An Act Regarding the Sale of Alcohol by a Manufacturer with an On-premises Retail License
Sec. 1. 28-A MRSA §1355-A, sub-§2, ¶¶D and I, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 629, §22, are amended to read:
(1) Sales made in accordance with this paragraph do not require a licensee under this section to obtain an additional retail license under chapter 45.
(2) Liquor sold in accordance with this paragraph may not be consumed anywhere on the licensed premises.
(3) The area of the licensed premises where a licensee opts to transact sales for off-premises consumption may be accessed from the same entrance used to access an area licensed for on-premises consumption of alcoholic beverages under chapter 43 in accordance with paragraph I.
(1) The retail license must be held exclusively by the holder of the brewery, small brewery, winery, small winery, distillery or small distillery license.
(2) The retail license authorizes the sale of products of the brewery, small brewery, winery, small winery, distillery or small distillery, in addition to other liquor permitted to be sold under the retail license, to be consumed on the premises.
(3) All records related to activities under a manufacturer license issued under this section must be kept separate from records related to the retail license.
(4) A distillery or small distillery must meet the requirements of subsection 5, paragraph paragraphs D and E.
(5) The licensee shall ensure that products purchased for off-premises consumption under paragraph D are not consumed on the licensed premises.
SUMMARY
This bill clarifies existing law that permits a person that is licensed to manufacture malt liquor, wine or spirits at a facility in the State to sell the product that person produces from the manufacturing facility for off-premises consumption without having to get a separate off-premises retail license. The bill specifies that the location of the manufacturing facility where off-premises sales of the manufacturer's product occur is not required to be accessed by a separate entrance from the area of the facility that is licensed to serve alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption. It also clarifies that distilleries and small distilleries are subject to the existing law that requires spirits sold at retail to first be listed for sale and distributed by the State.