What Steps Do I Need To Take To Market Moonshine In Pennsylvania?

Can you sell moonshine in PA?

1/1/2015 last updated

Pennsylvania does allow state residents to own a still and can use it for the manufacture of essential oils, vinegar, distilling water, etc. But the production of moonshine is illegal. It should be noted that Pennsylvania does offer compensation to informers for reporting people seen using a still or in possession of moonshine or distilling equipment or materials Pennsylvania residents are allowed to produce their own beer and wine for personal and private use but not for resale.4-492.

Unlawful acts relative to malt or brewed beverages and licensees (1) Manufacturing Without License. Except as provided herein, for any person, to manufacture malt or brewed beverages, unless such person holds a valid manufacturer’s license for such purpose issued by the board. Malt or brewed beverages may be produced by any person without a license if such malt or brewed beverages are produced not for sale and total production does not exceed two hundred gallons per calendar year.

Malt or brewed beverages produced in accordance with this paragraph may be used at organized affairs, exhibitions, competitions, contests, tastings or judging provided it is not sold or offered for sale. I was unable to find any information on fuel alcohol for this state.

1. Pennsylvania does offer a license to manufacture, store and transport distilled spirits Pennsylvania license for a distillery,
2. There are several licenses you need to request to legally manufacture spirits.
3. Below are the federal licenses only.
4. Additional state requirements will need to be followed as well.

You must submit a request for a license to manufacture spirits: TTB 5110.41 Basic permit, This license only allows you to produce spirits. You also need a license for the distilling equipment / distillery: TTB 5100.24 Distilled spirit plant For manufacturing ethanol fuel you will need to submit a request for a TTB 5110.74 for a federal license,1 1.4.

(a) The efficient administration of the Liquor Code requires the suppression of the unlawful manufacture of liquor, and to that end the Board may, in its discretion, pay for information leading to the location and seizure of illicit stills and the arrest and conviction of persons engaged in the operation of the stills. (b) Compensation to informers shall be based in each case upon the gallon capacity of the illicit still seized by reason of the information furnished. The amount of the compensation will be fixed by agreement between the Board and the informer, but will be paid only after the seizure of the still by the Board.

Current federal laws allow citizens the right to own a still and operate it for non-alcohol production. This means legally you can:

How much is a distillers license in PA?

, License and Permit Fees

Type	Annual Fee
(I)	Application filing fee	700
(II)	Renewal filing fee	30
(III)	License fee (prorated quarterly on volume)	5,400
(12) Distillery certificate broker permit:

How do I get a distilling license in PA?

If you’re thinking about starting a distillery in Pennsylvania, you’ll need to know about the limited distillery license. This license allows you to manufacture and sell up to 100,000 gallons of liquor per year. The word “liquor” is defined as: “any alcoholic, spirituous, vinous, fermented or other alcoholic beverage, powdered alcohol, or combination of liquors and mixed liquor a part of which is spirituous, vinous, fermented or otherwise alcoholic, including all drinks or drinkable liquids, preparations or mixtures, and reused, recovered or redistilled denatured alcohol usable or taxable for beverage purposes which contain more than one-half of one per cent of alcohol by volume.” Mixing liquor with other liquors, fruit juice, or any other mixture for resale to the public will require a limited distillery license.

• Liquor Sales The holder of the license can manufacture and sell bottled liquors produced on the licensed premises to the State, entities licensed by the State, and the public.
• In addition, limited distilleries can sell, for on-premises consumption only, wine, beer, and other spirits produced by other Pennsylvania alcohol manufacturers.

Key Benefits One of the key benefits of a limited distillery license is that it allows you to sell your spirits directly to consumers on your premises. This means you can offer tastings, tours, and retail sales, creating a unique and personalized experience for your customers.

1. Also, a limited distillery may sell its bottled products at up to five additional satellite locations other than the manufacturing premises with no bottling or production requirement at those locations.
2. How to Apply To obtain a limited distillery license, you must first apply to the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB).

The application process requires you to provide detailed information about your business, including your proposed location, ownership structure, and product offerings. You’ll also need to pay a fee and provide documentation such as a lease agreement and federal licensing information.

Once your application is approved, you’ll need to comply with certain premises requirements. These include having a secure storage area for your liquor and ensuring that your distilling equipment meets safety and regulatory standards. You’ll also need to keep accurate records of your production and sales.

