year, in containers no larger than 750 milliliters, with no customer buying more than four 750-milliliter bottles in 30 days. Finished spirits sold any other way go to Texas wholesalers or to qualified buyers outside the state, under the Distiller’s and Rectifier’s Permit (D).
What the permit authorizes
Section 14.01 of the Alcoholic Beverage Code lets a D permit holder manufacture distilled spirits; rectify, purify, and refine spirits and wines; mix and bottle its finished products; sell them to holders of wholesaler’s permits and to qualified buyers outside Texas; and sell to consumers only as Sections 14.04 and 14.05 allow. Section 14.01(b) confines every one of these privileges to spirits and wines the permit holder itself manufactured or rectified. A distillery tasting room cannot pour another producer’s whiskey.
Samples at the distillery
Section 14.04 governs samplings on the permitted premises:
- A sample may not exceed one-half ounce, and a person may receive only one sample of each brand being served.
- Samples may be free anywhere the distillery operates. A fee may be charged only where local voters have approved a ballot issue legalizing mixed beverages (Election Code Section 501.035(b)(7), (8), or (9)).
- Only the permit holder and its agents or employees may pour, and never to a minor or to an obviously intoxicated person.
- A sample cannot leave the premises, and a sampling event may be advertised only on-site or by direct mail.
Drinks for consumption on the premises
Under Section 14.05(a), a distillery located where the voters have legalized mixed beverages, again the ballot issues in Election Code Section 501.035(b)(7), (8), or (9), may sell its own spirits to customers for consumption on the premises. The ceiling is 3,000 gallons a year. In an area where local option has not reached mixed beverages, on-premises sales are not available, though free samples still are.
Bottles to take home
Section 14.05(b) through (g) sets the rules for package sales:
- Container size. Unbroken packages of no more than 750 milliliters.
- Annual volume. No more than 3,500 gallons a year.
- Where it applies. For a permit issued on or after September 1, 2013, the distillery must be in an area where voters approved one of the ballot issues in Election Code Section 501.035(b)(5), (6), or (7), which cover the sale of liquor for off-premise consumption. Permits issued before that date also qualify in areas approved under (b)(8) or (9).
- Per-customer limit. No more than four 750-milliliter bottles, or the equivalent, to the same consumer within 30 days.
- In person only. The buyer must be physically present, the bottle is handed over during that visit, and no one may buy on another person’s behalf.
- Labeling. Each bottle sold this way carries a notice stating that it is commemorative, giving the month and year of sale, and signed by an agent of the distillery, placed so it does not cover the federally approved label.
- Records. The distillery must keep sales records that let it show compliance.
Tastings at festivals and events
Since September 1, 2023, Section 14.09 has let a distillery conduct samplings or tastings at a civic or distilled spirits festival, a farmers’ market, a celebration, or a similar event. The spirits must be the distillery’s own, portions may not exceed one-half ounce, samples may not leave the event, and the distillery bears the cost. The section also directs TABC to adopt rules, including a procedure for verifying the wet or dry status of the event location and rules on when notifying the agency is enough and when its preapproval is required.
Four activities, four ceilings
| Activity | Limit | Where allowed | Code section |
|---|---|---|---|
| Samples on site | half an ounce, one per brand | anywhere; fee only where mixed beverages are legal | 14.04 |
| Drinks on site | 3,000 gallons a year | where mixed beverages are legal | 14.05(a) |
| Bottles to go | 750 ml maximum; 3,500 gallons a year; four bottles per customer per 30 days | where liquor is legal for off-premise sale | 14.05(b)-(g) |
| Event tastings | half an ounce; own products only | festivals, farmers' markets, similar events | 14.09 |
Before a business plan counts on tasting-room revenue, check the site’s local option status for each of those sales, because the same distillery can be allowed to sell bottles but not drinks, or neither.
This article is general information about Texas alcoholic beverage law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Statutes and TABC rules change; confirm current requirements with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, the relevant city or county, or a licensed Texas attorney before acting.