Local home delivery of sealed beer, wine and liquor in Alabama can begin Oct. 1

Beginning Oct. 1, Alabama law will allow licensed businesses within 75 miles of your home to deliver sealed beer, wine and liquor directly to you, if you are 21 or older.

On April 12, Gov. Kay Ivey signed into law, Act No. 2021-188 by Sen. J.T. “Jabo” Waggoner, R-Vestavia Hills, and Rep. Gil Isbell, R-Gadsden, which creates a delivery service license in Alabama. The license and renewal fee required for a delivery service license is $250. The one-time application fee is $100.

The Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Board has drafted rules to implement and enforce the law. See 20-X-6-.21. Comments are due July 2. ABC officials have not yet said when license applications can be made.

The delivery service license permits the transportation and delivery of the equivalent of up to 120, 12-ounce containers of beer; up to 288 ounces of draft beer; up to 12, 750 milliliter bottles of wine (9,000 milliliters); up to 9,000 milliliters of spirits sold by off-premises licensees; up to 2.25 liters of spirits from a distillery; and up to 375 milliliters of spirits sold by restaurant licensees within a 24-hour period to individuals for personal use.

In addition to traditional delivery services and brewpubs or alcohol manufacturers with off-premise retail privileges, off-premise alcohol sales licensees as well as those with an on-premise restaurant retail liquor license are eligible to apply for a delivery service license. Sealed alcohol from on-premise restaurants must be delivered with meals, under the law. Businesses granted a delivery service license must have equipment to scan customer IDs at the point of delivery to verify recipients are 21 or older.

The law prohibits delivery to a location more than 75 miles from the retail business where the delivery originated. Delivery would not be allowed in dry counties, but delivery vehicles can travel through dry counties.

Waggoner and Isbell both presented similar bills in the 2020 regular session.

OTHER ALCOHOL-RELATED LEGISLATION

As of Aug. 1, wineries can ship wine directly to Alabama homes

Small wineries can self distribute to retailers and sell directly to consumers

Daily caps for off-premise sales at breweries, brewpubs and distilleries increase

This article is part of the Alabama Retail Report, a communication for Alabama Retail Association members. Not a member? Join us!

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