If you’re interested in applying for a limited distillery license in Pennsylvania, it’s important to work with an experienced liquor license attorney. A knowledgeable attorney can guide you through the application process, help you understand your legal rights and obligations, and ensure that your business is compliant with all applicable laws and regulations.

What is the law for selling alcohol in Pennsylvania?

Eating Place (E) Liquor License – The primary purpose of the eating place (E) retail dispenser license is the regular and customary preparation and service of food to the public. The licensed area within the establishment must be no less than 300 square feet, equipped with tables and seating, and sufficient food, to accommodate at least 30 patrons at once.

1. The establishment must have a functioning kitchen or food preparation area, and it must have a current and valid health license issued by the governing municipal authority.
2. E licensees are only permitted to sell and serve malt and brewed beverages (beer) and may not sell liquor (wine or spirits) for on or off-premises consumption.

They may sell up to 192 fl. oz. of beer in a single transaction for off-premises consumption. Licensees may sell beer between 7:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. of the following day on Monday through Saturday. If the licensee applies for and obtains a Sunday Sales Permit, it may sell beer from 11:00 a.m.

on Sunday until 2:00 a.m. on Monday, but may start as early as 9:00 a.m. if it offers a “meal” as defined in the Liquor Code. No sales or service of beer can take place after 2:00 a.m., and all unfinished beer must be collected and all patrons must depart the licensed premises by 2:30 a.m. (although patrons may stay past 2:30 a.m.

if the establishment also holds an Extended Hours Food Permit).

Can you sell liquor in PA without a license?

Unlicensed Investigations – Investigations of unlicensed establishments, commonly referred to as “speakeasies,” are investigations to determine if sales of liquor, alcohol, or malt or brewed beverages are occurring without a license being issued to do so by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.

After establishing probable cause of the illegal sale of alcoholic beverages, seizure and criminal proceedings may be initiated. Unlawful sales of liquor, alcohol or malt or brewed beverages occur when a license is not issued by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board and a monetary condition is requested in order to obtain liquor, alcohol or malt or brewed beverages.

Examples of unlawful sales are as follows: A ticket price that includes food, entertainment, and liquor, alcohol or malt or brewed beverages; an event where an entrance fee (monetary payment) must be made in order to obtain liquor, alcohol or malt or brewed beverages.

A person who sells or offers to sell any liquor or malt or brewed beverage without being licensed is in violation of sales without a license (PA Liquor Code Title 47, Sections 491.1, 492.2, and 492.3) and shall, in addition to any other penalty prescribed by law, be sentenced to pay a fine of two dollars ($2.00) per fluid ounce for each container of malt or brewed beverages and four dollars ($4.00) per fluid ounce for each container of wine or liquor found on the premises where the sale was made or attempted.

The amount of fine per container will be based upon the capacity of the container when full, whether or not it is full at the time of the sale or attempted sale. In addition, all malt or brewed beverages, wine and liquor found on the premises shall be confiscated.

How much moonshine can you make in PA?

Simple answer is yes you can Legally buy and possess a still in Pennsylvania however you cannot use it to produce Moonshine. “The law in Pennsylvania is you can’t manufacture it. That law varies state by state,” People can brew homemade beer or make up to 200 gallons of wine for personal use or to give to family and friends, but they can’t sell it, Although it’s legal to buy distilling equipment (widely available online), it’s not legal in Pennsylvania to make hard alcohol without a liquor license.

If you’d like to see Moonshine legal in Pennsylania I’d suggest you check out this Facebook page that is trying to get Moonshine legalized in Pennsylvania! It’s hard to say as it depends on the circumstances. I’ve posted some article below about recent arrest made in Pennsylvania this should give you an idea of the punishment.

MCDONALD, Pa., – Police in Pennsylvania said they responded to a report of two men burning something in a shed and discovered an alleged moonshine making operation. McDonald police said Midway residents called officers to their neighborhood April 11 with a report of neighbors burning something in a shed and one witness told police he suspected they were making moonshine because he had seen a man loading Mason jars into a vehicle, The (Washington, Pa.) Observer reported Tuesday.

1. Police said they entered the shed to discover Matthew Zirwas III, 33, and Matthew Kirks, 29, operating what appeared to be an ethanol or moonshine distillery.
2. Police said the man admitted they had been making moonshine in the shed.
3. Zirwas and Kirks were both charged with five counts of reckless endangerment and one count each of failure to have a license to make liquor, illegal possession of liquor, disorderly conduct and possession of marijuana.

