anone know the laws on delivering beer? there is a liquor store next door to us. Do I need to get a lic?
thanks
what do yo umean “delivering” beer? … as in delivery drivers delivering it with pizza? … im sure that is something youwillhave to check on with your local or state liqour authority… plus if you have any drivers under 18 it cant happen… i think you might be playing with fire on this one and you could possibly get burned… not worth it IMO
Yep, your state liquor department would be your best bet. It varies from state to state and from license to license. I would venture to say that you will most certainly need a license and I would also bet that you will have to stock your own beer as well. Be very careful here because one very small mistake can cost you everything, so educate yourself as much as possible because you can’t afford to learn from your mistakes on this one! On that note make sure to insure yourself as well.
The tricky part about delivering beer here in the great white north is the liquor license requirements. If you do deliver beer then you cannot have any drivers under 18. You must also check the customers age and if you screw up the driver can be fined $5000 and you can be fined upto $25000. Those fines are too rich for my blood and I like to be able to hire good drivers no matter how old they are.
federal labor laws state that you cannot have drivers under the age of 18 whether delivering pizza or beer. You will almost definatly need a license to deliver beer and probably not be able to buy it from the liquor store next to you(at least in florida that is the law). I’ve toyed with this idea, but would only do it if I had mobile photocopy machines and made my drivers copy the license. Still alot of liability. Could be a goldmine though.
Paul7979
Here in Canada if you have a drivers license and insurance you can deliver pizza. It is a good thing too because young punks with no education are able to get work in the oil patch making $30 - $50 per hour with no experience. that leaves the 16 year olds to drive the pizzas.
Sorry, just assuming(we all know the breakdown of that word…I’m guilty) that this unregistered poster is in the US. There was a post a month or so ago where I was under the impression that there are operators on this board that do not realize that the US govt requires all who use a vehicle for their job be over 18 years of age. I think beer delivery could be a great idea if done right in the right market, but alot of though needs to be put in.
I ran a delivery service and was asked to run beer. When I looked into it I would have had to pay $5000 per year for the license to cover 6 drivers and all must be over 18 and bondable. With those restrictions and the potential fines for delivering to under age I said no thank you.
Hey Paul7979,
Have you thought of using digital cameras to photograph the ID and the buyer? Just a thought.Great idea!!! I haven’t put much thought into beer delivery a few years, and when I was digital cameras were not readily available.
Other problems I came up with is how common will it be that someone orders 2 large pizza and a case of beer, but when you arrive they are underage. You don’t sell them the beer, so now they don’t want the pizzas.
What happens when someone orders beer at 1:30(where I’m at you can only sell beer till 2:00) but for whatever reason you cant get it there by 2:00. You now have a really pissed off customer.
I could fill up pages of other potential problems that have kept me from adding beer to my menu.
I had thought about opening a business that strictly did beer/liquor delivery called “the Beer Run”.
When I stopped to think for 5 minutes of potential business stopping fines and fees, I changed my mind.
sorry I am Ron M and forgot to sign in, yes I am in the u.s.
and found out I need a liquor lic
lots of risk, lots of rewards as well
Hi Ron, I got my start in the sports bar biz and yes there are tons of rewards, but after twelve years in the biz I am soooooo happy to be out! In twelve years we only had fate bite our butts three times, but that is just about three times too many for me anymore. I ran the tightest ship possible when it came to the liquor laws, but you just can’t catch every single little thing. I am going to have a beer and wine license in my new place but luckily it is a pizza place, not a bar, so hopefully I won’t have people really trying to get drunk in there (and I won’t let them if they try!)! Liquor can make you tons of money, but just make sure you take it very seriously!
What would really be cool is if you could sell gallon jugs of DRAFT beer 
That is lots of fun! In my last place I put in a Micro-brewery at the tail end and we were allowed to sell “growlers” to go. The Micro-brewery, and some of the customers, are just about the only things I miss about that place!