Montana Brewery licensing

[theroostashevil]

Anyone have any insight into what exactly is needed as to licensing for opening a brewery in the state of Montana?

I'm in the East Coast planning a brewery for Montana and finding myself just a little bit confused with your beer/wine/liquor licenses. If the brewery is under 10,000 barrels are you required to have one of the state issued beer licenses? I'm assuming that if there is a restaurant attached to said brewery then the restaurant itself would need all three licenses. From what I can understand of the lottery system out there it could take years to get one using the application process. Has anyone run into this issue where you have everything planned and ready to go but are just waiting to "win the lottery"?

I'd love to chat with someone who might have some insight into MT brewery stuff if anyone is up for it.

Thanks

[jebzter]

A quick search on their ABC page and I found this: https://revenue.mt.gov/home/liquor/a...y%2FDistillery
Theres a nice table at the bottom that lists what you can and can't do. As for manufacturing licenses, I have not seen where they are issued on a lottery basis, the lottery usually is for on-sale or off-sale licenses, so bars, restaurants and liquor stores. You, as a manufacturer can have a restaurant on you premises that sells your beer only so long as you make 10,000bbl/year or less. After that, you would need to obtain the proper on-premise licenses.

[Montanaandy]

Montana Brewery License

In a nutshell: a basic brewery license in MT allows you to serve beer in your taproom up to 10,000 BBL. The brewery must be attached to the taproom. You cannot be open past 8pm. Once you exceed 10,000 BBL you can no longer serve beer in the taproom (makes sense huh?). You will need a cabaret license if you want to be open longer than 8pm daily (most taprooms are open 4-8pm), or want to serve wine in addition to beer. These are awarded via lottery every few years or you can purchase one if you can find it/have the funds to do so. Expect to pay at least $100K if you want to purchase an existing cabaret license. A full liquor license which normally includes gambling/casino rights and allows you to set your own hours can run around $1 mil +. Liquor licenses are governed by a quota system based on county/population and are very limited.

PM me if you want further detailed info. about opening a brewery in MT.

[GlacierBrewing]

In a nutshell: a basic brewery license in MT allows you to serve beer in your taproom up to 10,000 BBL. The brewery must be attached to the taproom. You cannot be open past 8pm. Once you exceed 10,000 BBL you can no longer serve beer in the taproom (makes sense huh?). You will need a cabaret license if you want to be open longer than 8pm daily (most taprooms are open 4-8pm), or want to serve wine in addition to beer. These are awarded via lottery every few years or you can purchase one if you can find it/have the funds to do so. Expect to pay at least $100K if you want to purchase an existing cabaret license. A full liquor license which normally includes gambling/casino rights and allows you to set your own hours can run around $1 mil +. Liquor licenses are governed by a quota system based on county/population and are very limited.

PM me if you want further detailed info. about opening a brewery in MT.

Andy is spot on.
I will add that if you have a brewer's license (allows for the manufacture of beer only) and your tasting room is the licensed premise, you cannot currently own any other type of beer/wine/alcohol license. In essence, you cannot "stack" licenses. To use a cabaret, beer/wine, or all-beverage license, you would need to split that area where you want to use the license from the area where you manufacture the beer. Essentially creating two separate legal business entities, WITH COMPLETELY DIFFERENT OWNERSHIP ENTITIES! Not easy and not cheap. If you are hoping to get an all-bev license in any population center (aka "liquor license"), good luck! They are as rare as spotting a mountain lion in Glacier National Park.
Please feel free to contact me at info@glacierbrewing.com or call me. The number is on our website; glacierbrewing.com.
Luck to you.

Prost!
Dave