Geoman Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 Hello all, happy new year. We are a starting distillery in southern California area, planning to open in a small space where every square foot matters. We are planning to have a tasting room, our business plan rely on having a tasting room. However, due to space limitation we are looking into ways that we can have a tasting room but still use this space for other reasons when the tasting room is not open to public. My main question is: are there any regulations, particularly TTB concerning bonded and non bonded areas, or local regulation that goes against this? Second question does tasting room need to be completely enclosed or separated from production area, again a TTB regulation? Sincerely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedd Haas Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 The answer to both questions is yes. https://www.ttb.gov/ponl-help/distilled-spirits-plant-application-preview Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoman Posted January 6, 2022 Author Share Posted January 6, 2022 22 hours ago, Jedd Haas said: The answer to both questions is yes. https://www.ttb.gov/ponl-help/distilled-spirits-plant-application-preview Thanks Jedd Haas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pour Decisions Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 That's a definite yes and yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thatch Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 On 1/5/2022 at 1:39 AM, Geoman said: Second question does tasting room need to be completely enclosed or separated from production area, again a TTB regulation? Separated is a YES, Enclosed is a NO. You must have a floor to ceiling wall separating the two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huffy2k Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 On 1/6/2022 at 3:47 PM, Thatch said: Separated is a YES, Enclosed is a NO. You must have a floor to ceiling wall separating the two. I can't say though that I haven't seen violations of this in the wild. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golden Beaver Distillery Posted January 15, 2022 Share Posted January 15, 2022 If space is tight, CA ABC rules allow you to have an offsite tasting room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
et1883 Posted February 27, 2022 Share Posted February 27, 2022 even Ballast Point, before sale of distillery, etc., etc., only had chain link fence (8 ft high?) separating "distillery" from the brewery, not all the way to the ceiling. It seemed to be enough for the feds and Calif state. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thatch Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 Since you have conflicting opinions to your original post, you need to ask the TTB or a beverage attorney. My understanding of the regulations is a complete separation is require (floor to ceiling) and the door between the two must be locked with TTB approved locks. This is information provided to us via a former TTB examiner that acted as a consultant for us in the application process. What you don't need to do is have a visit from the TTB and find out what you should have done in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pour Decisions Posted March 2, 2022 Share Posted March 2, 2022 On 2/27/2022 at 7:08 PM, Thatch said: Since you have conflicting opinions to your original post, you need to ask the TTB or a beverage attorney. My understanding of the regulations is a complete separation is require (floor to ceiling) and the door between the two must be locked with TTB approved locks. This is information provided to us via a former TTB examiner that acted as a consultant for us in the application process. What you don't need to do is have a visit from the TTB and find out what you should have done in the first place. Thatch is correct here. I submitted my TTB application 2/24/22 and this was definitely listed as a requirement, including the approved locks. I specifically stated those details in my "plant security" plan and description of doorways etc. Since this topic has come up quite a bit, I've attached a pdf screen grab of the transcript from my TTB application. This should clear some things up and answer this question for future inquiries about it. Tasting Room Separation.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pour Decisions Posted March 2, 2022 Share Posted March 2, 2022 Also note there IS a slight difference in wording from the actual application to the application help located on the TTB website and document linked above. From Help Document: From the ACTUAL application: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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