Need an expert! legal question!

[Thor the Mighty]

My friend and I are going to open a brewery and we dont have an ABC license yet...the problem with that is that we want to "donate" some beer to a local pub to put on draught, but we don't know the legality of this.. I live in California, so if anyone has a law background and can help a brother out, I'd appreciate it deeply.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

ABC here in OKC is a permit to "consume" on premise. Meaning the local pub needs the license for on site consumption. You, however, would need a Brewing License for taxation purposes and a lawyer on retainer.

 

[carnevoodoo]

My friend and I are going to open a brewery and we dont have an ABC license yet...the problem with that is that we want to "donate" some beer to a local pub to put on draught, but we don't know the legality of this.. I live in California, so if anyone has a law background and can help a brother out, I'd appreciate it deeply.

If you don't have an approved brewery from both the ABC AND the FDA, you cannot serve your beer commercially. It is under the jurisdiction of both the alcohol and food boards, so you need to meet both standards.

That said, I'm thinking the bar will get into more trouble if anyone finds out. Totally not worth the risk, in my opinion.

 

[Thor the Mighty]

Thanks for all the help.

 

[schristian619]

Just as Carnevoodoo said. You can donate your beer to anyone you wish, but they can not in turn sell it. Now, they can give it away, but really, they're not going to so don't risk it. Getting caught could cost you your license in the future.

 

[david_42]

They can't even give it away in Oregon.

 

[Hermit]

Thanks for all the help.

In the end it really does come down to you being able to point to someone to blame or sue if you get the wrong advice. If you google there is a good chance you can find all of the laws for your state on line. It wouldn't hurt to read over those that apply to you anyhow. It is part of being in business. Even doing something on the advice of a lawyer can put you out of business and cost you a bundle.

 

[A4J]

In case you're interested in pursuing this, here's a list of the licenses you can apply for from ABC. *clicky pow*