Primitive, jury-rigged stills and glass Mason jars with crude, homemade labels — the vestiges of Prohibition — are reappearing in Western Pennsylvania as illegal moonshine operations sprout up, according to law enforcement officials. State police say the number of illicit stills making powerful clear whiskey — known colloquially as white lightning, hooch or mountain dew — is growing, thanks in part to the popular Discovery Channel show “Moonshiners” that chronicles a motley crew of Appalachian bootleggers as they brew spirits and try to evade authorities.

They see (the show) and think, ‘It’s OK as long as I don’t sell it,’ ” said Officer Steven Brison of the state police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement’s Pittsburgh office. “The law in Pennsylvania is you can’t manufacture it. That law varies state by state,” he said. People can brew homemade beer or make up to 200 gallons of wine for personal use or to give to family and friends, but they can’t sell it, Brison said.

Although it’s legal to buy distilling equipment (widely available online), it’s not legal in Pennsylvania to make hard alcohol without a liquor license, police said. In recent months, police in Western Pennsylvania uncovered several apparent moonshine operations.

In April, police in Midway, Washington County, charged Matthew Kirks, 29, and Matthew Zirwas III, 34, with making moonshine and other offenses when neighbors smelled something burning inside a shed. McDonald police found a distilling operation “in plain view” of two homes. The still was made from two beer kegs connected by soldered copper lines, a propane tank with two burners placed under one keg and a water hose leading into the shed, according to court records.

A smartphone at the scene displayed a webpage titled, “How to make banana brandy moonshine,” records indicate. Police seized the equipment, the phone, Mason jars of moonshine and a variety of ingredients. “This was right before the first day of trout season, and they were going camping.

They weren’t going to sell it or anything; it was for personal consumption,” said Kirks’ attorney, Joseph Yablonski of Washington. “They made the stupid mistake of doing it in a shed behind a trailer in a trailer park where there are nosy people.” Kirks and Zirwas are expected to plead guilty this month and be sentenced to 23 months of probation under an agreement reached with prosecutors, said Yablonski and Mike Menner, Zirwas’ attorney.

Liquor enforcement officers worked with state troopers last month to investigate an operation in a home in Saltlick, Fayette County, Brison said. On June 5, police seized a crudely made still, fermentation tanks, cooling tubes, a heating tank and other items from the home of Charles Donaldson Jr., Brison said. Liquor enforcement officers from Punxsutawney cited DJ’s Sports Bar & Grill in Brookville, Jefferson County, with possessing homemade wine and operating a still to manufacture liquor without a license, said Sgt. Shawn Fischer. Officers seized a still, copper tubing and corn mash from the kitchen, along with a jug of homemade wine, according to news reports.

Big business in the South National statistics about moonshine-related charges are hard to come by, partly because different agencies look for violations and because the practice had sharply declined. The Treasury’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau stopped keeping statistics about moonshine arrests in 1995, a spokesman said.

Below the Mason-Dixon Line, authorities have infiltrated larger distilling operations than those in Pennsylvania. In June, Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control agents and the Pittsylvania County sheriff’s office raided the home of Ronald Way Bray, 63, and seized 339 gallons of moonshine, illegal stills, 18 weapons and cash.

• And in June 2011, a South Carolina sheriff reportedly seized $150,000, four vehicles and 1,500 to 2,000 gallons of moonshine in an undercover investigation.
• In the early 2000s, state and federal authorities busted a multimillion-dollar moonshine ring in Rocky Mount, Va., charging more than 30 people in Operation Lightning Strike for supplying tons of sugar, bottling supplies and other equipment for distilling alcohol.

In the same town in 1979, officials discovered a moonshine operation disguised as a cemetery, with fake concrete block headstones and artificial flowers. In a ditch with a green roof were 18 800-gallon black pots to cook mash and 443 gallons of moonshine — yet all that was visible from a road or the air were headstones and flowers.

Becoming all-inclusive Moonshining in America dates to 1620 when European settlers at Jamestown, Va., adapted whiskey recipes from the British Isles to use locally available corn, said Dan Pierce, history department chairman at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. “Whiskey-making was, particularly in the back country, which Western Pennsylvania would definitely be a part of, an important cash crop, really,” Pierce said.

“Making whiskey was much more profitable than selling corn and much easier to transport in a mountainous area.” Moonshiners distilled alcohol through battles over excise taxes, the Civil War and up to Prohibition, when demand and production exploded.

