Retail sale of alcohol – State law prohibits retail sale of liquor and wine between 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., and beer between midnight and 6:00 a.m. State law allows local municipalities to further restrict retail sales of alcohol, or ban the issuance of retail liquor licenses altogether.
- Local ordinances often prohibit retail beer sale after 9:00 p.m.
- At least two municipalities in Wisconsin prohibited the retail sale of alcohol until recently: the city of Sparta, and the village of Ephraim,
- In the April 1, 2014 Wisconsin spring election, voters in Sparta narrowly passed a referendum to allow the sale of beer and wine in groceries and convenience stores.
The ban on the sale of liquor within the city remains in effect. In the April 5, 2016, voters in Ephraim passed a referendum to allow the sale of beer and wine in restaurants and businesses.
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How late can you purchase alcohol in Wisconsin?
What time can you buy alcohol in Wisconsin? – Wisconsin state law allows the sale of alcohol from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m. in most cases. This is mostly for alcohol that is sold for consumption off the premises from where it was purchased. Alcohol sold at places with tamper-evident seals or by the glass — taverns, bars, restaurants, etc.
— is allowed to be served until 2 a.m. Hours allowed for alcohol sales vary by state. Most have limits on times for bars, restaurants and retailers, mostly after midnight and into the morning. Some allow local jurisdictions to decide, like Georgia and Florida. Miami-Dade County, for example, allows alcohol sales 24 hours a day.
Additionally, some states (Mississippi, North Carolina, Texas and Utah) don’t allow liquor stores to be open on Sundays. A few other counties around the country have similar prohibitions banning all alcohol sales.
How late can you buy beer in Madison WI?
BEER & LIQUOR “CLOSING HOURS” | City of Madison, City of Madison, Wisconsin A new Wisconsin law (Assembly Bill 63) will not change the hours people can legally buy beer, wine or liquor in Madison. That’s because state lawmakers have seen fit to allow local municipalities the ability to impose more restrictive “closing hours” by ordinance.
- Under AB 63, Class A license holders can sell beer from 6:00 a.m.
- Until midnight, and intoxicating liquor from 6:00 a.m.
- Until 9:00 p.m.
- Class A license holders are people who sell packaged beer, wine, and liquor for consumption elsewhere.
- Madison’s ordinance allows liquor store owners and other Class A license holders to sell alcohol from 8:00 a.m.
until 9:00 p.m. Under the city ordinance, there is no differentiation between beer, wine and intoxicating liquor in terms of “closing hours.” : BEER & LIQUOR “CLOSING HOURS” | City of Madison, City of Madison, Wisconsin
Can you drink at 20 in Wisconsin?
Can you drink under 21 with your parents in Wisconsin? – As mentioned above, the Wisconsin drinking age is 21, and minors under this age are allowed to consume alcohol as long as they are accompanied by a parent, legal guardian, or spouse of legal drinking age.
It is important to note that the Wisconsin drinking with parents law does not allow for unlimited or unsupervised drinking by minors. The responsible adult must exercise good judgment to ensure the minor does not consume excessive alcohol. Because of the Wisconsin drinking with parents law, Wisconsin drinking laws for minors may can confusion.
One aspect many are confused about is the minimum age one must be to drink with a parent or guardian legally. However, the law does not list a minimum age an individual must be to drink with a parent or guardian. Therefore, the law also applies to individuals under the age of 18,
This applies to drinking at restaurants, bars, and private homes. Moreover, Wisconsin’s Absolute Sobriety Law states that minors must be completely sober when operating a vehicle, regardless of age or with whom they are. According to the Wisconsin Alcohol Policy Project at UW-Law School, around 30 states have exceptions that allow minors to be served alcohol when with a parent or guardian.
However, it is ultimately up to the discretion of the establishment owner to allow or deny the consumption of alcohol to minors. The main concern is the behavior of minors after they have consumed alcohol. There are cases where owners of bars, taverns, and liquor stores refuse to serve those under 21, stating that although they can legally serve them, they don’t intend to do so.
Even if a minor is with their parents, it’s the owner’s discretion that they are 21 to drink on their premises. This is due to liability being a severe problem. Some owners won’t allow minors to drink because they have no control over what the minor will do after leaving the establishment. Therefore, they believe it’s safer to limit their liability.
The Wisconsin drinking with parents law was a topic of discussion for former State Senator Judy Robson of Beloit in 2009, as she attempted to modify the law to reduce drinking among minors. Senator Judy Robson authored a bill to set a minimum age limit of 18 for minors to legally consume alcohol with a parent or guardian in bars and restaurants.
Can passengers drink beer in a car in Wisconsin?
