New Hampshire Revised Statutes 178:12-a – Nano Brewery License

[Paragraph I effective until January 1, 2024; see also paragraph I set out below.]

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

Terms Used In New Hampshire Revised Statutes 178:12-a

Alcohol: means that substance known as ethyl alcohol or hydrated oxide of ethyl alcohol which is commonly produced by the fermentation or distillation of grain, starch, molasses, sugar, potatoes or other substances, including all solids, powders, crystals, dilutions and mixtures of these substances. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 175:1
Beer: means beer, specialty beer as defined by N. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 175:1
Brewer: means a person who owns or operates a brewery. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 175:1
Brewery: means any place or premises where any beer is manufactured and all offices, granaries, mash-rooms, cooling-rooms, vaults, yards, cellars, and storerooms connected therewith or where any part of the process of manufacture of beer is carried on, or where any apparatus connected with such manufacture is kept or used, or where any of the products of brewing or fermentation are stored or kept. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 175:1
Commission: means the state liquor commission. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 175:1
Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
Contract brewer: means a brewery hired by a beverage manufacturer, nano brewery, or brew pub to produce a beverage for the beverage manufacturer. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 175:1
Contract brewing arrangement: means a business relationship in which a beverage manufacturer, nano brewery, or brew pub pays another brewer to produce a beverage for the beverage manufacturer, nano brewer, or brew pub for sale. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 175:1
following: when used by way of reference to any section of these laws, shall mean the section next preceding or following that in which such reference is made, unless some other is expressly designated. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:13
Host brewer: means a beverage manufacturer who has entered into host-tenant partnership with a tenant brewer licensed under N. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 175:1
License: means the authority granted by the commission to engage in the sale of liquor, wine, beverages, tobacco products, or e-cigarettes otherwise unlawful unless evidenced by such document. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 175:1
Licensee: means the person to whom a license of any kind is issued by the commission. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 175:1
Liquor: means all distilled and rectified spirits, alcohol, wines, fermented and malt liquors and cider, of over 6 percent alcoholic content by volume at 60 degrees Fahrenheit. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 175:1
month: shall mean a calendar month, and the word "year" a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed; and the word "year" shall be equivalent to the expression "year of our Lord. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:8
Person: means an individual, partnership, limited liability company or corporation. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 175:1
Premises: means and includes all parts of the contiguous real estate occupied by a licensee over which the licensee has direct or indirect control or interest and which the licensee uses in the operation of the licensed business, and which have been approved by the commission as proper places in which to exercise the licensee's privilege. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 175:1
Restaurant: means a space, in a suitable or permanent building, kept, used, maintained, advertised and held out to the public to be a place where meals are regularly served. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 175:1
Sampling: means distributing free tobacco products to consumers for promotional purposes. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 175:1
Specialty beer: means any beer as defined in N. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 175:1
state: when applied to different parts of the United States, may extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall include said district and territories. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:4
Tenant brewer: means a person who has a brewer's notice approved by the United States Department of the Treasury Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau allowing the person to engage in an alternating brewery proprietorship. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 175:1

[Paragraph I effective January 1, 2024; see also paragraph I set out above.]