• Demand dropped significantly with the prosperity that followed World War II, and it declined further in the 1960s and 1970s when growing marijuana and making methamphetamine became popular, said Pierce.
• Today, moonshine is an all-inclusive term applied to illegally distilled spirits with varying percentages of alcohol.

Although commonly associated with rural areas, making and drinking moonshine has taken on cachet as flavored moonshines make their way into gourmet magazines alongside craft beers and artisan liquors. Websites and blogs offering advice about making moonshine abound.

Pinterest, a site on which users share images of recipes, craft ideas and household tips, contains dozens of recipes for flavoring legally made liquors with juice, fruit and spices to make a “moonshine” of sorts. That’s within the letter of the law as long as it stops there. If home cooks try to sell it, that’s against the law, police said.

Kari Andren is a Trib Total Media staff writer. She can be reached at 724-850-2856 or [email protected],

How much is a PA liquor license worth?

How much does a Pennsylvania liquor license cost? – Densely populated counties like Philadelphia or Allegheny have most of the retail liquor licenses in Pennsylvania. Rural counties have smaller populations and, therefore, fewer licenses. The price of retail licenses is subject to supply and demand.

1. A shortage of retail liquor licenses in a county may bump up pricing.
2. PA liquor license sales range from $15,000 to $500,000, and then there are the PLCB transfer costs (typically under $2,000).
3. If it makes sense for your business model, you may tailor your establishment to meet the requirements of businesses with no quota, such as manufacturers, hotels, wineries, breweries, and distilleries.

License renewal costs between $30 to $700 every 2 years. And before you can get the license from the PLCB, you’ll have to make sure everything is good to go. Whether you’re launching a new business or adding a fresh revenue stream to an existing one, you can find the liquor liability coverage and small business insurance you’ll need.

How long does a PA liquor license last?

District	​ Pa ckets Available	​ Filing Deadline	​ Expiration of License
​ ​District 1 (Blair, Bedford, Cambria, Centre, Clearfield, Cumberland, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Somerset, Union)	​October 3	​December 2	​January 31
​ District 2 (Adams, Dauphin, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Mifflin, Perry, Snyder, York)	​November 3	​January 2	​February 28
​District 3 (Berks, Chester, Northumberland, Schuylkill)	​December 3	​February 2	​March 31
​District 4 (Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton)	​January 3	​March 2	​April 30
​ District 5 (Allegheny)	​February 3	​April 2	​May 31
​ District 6 (Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Washington, Westmoreland)	​March 3	​May 2	​June 30
​District 7 (Cameron, Clarion, Clinton, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Forest, Jefferson, McKean, Mercer, Venango, Warren)	​April 3	​June 2	​July 31
​ District 8 (Carbon, Columbia, Luzerne, Lycoming, Montour, Sullivan)	​May 3	​July 2	​August 31
​District 9 (Bradford, Lackawanna, Monroe, Pike, Potter, Susquehanna, Tioga, Wayne, Wyoming)	​June 3	​August 2	​September 30
​District 10 (Philadelphia)	​July 3	​September 2	​October 31
​ District 11 (Bucks, Delaware)	​August 3	​October 2	​November 30
​ Calendar Year Licensees	​September 3	​November 2	​December 31

Districts 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 renew in odd-numbered years and validate in even-numbered years. Districts 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 renew in even-numbered years and validate in odd-numbered years. Most Calendar Year Licensees renew or validate annually, however, some renew every four years.

How many liquor licenses are there in PA?

Harrisburg – The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) today announced the return of more than $2.2 million in licensing fees to 1,359 municipalities in which licensees are located. Twice a year, as required by law, the PLCB returns liquor license fees paid by PLCB-approved licensees to the municipalities that are home to those licenses.

1. Municipalities have flexibility in allocating and spending the returned license fees to meet local needs.
2. The PLCB oversees the regulation of more than 15,000 retail liquor licenses statewide, including restaurants, clubs and hotels.
3. Licensees pay liquor license fees ranging from $125 to $700, depending on the type of license and the population of the municipality in which the license is located, as part of the annual license renewal or validation process, as well as in conjunction with approval of certain new applications.

The current dispersal period represents fees paid from Feb.1 to July 31, 2022. In all, 55 cities, 541 boroughs, and 763 townships will receive payments ranging from $25 to $359,875. The complete list of license fee distributions by municipality is available on the PLCB website.

