§ 2-206. Brewery license.
(a) In general.- A Class 5 manufacturer's license:
(1) Is a brewery license; and
(2) Authorizes the holder to:
(i) Establish and operate in this State a plant for brewing and bottling malt beverages at the location described in the license;
(ii) Import beer from holders of nonresident dealer's permits; and
(iii) Sell and deliver beer to any wholesale licensee in this State, or person outside of this State, authorized to acquire it.
(b) Restrictions on service and sale.- A licensee may:
(1) Serve up to 6 ounces for a sample of beer brewed at the licensed premises to anyone who has taken a tour of the brewery, if that person is of legal drinking age; and
(2) Sell beer brewed at the brewery for off-premises consumption to anyone who participates in a guided tour of the brewery, subject to the following restrictions:
(i) The purchase is limited to 144 ounces of beer per person each year, based upon records kept by the brewery and forwarded to the Office of the Comptroller at intervals specified by that Office; and
(ii) The person has attained the legal drinking age.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
What does it mean to have a brewery license in Maryland?
I was scouring our Maryland code on beer and breweries (Article 2B), and finding our "code" is a hell of a lot harder than I expected. If the legislature were smart, there would be a direct link to the general code on the main page - an easy to navigate code, to boot.
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16 comments:
Hi Nick
I live in Severna Park and am a member of 5 homebrewing clubs. My blog is at http://benranting.blogspot.com. I have done some research on opening a brewery, and as you probably know, there are a lot of laws, regulations, and hoops to jump through. I can send you some of what I've gathered if you'd like. Also you're welcome to visit and partake from my 12 kegs and 1000+ bottles.
Ben Schwalb
Hey Ben,
Thanks for the feedback! I'd love to see some of the links you've collected. I've now got some spare cycles to get back into the swing of things.
12 kegs and 1000 bottles is quite the collection. You are a very busy brewer.
All of Ben's Beer is infected!
(Actually its not, he is a great brewer but he does love his iambics.)
Ben,
I grew up in Severna Park and now live in Annapolis. I've been brewing for a few years, but I'm not even close to 12 kegs. My question for you is... if you've looked into starting a brew pub, what has kept you from actually doing it? What is the "legal" cost associated with start-up? I'm on the verge of draining my savings and taking a loan so I can put a system in an established bar or carry out. (I like risk) I'm starting my research now and could use some help. Thanks in advance.
-Dan
Nick and Dan
The main thing keeping me - and most folks - from opening a brewery/brewpub is money. It takes about a million dollars or more to buy/rent space, buy equipment, pay legal fees, hire workers, advertise, etc. Since any kind of restaurant business is chancy (90% of new restaurants go out of business within 5 years), no bank will give you a loan without collateral. I am certainly not about to risk my house. I've heard that there are people out there with money who are willing to invest in creative ventures, but I have never met these people.
The easiest way to brew professionally is to brew for an already existing place, so you don't have to start the business up yourself or worry about staying afloat. Of course, good luck getting any of the extremely few such positions.
I have compiled some information and put it into a Word document. If you'd like it, e-mail me at fitandfun@yahoo.com and I will send it.
Cheers!
Ben
Hi there-
Does anyone know how much it cost to brew in maryland to sell?
for instance, I am a brewer that wants to sell my beer to a local bar for sale, how would I go about doing that legally?
You may want to check out the Maryland code. It is revised every now and then, and you should be intimately familiar with it.
http://michie.lexisnexis.com/maryland/lpext.dll/mdcode/259c6?fn=document-frame.htm&f=templates&2.0#
Additionally, as silly as this will sound, check out the book: Running a Bar for Dummies. It has a great list of stuff you need to consider before you produce/distribute your product.
I would like any research people have aggregated as well. I've just started looking at all the codes.
An interesting idea - the people above me are talking about the capital investment of procuring space, equipment, etc. Are there things like brew on premises but for the purposes of commercial production? Obviously anyone brewing with the intent to sell would have to have the requisite permits but the equipment and space cost could be spread over many people wanting to brew beer commercially.. just an idea.
The only way to do a brew-on-premises for commercial sale is to have your beer contract brewed. Heavy Seas (formerly Clipper City) does contract brewing for some small outfits. But then the beer is not really "yours" because someone else brews it.
Hmmmmm...
I've been brewing for aout 20 years give or take mostly from kits, but I tried from scratch too... My guess is that to do decent batches for profit without going crazy, you would have to start out with a "kit" recipe of a large amount of extract (removing several steps) and a proprietary blend of additives that would make a neutral extract a distinctive brew. Now what if I have my own restaurants? Can I brew beer and sell it along side the Corona?
Manny,
Thanks for the feedback! To answer your questions:
There are a few breweries/brewpubs who use extract; however the lion's share are all-grain operations. This is due to quality of the ingredients, cost and near absolute control of the quality of the final product.
Regarding your second question, if you have a restaurant and through that restaurant you brew your own beer to sell (on premises), there is nothing prohibiting you from selling another brewer's beer alongside of your own. As long as all local and state laws are being followed, one should have no problem.
There are plenty of brewpubs who have "guest" taps. (Though I would not consider serving Corona as a "guest" tap. Just my $0.02.)
Some places in Maryland with guest taps are:
* The Brewer's Art, http://www.belgianbeer.com
* Barley & Hops, http://www.barleyandhops.net
* Pratt Street Ale House, http://www.prattstreetalehouse.com/
-Nick
Additional note to contract brewing in MD. You can contract out to someone to brew your beer, however you then will need a license to be able to take that beer and either sell it to a distributor or distribute it yourself. Additionally you will need to pay the alcohol tax prior to having it leave the brewery. Additional costs (depending on what services your contract brewer may offer) includes, transportation of your finished beer, storage of your finished beer, and in some cases you need to provide your own kegs. You can lease kegs, but it requires a hefty deposit, and what happens if someone doesn't return your keg, or takes a long time to return it? You eat the cost when you have to replace it in time to refill for your next batch.
While reading these many ideas, I still do not know where to begin for an idea I have. Let us say I own a bar in Maryland and would like to sell a beer that I have a brewer make.... I think contract brewing would be the best way to test the waters... So??? Where do I begin with the rules and regulations of getting a beer into a brewery, brewed, then put into kegs in order to be served at my establishment under my name??? I would appreciate any help or guidance. Thanx...Sean
I know this post is old and since your post, the laws have changed, in my opinion, for the better, with the exception of the 9% tax we as brewers have to pay. I own a small nano in Rockville MD, so far its been an interesting ride. As of July 1st, class 5 breweries can serve pints and fill growlers. When I first started, the limit of to go beer purchases was 144 oz, half a case. Now its 288oz. Problem I'm having now is a zoning issue in the City of Rockville, they just don't have zoning for a tasting room and want us to be zoned as a restaurant and then get an exception which costs about $5,000, just a little too much for a small business like mine. We're the only class 5 in the county, and when we zoned in Rockville, it took about 3 months because they had no idea how to zone a brewery, only brew pubs. There's zoning now, now its in the hands of the local government to come up with something to let us do what we want to do. Cheers.
Paul,
Thanks for writing. It means a lot coming from a brewer in-state. (You and I met each other a couple years back, right after you opened Baying Hound.)
You make some really good points, and are very right in saying things have changed for brewers.
I still emplore folks to consult the code, as to be fully aware of what they can and can't do.
Guess I need to dust off my kettles and get on with brewing again.
Where to start? I have questions and its a bit unclear who is the point of contact. Does anyone know what office you call in Maryland to ask questions about procuring a license for a brewery or winery?
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