I. The commission may issue a nano brewery license to a business that manufactures beer or specialty beer, not exceeding, 2,000 barrels annually for sale in any quantity to the general public or licensees. The license shall entitle the licensee to sell at retail or wholesale only beverages manufactured by the licensee . In addition to the annual license fees provided in this section, a fee of $.30 for each gallon of beverage sold or transferred for retail sale or to the public shall be required. On or before the fifteenth day of each month, a nano brewery licensee shall pay the license fees under this paragraph covering sales or transfers made during the preceding calendar month.
II. The annual fee for each license issued under this section shall be $240. Except for licensees under paragraph VII, licensees shall comply with the following:
(a) No beverage or liquor shall be served or consumed on the premises except that which is manufactured by the licensee on the premises or manufactured by the licensee at a host brewer facility.
(b) The licensee may serve beverages to any visitor of legal drinking age by the glass or other suitable container.
(c) For the purpose of this section, food and non-alcoholic beverages may be provided by a properly licensed third party food vendor, prepared on or off the premises.
(d) The licensee shall not allow any beverage or liquor to be served or sold to any person under the age of 21 on the premises.
(e) A nano brewery may either provide samples for free or for a fee which shall be limited to one, 4-ounce glass per label or one 16-ounce glass per person. At such times as food is available, a nano brewery may serve no more than 2, 16-ounce glasses per person in any areas approved by the commission. For the purpose of this section, food and non-alcoholic beverages may be provided by properly licensed third-party food vendors, prepared on or off the premises.
III. A nano brewery licensee shall have the right to transport beverages it manufactures in barrels, kegs, bottles, or other closed containers within the state for sale to licensees and to the state border for transportation and sale outside the state.
IV. A nano brewery licensee may transport its products to a farmers’ market, and may sell such products at retail in the original container.
V. No unopened container sold by the licensee shall be opened or consumed on the premises.
VI. Any nano brewery licensee meeting and maintaining the requirements of a restaurant under N.H. Rev. Stat. § 178:20, except N.H. Rev. Stat. § 178:20, IV and paying an additional fee of $240, shall comply with the following:
(a) No beverage or liquor shall be served or consumed on the premises except that which is manufactured by the licensee on the premises or manufactured by the licensee at a host brewer facility.
(b) The licensee may serve beverages to any visitor of legal drinking age by the glass or other suitable container.
(c) The licensee shall not allow any beverage or liquor to be served or sold to any person under the age of 21 on the premises.
VII. A nano brewery licensee may be issued a tenant brewer license under N.H. Rev. Stat. § 178:12-b if the licensee meets the requirements of N.H. Rev. Stat. § 178:12-b. Beer or specialty beer produced or packaged by nano brewery licensee as a tenant brewer at a host brewer facility shall be included in the production limit in paragraph I.
VIII. For an additional annual fee of $120, any nano brewery licensee may transport its products to a wine manufacturer’s facility licensed under N.H. Rev. Stat. § 178:8, for the purpose of sampling or selling its products. Samples may be sold or given away. Retail sales made at the wine manufacturer’s facility shall be limited to products in their unopened original containers and to customers and persons of legal drinking age. Nano breweries shall be subject to the following additional limitations under this section:
(a) Nano brewery licensees shall be limited to one sampling event per day.
(b) Sampling and sales of the nano brewery licensee’s products shall conform to the normal business hours of the winery licensee.
(c) Sample sizes shall be limited to one 16-ounce glass per person if no food is available and 2 16-ounce glasses if food is available.
(d) Nano brewery licensee products brought to a sampling event shall be brought to the wine manufacturer’s facility on the day of the event and all such products shall be removed at the end of the event.
(e) Nano brewery licensees shall notify the commission of date, times, and location of each sampling event not less than 5 days before each event.
IX. Each nano brewery shall have the right to transport the beverage it manufactures in barrels, kegs, bottles, or other closed containers within the state for sale to licensees and to the state border for transportation and sale outside the state. A nano brewer in a contract brewing arrangement may transport the beverage produced by the contract brewer in barrels, kegs, bottles, or other closed containers within the state for storage or to the state border for transportation and sale outside the state.
X. A nano brewer may enter into a contract brewing arrangement with a contract brewer brewing in the state of New Hampshire after the nano brewer has been in operation for one year. Beverages produced by a contract brewer intended for sale outside the state may be warehoused at the nano brewer’s facility or at some other facility accessible only to the nano brewer. A contract brewer shall not deliver beverages to on-premises and off-premises licensees within the state. A nano brewer shall file all contract brewing arrangements with the commission. A nano brewer shall not enter into a contract brewing arrangement with a contract brewer if it does not brew at least 10 barrels annually.
XI. Nano brewers and contract brewers shall be allowed to store beverages manufactured in accordance with the provisions of this title in a storage facility licensed by the commission. Nano brewers and contract brewers storing beverages in a warehouse licensed under N.H. Rev. Stat. § 178:11, or other facility approved by the commissioner for the purpose of storing alcohol, shall keep records of the type, quality, and destination of beverages removed from storage. Such records shall be retained by the nano brewer or contract brewer using the facility and shall be made available to the commission upon request. A nano brewer shall not enter into a contract brewing arrangement with a contract brewer if it does not brew at least 10 barrels annually.
XII. Annual on-site production by a nano brewer shall not be less than their production for the calendar year prior to entering into an arrangement with a contract brewer. Total production, including tenant and contract brewers, shall be at least 10 barrels and shall not exceed 2,000 barrels annually.
XIII. The nano brewer shall submit to the liquor commission an annual report of all beverages by:
(a) The nano brewer on-site.
(b) Any tenant brewer.
(c) Any contract brewer the nano brewer has contracted with under paragraph X.
XIV. All taxes due on product that is made by a contract brewer shall be paid by the nano brewer.

Chapter 178 Contents