1. Over the last five fiscal years, the PLCB returned just over $18 million in licensing fees to local municipalities.
2. The PLCB regulates the distribution of beverage alcohol in Pennsylvania, operates 600 wine and spirits stores statewide, and licenses 20,000 alcohol producers, retailers, and handlers.
3. The PLCB also works to reduce and prevent dangerous and underage drinking through partnerships with schools, community groups, and licensees.

Taxes and store profits – totaling nearly $18.7 billion since the agency’s inception – are returned to Pennsylvania’s General Fund, which finances Pennsylvania’s schools, health and human services programs, law enforcement, and public safety initiatives, among other important public services.

1. The PLCB also provides financial support for the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, other state agencies, and local municipalities across the state.
2. For more information about the PLCB, visit lcb.pa.gov,
3. MEDIA CONTACT : Shawn M.

Kelly, 717.303.8522 # # #

Can you make whiskey at home in Pennsylvania?

How Whiskey Is Made – There are four components to the whiskey production process (which, I can attest from experience, will be hammered into your brain more solidly than your own address should you ever decide to take the WSET Spirits Certification course ). Sampling some of the grains as they are being cooked at Tuthilltown Distillery in New York Once you’ve got a big barrel of sugary liquid, the next thing to do is to add yeast and allow the liquid to ferment. This process can take a couple days, and the end result is that the sugar in the mixture is used by the yeast to multiply and grow.

The three results of that process are heat, carbon dioxide, and alcohol. The tricky thing here is keeping the yeast happy — too much heat and they die off (which is why commercial distilleries have water jackets around their fermentation tanks: to take away the heat produced as part of this process).

But in the end, at some point the yeast finishes their feast and what’s left is a mildly alcoholic beer. Up until this point, if you want to do this at home you are 100% in the clear from a legal perspective usually. I am not a lawyer, none of this is legal advice, and you should consult your own counsel if you have any questions. The smaller pot still that’s used for testing new ideas at Still Austin in Austin, Texas. The process of distilling the mildly alcoholic beer into liquor is the regulated step in the process. This step is all about concentrating that mildly alcoholic liquid (usually about 10% alcohol by volume) into something much stronger using a still.

Because alcohol evaporates at a lower temperature than water, if you heat your beer and condense the vapors coming off of it you can selectively capture the alcohol rich portions which is your “new make” whiskey. Here in the United States, there is no way to legally distill alcohol for personal home use without a license,

See 27 CFR § 19.51 : A person may not produce distilled spirits at home for personal use. Except as otherwise provided by law, distilled spirits may only be produced by a distilled spirits plant registered with TTB under the provisions of 26 U.S.C.5171.

1. All distilled spirits produced in the United States are subject to the tax imposed by 26 U.S.C.5001.
2. For those looking to go the legal route here, it gets complicated and expensive real quick.
3. Still sites require licenses, bonded operators, and incur taxes as soon as the whiskey starts rolling out of the condenser.

Record keeping is required for every drop of liquor produced, and federal regulators check and monitor those operations to make sure the right amount of tax is being paid to the government. And due to the complexity of the regulations, the difficulty in obtaining the licenses, and the other considerations (like zoning laws, etc) that go with them, the bar for operating your own still is set so high that almost no one besides well funded distillery operations can even consider giving it a try.

1. There are some who just simply ignore that whole section of the law, making moonshine (illegal whiskey produced “by the light of the moon” to avoid detection) in the back woods, constantly running from the ATF and selling their product on the black market.
2. We here at 31W do not recommend breaking the law and, obviously, do not condone y’all trying this at home.

So, the legal implications of distilling alcohol pretty much put the brakes on any home distillation practices. But there is one last component to the whiskey making process, and that’s one that you can absolutely do legally in your own home. Advertisment

Can you bartend in PA without a license?

Pennsylvania – Required Since 2016, the state of Pennsylvania has required that anyone selling or serving alcohol must complete a program run by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) known as the Responsible Alcohol Management Program, This certification must be obtained no later than six months after an employee’s hire date. Learn More: Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board

What is Section 470 of the PA liquor Code?

Nuisance Bar Program in Pennsylvania In January 1990, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) established a program under the provisions of Section 470 of the Liquor Code to review at the time of license renewal, the operational history of any licensed establishment who, by its actions, may have abused the license privilege.

• This program seeks response from the community and various enforcement and government jurisdictions to report any adverse activity occurring via the licensed establishment.
• Act 155 of 1998 expanded the provisions of Section 470 to allow the Board to consider activity occurring on or about the premises or areas under the licensee’s control, if the activity occurs when the licensed premises is open for operation, and there is a relationship between the activity outside the premises and the operation of the establishment.