Alcohol – Is my driver license automatically suspended when I get an OWI? If you take a chemical test and the results are,08 alcohol concentration or more, you will be automatically suspended. If you refuse to take test(s), the penalties will be different.
How long is my driver license revoked if I refuse the intoxilyzer test? One to three years. Mandatory one year for a first offense. May you have alcoholic beverages in your vehicle in Wisconsin? No, you cannot have an opened container on your person in a motor vehicle on a public highway. Containers of alcoholic beverages with the seal broken must be transported in the trunk, or in a portion of the vehicle not normally occupied by passengers if the vehicle does not have a trunk – not the glove compartment.
May you drink alcohol in a motor home? Open container laws apply to all motor vehicles, including motor homes and pickup campers, except motor buses which are vehicles designed to transport people and having a passenger carrying capacity of 16 or more persons and chauffeur driven limousines.
Can you drink beer and hunt in Wisconsin?
No. – Wisconsin law forbids individuals from carrying or operating a firearm while they are “under the influence of an intoxicant,” though no numerical definition of intoxication is provided. The law defines “under the influence” as the state in which a person’s alcohol consumption makes it so that their ability to “handle a firearm or airgun is materially impaired.” The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that the law forbidding intoxicated firearm use was constitutional and did not violate the Second Amendment.
The ruling came in the case of a Madison man who carried a gun while drunk in his apartment during an argument with roommates. The man had claimed self-defense, but multiple courts rejected that defense. State law also bars anyone armed with a handgun from premises that have Class B liquor licenses — which allow liquor sales and on-premises consumption.
This Fact Brief is responsive to conversations such as this one. Sources Wisconsin State Legislature: Wisconsin Legislature: 941.20 Wisconsin State Legislature: Wisconsin Legislature: 939.22(42) Wisconsin Courts: Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling on State of Wisconsin v. Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. Jacob Alabab-Moser joined as Wisconsin Watch’s fact checker in September 2022, as part of the effort by The Gigafact Project in partnership with different state-level news outlets to combat misinformation in the 2022 midterm elections. Jacob has several years of experience as a fact checker and research assistant at a variety of organizations, including at The Gigafact Project.
How late can you buy alcohol in Illinois?
FAQs on Buying Beer, Wine & Liquor in Illinois –
- Can you buy liquor in grocery stores in Illinois?
- Yes, you can freely buy liquor for off-premise consumption in grocery stores in Illinois.
- Can you buy alcohol in gas stations in Illinois?
- Yes, you can freely buy alcohol in Illinois gas stations for off-premise consumption.
- What times can you buy liquor, wine, or beer in Illinois?
The alcohol sales times in Illinois vary per county, and some counties have a 24/7 sales policy. However, most off-premise and on-premise alcohol sales are from 7 AM to 2 AM Monday to Friday, 7 AM to 3 AM on Saturday and 8 AM to 2 AM on Sunday. Can you order alcohol to go in Illinois? Yes, you can order alcohol to go in Illinois, provided it is packaged in its original container and is delivered by a person over 21 years old.
- Where in Illinois can buy alcohol off-premise?
- Off-premise alcohol can be purchased in Illinois gas stations, grocery stores, package stores, and specialized liquor stores.
- Where can buy alcohol for on-premise consumption in Illinois?
- On-premise alcohol can be purchased in Illinois bars, restaurants, clubs, breweries, and taprooms.
- ( Data Sources – Visit the following pages for further information:, )
Here at Park Street, we provide various services i.e. operations,, and, that allow you to focus on marketing and brand building. We handle everything else! If you’re interested in learning more about the services at Park Street Companies, then please feel free to complete the form below. : Illinois Alcoholic Beverage Sales and Laws (2023)
When was the drinking age 18 in Wisconsin?
