Welcome to the Virginia Craft Beer scene. Every brewery in Virginia sells beer, but some now sell growlers. What is a growler and is YOUR bursiness allowed to sell them? Growlers are reusable and refillable containers that can hold beer or wine – they are designed to be filled and sealed on premises for off-premises consumption.
Below are the VA ABC regulations for selling growlers:
- Must be in a reusable glass, ceramic, or metal container
- Must be re-sealable closure
- Can be sold up until midnight
- Sales can resume at 6am
- Must be a licensed Restaurant with Wine and Beer On and Off-Premises privilege, OR
- Must be licensed as a Gourmet Shop with Wine and Beer Off-Premises privilege and meet gourmet food sales/inventory requirements to comply as a “gourmet shop”
Sizes:
- Beer or Cider can be in containers up to 128 oz (translating to 4L). In legalize (from code 3VAC5-40-30) Beer and cider may be sold for off-premises consumption by persons licensed to sell beer and cider for off-premises consumption in growlers with a maximum capacity of 128 fluid ounces or if in metric size containers, four liters.
- Wine can be put in containers up to 64 oz (translating to 2L). In legalize (from code 3Vac5-40-30) Wine may be sold for off-premises consumption in growlers with a maximum capacity of 64 fluid ounces or, for metric size containers, two liters. Wine sold in growlers may only be sold by persons licensed to sell wine for both on-premises and off-premises consumption and by gourmet shop licensees. Wine sold by gourmet shop licensees shall be labeled with the (i) manufacturer’s name or trade name, (ii) place of production, (iii) net contents in fluid ounces, and (iv) name and address of the retailer.
ABC Consulting can help your business through providing guidance for staying in compliance with growler regulations in Virginia. Visit our website at VAabc.com to view our wide range of services offered and contact ABC Consulting by clicking this link!
For 10 years, ABC Consulting has been offering a complete line of education and consulting services and we’d love to help you get started on your happy, shiny future. How can we help? 800.785.0161
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