NJ Micro Distillery sales

[Panama Jack]

Anyone working on legislation in New Jersey, Deleware or Pennsylvania to allow a micro distillery to sell product directly to the public?

Can anyone provide a link or information on their State's law allowing on sight sales to the public and any material you used to lobby for passage of the law?

I have to beleive that the ability to sell on sight would make a major impact on the ability of a start-up to make it.

[Ralph at Tuthilltown]

In New York, it is listed at the SLA site under ABC LAW. Here is the pertinent section:

((i) Retail sales by a licensed farm distillery may be made only to

customers who are physically present upon the licensed premises and such

sale shall be concluded by the customer's taking, with him or her, of

the sealed containers purchased by the customer at the time the customer

leaves the licensed premises;

(ii) Such retail sales shall not be made where the order is placed by

letter, telephone, fax or e-mail, or where the customer otherwise does

not place the order while the customer is physically present upon the

premises of the licensed premises;

(iii) Such retail sales shall not be made where the contemplated sale

requires the licensee to transport or ship by common carrier, sealed

containers of liquor to a customer.

© A licensed farm distillery may conduct upon the licensed premises

consumer tastings of liquor manufactured by the licensee and from no

more than three other class A, A-1, B, B-1, C or D distilleries, subject

to the following limitations:

(i) Only liquor manufactured primarily from farm and food products, as

defined in subdivision two of section two hundred eighty-two of the

agriculture and markets law, shall be used in the tastings;

(ii) An official agent, servant or employee of the licensee shall be

physically present at all times during the conduct of the consumer

tasting of liquor;

(iii) No consumer may be provided, directly or indirectly: (A) more

than three samples of liquor for tasting in one calendar day; or (

with a sample of liquor for tasting equal to more than one-quarter fluid

ounce;

(iv) Any liability stemming from a right of action resulting from a

consumer tasting of liquor authorized by this paragraph and in

accordance with the provisions of sections 11-100 and 11-101 of the

general obligations law, shall accrue to the licensee.

(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the authority

may issue a farm distillery license to the holder of a class A, A-1, B,

B-1 or C distiller's license, a winery license or a farm winery license

for use at such licensee's existing licensed premises. For the purposes

of this chapter, the premises of the class A, A-1, B, B-1 or C

distillery, winery or farm winery shall be considered the premises of

the farm distillery. The holder of a farm distillery license that

simultaneously holds a winery, farm winery or any class of a distiller's

license on the same premises may share and use the same tasting room

facilities to conduct wine and liquor tastings that such licensee is

otherwise authorized to conduct.

(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the

holder of a farm distillery license may apply to the authority for a

license to sell beer, wine and liquor for consumption on the premises in

a restaurant operated on or adjacent to the licensed farm distillery.

All the provisions of this chapter relative to licensees to sell beer,

wine or liquor at retail for consumption on the premises shall apply so

far as applicable to such application.

This text is specific to the D, FARM DISTILLERY LICENSE and specific to NY State.

(Sorry about the smiley faces, don't know why they appear, not my doing.)

R

[delaware_phoenix]

The capital letter B followed by a right parenthesis ) is the shorthand for the smiley face the cool smiley face with his/her sunglasses on.

So anytime you have a list A) and you get embedded smiley face. I personally think all government documents should be filled with smiley faces in order to bring some sanity to such things. But yes, I'm a rebel.

[Panama Jack]

Ralph -

Thank you. I am looking at going the farm distillery route as a back up if I can not get a straight micro law passed. I think NJ would pass a farm distillery permit, but would like to not be tied to a farm location but be able to set up in a city. In NY do all of the spirits sold on sight have to be made from grain grown on the farm, or just produced from a still located on the farm? Can you have an off sight retail location? Thanks

[StevenD]

Ralph -

Thank you. I am looking at going the farm distillery route as a back up if I can not get a straight micro law passed. I think NJ would pass a farm distillery permit, but would like to not be tied to a farm location but be able to set up in a city. In NY do all of the spirits sold on sight have to be made from grain grown on the farm, or just produced from a still located on the farm? Can you have an off sight retail location? Thanks

In NY, to apply for and adhere to the Distillers Farm Class D License, they use the term "primarily" from New York grown products. I spoke to a lawyer at the SLA who told me that "primarily" means 75%, but 75% is not written anywhere in that law, so I would think that you should be able to get away with 51% but I dont know that for sure. Also, its important to note that you dont have to grow these state grown products on your own farm. You could buy them from another farmer (in state only) and still be considered eligible for the DD license. These products can be sampled and sold on site.

[StevenD]

Sorry for this long post but this is pretty much NJ in a nutshell:

LICENSES – MANUFACTURING

WHAT ARE MANUFACTURING LICENSES?