It’s time to lower the drinking age in Wisconsin | Casey Hoff The fact that an 18 year old can serve in the United States military, with all of the extraordinary risks and responsibilities associated with that decision, and then return to Wisconsin and be legally prohibited from drinking a beer, is absurd. Three Republican lawmakers have introduced a bill that would lower Wisconsin’s drinking age from 21 to 19. One of the bill’s sponsors, Rep. Adam Jarchow, says he chose age 19 to avoid the prospect of 18-year-old high school students drinking. The legal drinking age in Wisconsin has not always been 21. For example, between 1972 and 1984, the legal drinking age was 18. From 1984 until 1986, the legal drinking age was 19, before going up to 21 on Sept.1, 1986. CASEY HOFF: CASEY HOFF: In 1984, President Reagan signed a law, the National Minimum Drinking Age Act. The law effectively coerced states into raising their legal drinking ages to 21 by threatening the loss of a significant percentage of its federal highway funding if they did not do so. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, if Wisconsin now passed a law to change its legal drinking age to 19, we would lose 53.7 million dollars in federal highway funding. This is the biggest impediment to a lower drinking age in Wisconsin. But if the federal highway funding were not at issue, should we lower the drinking age? We allow 18 year olds to engage in lots of behavior that can be risky. For example, we allow 18 year olds to have sex and purchase and use firearms. We allow 18 year olds to engage in other adult activities, such as voting, working, getting married and serving on a jury. Overindulgence in alcohol certainly has disastrous effects on many of our citizens and produces great societal costs, including injury and death. But the fact that car accidents, injuries and fatalities sometimes occur because of alcohol consumption does not necessarily mean that lowering the drinking age would cause a measurable increase in those areas. Groups opposed to lowering the drinking age often make the point that drunk driving fatalities went down after the federal government passed the 1984 law regarding a 21 drinking age. While it is true that fatalities decreased, fatalities had already been declining since the 1970s, long before the 1984 law went into effect. Other countries with lower drinking ages than the United States, such as Canada, saw similar declines in alcohol-related traffic fatalities. Many European countries, with lower age restrictions on alcohol, do not have nearly the same societal issues with binge drinking and traffic deaths that we do in the United States. The CATO Institute published a 2009 report and study by Jeffrey Miron of Harvard University and Elina Tetelbaum of Yale Law School titled “Did the Federal Drinking Age Law Save Lives?” The report reads, in part: “The results of our analysis are striking. Virtually all the lifesaving effect of the came from a few states that adopted the restriction before the federal law was passed, not from the larger number of states that adopted the restriction under federal pressure. Further, any life-saving effect in the early-adopting states was temporary, occurring largely in the first few years after adoption.Thus the did not produce its main claimed benefit overall, and any such benefit was in precisely those states where no federal coercion occurred.” It is no secret that the overwhelming majority of college students, many of whom are under 21, drink alcohol on a regular basis. According to a 2001 analysis by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, underage drinking accounted for a staggering 17.5 percent of total consumer spending on alcohol nationwide. As a University of Wisconsin-Madison alumnus, I can personally attest to the completely un-shocking fact that the vast majority of students under the age of 21 drink alcohol. The students who illegally drink often do so at unregulated house parties in basements where unsafe binge drinking occurs and where there is little protection from overdosing. If the drinking age were lowered and these students drank at regulated bars and taverns, where bouncers and staff can stop serving obviously highly intoxicated people, it would mean less students at the more dangerous, unregulated house binge drinking parties. The federal government should allow states to lower their drinking ages to the nearly universal age of adulthood, 18, without the coercive threat of losing millions of dollars in federal highway funding. The fears espoused by opponents of this move are often overstated. Adults ought to be able to make adult decisions, such as whether to consume alcohol. Casey Hoff is a criminal defense attorney based in Sheboygan. : It’s time to lower the drinking age in Wisconsin | Casey Hoff
Can 18 year olds drink with parents in Wisconsin?
What is the legal drinking age in Wisconsin? Twenty-one years of age. This is also the age at which a person can enter or be on licensed premises. There are some exceptions, which we will discuss below. Secs.125.02(8m), 125.07(3), Wis. Stats.) Can children be in a bar with their parents? Yes.
Persons under age 21 may be on licensed premises, if they are with their parents, guardians, or spouses of legal drinking age; but this is at the discretion of the licensee. Sec.125.07(3), Wis. Stats. Can an underage person possess and consume alcohol beverages on licensed premises? Yes. Persons under age 21 may possess and consume alcohol beverages if they are with their parents, guardians or spouses of legal drinking age; but this is at the discretion of the licensee.
The licensed premises may choose to prohibit consumption and possession of alcohol beverages by underage persons. (Sec.125.07(1), Wis. Stats.) Are there other times that underage persons can be on licensed premises? Yes, there are several. Please see Publication 302, Wisconsin Alcohol Beverage and Tobacco Laws for Retailers, for more information.
A municipality (town, village, city) may pass an ordinance allowing underage persons to be in a room on a Class B premises where no alcohol is sold, furnished, served, or consumed by anyone when the underage persons are present. Each time this happens, the local police agency must authorize it in writing. Underage persons may be present on Class B premises when no alcohol beverages are consumed, sold, or given away. In other words, the place is closed for the sale or consumption of alcohol beverages. The beer, wine, and liquor must be in locked storage, unless the licensee, agent, or person with an operator’s license is present. The licensee must notify the local police agency in advance of when this will occur. No written police authorization is required. Underage persons may be in a dance hall or banquet or hospitality room attached to Class B licensed premises for the purpose of attending a banquet, reception, dance or other similar event.
Are there any places an unaccompanied underage person can possess alcohol beverages? Yes, an underage person can possess alcohol beverages if that person is employed by a brewer, brewpub, beer and/or liquor wholesaler, or producer of alcohol fuel. If working at a retail licensed premises, the underage person must be at least 18 years of age and hold an operator’s license or be working under the immediate supervision of the licensee, agent or licensed operator.
If working at a campus, the underage person must be at least 18 years of age and under the immediate supervision of a person 21 years of age or older. The alcohol possession must be during the course of employment. (Sec.125.07(4)(bm), Wis. Stats.) As a licensee, how do I ensure that the person across the bar, at the counter, or at the table is old enough to be there and to drink? Check the person’s identification (ID).
If anyone appears to be under 21, you must demand proof of age. Wisconsin residents must show either a valid Wisconsin driver’s license with a photo, a valid Wisconsin identification card, a valid military identification card with the person’s photo or a valid U.S.
- Passport or a valid identification card issued by a federally recognized American Indian tribe or band in this state (containing the person’s photograph and date of birth).
- Sec.125.085, Wis.
- Stats.) A lot of fake IDs are out there.
- How do I protect myself against being fooled? Become familiar with current valid driver’s licenses and IDs.
Compare the questioned ID with a standard, like your own ID. Be suspicious if it looks like the card was altered or tampered with, if it is discolored, or if any of the letters, logos, or photos are poorly applied or partially missing. Do not accept IDs you’re unfamiliar with.
- See Publication 302, Wisconsin Alcohol Beverage and Tobacco Laws for Retailers, for ID checking guidelines.
- Sec.125.085, Wis.
- Stats.) Is it a serious violation to make a fake ID? Yes.
- It is a crime punishable by fines and jail time.
- If you are caught making and selling a fake ID, it is a felony in Wisconsin, punishable by up to $10,000 in fines and 3 years in prison.
If you know someone who makes and sells fake IDs, please contact the Alcohol & Tobacco Enforcement Unit at (608) 266‑6701 or report it to your local law enforcement agency. (Sec.125.085(3), Wis. Stats.) You said that underage persons can work at licensed premises.
- Does this mean any age? No.
- They must be over age 14.
- Children over the age of 12 may work under the direct supervision of their parent or guardian in connection with the parent’s or guardian’s licensed premises.
- In addition, they must not be serving, selling, dispensing, or giving away alcohol beverages unless they are at least 18 years of age.
If over age 18 and they do not have their own operator’s license, they must be under immediate supervision by the licensee, agent, adult member of the licensee’s immediate family (a person living in the same household), or a person with an operator’s license.
- Secs.125.32(2) & 125.68(2), Wis.
- Stats) Are there any restrictions for underage persons who are musicians or other performers? If the performer is 16 or 17, he or she may perform on Friday, Saturday, or any other day not followed by a school day.
- If the performance is in a hall rented to celebrate a special event like a wedding, holiday, birthday, or anniversary, the underage performer may work until midnight on Sunday.
There are no such restrictions for performers over 18. (Sec.125.07(3)(a)9., Wis. Stats.) Can I get into trouble if somebody I serve goes out and injures or kills somebody? While there is a heavy moral burden in such a situation, Wisconsin does not have a “Dram Shop” law making you responsible for mayhem caused by persons you serve, as long as they are of legal drinking age.
However, if they are minors (under age 18), you may be convicted of a felony, punishable by up to $10,000 in fines and 6 years in jail, or $25,000 in fines and 10 years in jail. (Sec.125.075, Wis. Stats.) Does Wisconsin have a prohibition on hosting underage drinking parties? Yes, Wisconsin law prohibits an adult from knowingly permitting or failing to take action to prevent the illegal consumption of alcohol beverages by an underage person on any property that is owned and occupied by the adult or occupied by and under the control of the adult.
The prohibition applies to a lodging establishment (defined as: a bed and breakfast establishment, hotel, tourist rooming house or campground) only if the adult has furnished payment or security for the lodging. (Sec.125.07(1)(a)3., Wis. Stats.) This document provides statements or interpretations of the following provisions of Wisconsin Statutes enacted as of October 19, 2022: ch.125, Wis.
- Stats, Laws enacted and in effect after this date, new administrative rules, and court decisions may change the interpretations in this document.
- Guidance issued prior to this date, that is contrary to the information in this document is superseded by this document, according to sec.73.16(2)(a), Wis.
Stats.
Can you drink beer in Wisconsin at 18?
The legal drinking age in Wisconsin is 21 years of age or older. An ‘underage person’ is any person under the age 21. Possession, consumption, purchase, or procurement of alcohol beverages by an underage person is illegal, unless an exception applies.