Alcoholic beverage licenses issued to manufacturers – commonly known in the alcoholic beverage industry as “suppliers” – are “Class A” licenses and are set forth in N.J.S.A. 33:1-10. They include Plenary Brewery (identified in the second set of digits in the license number as a “10”), Limited Brewery (“11”), Plenary Winery (“21”), Farm Winery (“22”), Plenary Distillery (“16”) (none are presently issued), Limited Distillery

(“17”) (none are presently issued), Supplementary Limited Distillery (“18”) (none are presently issued), Rectifier and Blender (“15”) and Bonded Warehouse Bottling (“29”) (none are presently issued) licenses. Any supplier engaging in the actual manufacture or bottling of alcoholic beverage in New Jersey must have one of these licenses. They are issued by the Director of the Division of A.B.C. (See “Brew Pubs.”)

Plenary distillery license. 3a. The holder of this license shall be

25 entitled, subject to rules and regulations, to manufacture any distilled

26 alcoholic beverages and rectify, blend, treat and mix, and to sell and

27 distribute his products to wholesalers and retailers licensed in

28 accordance with this chapter, and to sell and distribute without this

29 State to any persons pursuant to the laws of the places of such sale

30 and distribution, and to maintain a warehouse. The fee for this license

31 shall be $12,500.

Limited distillery license. 3b. The holder of this license shall be

33 entitled, subject to rules and regulations, to manufacture and bottle

34 any alcoholic beverages distilled from fruit juices and rectify, blend,

35 treat, mix, compound with wine and add necessary sweetening and

36 flavor to make cordial or liqueur, and to sell and distribute to

37 wholesalers and retailers licensed in accordance with this chapter, and

38 to sell and distribute without this State to any persons pursuant to the

39 laws of the places of such sale and distribution and to warehouse these

40 products. The fee for this license shall be $3,750.

Supplementary limited distillery license. 3c. The holder of this

42 license shall be entitled, subject to rules and regulations, to bottle and

43 rebottle, in a quantity to be expressed in said license, dependent upon

44 the following fees, alcoholic beverages distilled from fruit juices by

45 such holder pursuant to a prior plenary or limited distillery license, and

46 to sell and distribute his products to wholesalers and retailers licensed

S1408 LESNIAK

6

1 in accordance with this chapter, and to sell and distribute without this

2 State to any persons pursuant to the laws of the places of such sale

3 and distribution, and to maintain a warehouse. The fee for this license

4 shall be graduated as follows: to so bottle and rebottle not more than

5 5,000 wine gallons per annum, $313; to so bottle and rebottle not

6 more than 10,000 wine gallons per annum, $625; to so bottle and

7 rebottle without limit as to amount, $1,250.

Note that with a "Plenary" distillery license in NJ, you attain the right to sell directly to wholesalers AND retailers.

Ralph -

Thank you. I am looking at going the farm distillery route as a back up if I can not get a straight micro law passed. I think NJ would pass a farm distillery permit, but would like to not be tied to a farm location but be able to set up in a city. In NY do all of the spirits sold on sight have to be made from grain grown on the farm, or just produced from a still located on the farm? Can you have an off sight retail location? Thanks

[Panama Jack]

Steven -

Good information. I did not realise you could sell directly to the Retailers in NJ, but would still like to cut them out and sell directly to the public on site.

Ralph -

So you have to distill on site with grains/Fruit obtained mostly from NY farms and can only sell on site? Sounds reasonable I may start working on this in NJ.

Thanks all

[Ralph at Tuthilltown]

Spirits made by a DD Farm Distillery must as noted in an above post, be "primarily" NY State grown. No percentage is noted.

You may locate a Farm Distillery anywhere if you meet the criteria of the license, which says that a "Farm Distillery may be located on a farm", note the use of the word "may". Additionally, a Farm Distillery in an urban area which is not a farm may qualify as a "FARM OPERATION" if it has leases for farm land where the materials are grown and is "financially responsible for the crop" so it if fails the grower who is cultivating it for you is paid by you.

[Ralph at Tuthilltown]

Spent the day Tuesday in Albany lobbying legislators and learning about the progress of the bill permitting access to consumers at farmers' markets, State and County fairs. Learned the bill is through the Senate as we knew. It is in the Assembly and in the Economic Development Committee. We received a tip there was some resistance in the Economic Development Committee to the notion of offering hard liquor samples at fairs. We got the message to through the legislative assistant working with the Committee Chairman of the resistance and provided a response. It was: Both wineries and breweries can offer samples at the locations we are requesting access to in our bill and there is NO LIMIT on the amount they can serve a persons as samples but there are strict regulatory limits on the amount of spirits samples and the number of samples which can be offered by distillers. Please contact your Legislator and if possible drop a letter to the Chair of the State Economic Development Committee and make the point.