The PLCB does not enforce the Liquor Code. Enforcement powers are vested with the Pennsylvania State Police, Bureau of Liquor Enforcement. (PSP, BLCE). Adjudication of any violation is decided after a waiver of admission or an administrative hearing conducted by a judge from the Office of Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), an autonomous arm of the PLCB.

• The PLCB is charged by statute with the authority to issue licenses, to make regulations, and to protect the safety, peace, health and welfare of the Commonwealth,
• The Nuisance Bar Program was established within this scope of the Board’s authority.
• In determining whether a licensed establishment is a “nuisance bar”, the PLCB will use the licensee’s citation history and other facts to object to the renewal of the license.

An objection to renewal will be entered if the licensee has had three or more adjudicated citations in the two-year period prior to the renewal for any combinations of violations involving sales to minors, sales to visibly intoxicated persons, noise emanating from amplified music (loudspeakers), after hours sales, lewd and immoral conduct, and the like.

• The Board will also consider an objection to the application if the licensee, its shareholders, directors, officers, association members, servants, agents or employees have one or more adjudicated citations under the license.
• In cases where any of those mentioned earlier have been charged with violating any law of the Commonwealth or have one or more unadjudicated citations pending at the time of license renewal, the Board may renew the license; however, the renewed license may be revoked if the licensee or any of his servants, agents or employees are convicted of the pending criminal charges or when the citation is adjudicated by the ALJ’s office.

A distributor or importing distributor license is subject to non-renewal if, in the preceding renewal period, the licensee was found guilty of selling to minors under two or more citations. The Director of the Bureau of Licensing may schedule a non-renewal hearing if a licensee’s operating history involves allegations of egregious activity which may or may not have resulted in a citation.

The provisions of Section 470 of the Liquor Code now allow the Board to consider activity occurring on or about the licensed premises or in areas under the licensee’s control, if the activity occurs when the premises is open for operation and there is a relationship between the activity outside the premises and the manner in which the premises is operated.

The local police department or District Attorney’s Office will provide incident reports and witnesses who can testify to violations outside the scope of the Liquor Code. In these cases, it is necessary to prove that the licensee knew or should have known about the illegal activity, but failed to take substantial steps to prevent the activity.

Licensee has received a combination of three or more citations for sales to minors, frequenting by minors, sales to visibly intoxicated person(s), noise amplified speakers, noisy/disorderly operations, after-hours sales and lewd and immoral conduct/entertainment. Licensee has received one citation for drug transactions on the licensed premises involving the licensee or its employees on one or more occasions or drug transactions on three or more occasions involving patrons and it determined the licensee knew or should have known of the illegal activity. Licensee has received one citation involving prostitution. A distributor or importing distributor has received two citations involving sales to minors. A licensee has received a citation involving a felony conviction of the licensee, its officers, directors, shareholders, or partners in which there are no innocent parties. The licensee has received a citation for breach of the Conditional Licensing Agreement.

Under the statute governing Amusement/Entertainment permits, this permit might be in jeopardy of non-renewal if they have received citations for the following violations within two years prior to the annual renewal of the amusement permit:

Any licensee has received two or more citations for lewd and immoral conduct Complaints from the community regarding loud music or entertainment (seven (7) or more violation dates) Lewd, immoral or improper entertainment on the licensed premises (two (2) or more violation dates)

Once potential candidates for non-renewal are identified, letter of warning will be sent to licensees advising them that they are under review and that they may be subject to non-renewal action. Objection to renewal under the statute requires that the Board gives written notice of objection to renewal 10 days prior to the expiration date of the license term.

• The letter will state all potential reasons for non-renewal.
• The Board at this point will request a hearing before a Board hearing examiner.
• Testimony regarding all facts will be presented by the Board and also the licensee at this hearing.
• The hearing examiner will submit a report establishing the finding of fact on the evidence presented and make a recommendation to the three member Board.

The Board will then determine whether to grant or refuse license renewal based on the record and evidence presented at the hearing and the recommendation of the hearing examiner. If a license is not renewed, operations must cease as noted in the published order.

• The licensee has the right to appeal the Board’s order.
• This appeal must be filed within twenty (20) days from the date of the Board’s order with the Court of Common Pleas of the county in which the premises is located.
• The filing of an appeal with the Court of Common Pleas stays, puts on hold, the cessation of operations until the Court hears all evidence and makes a determination as to whether to uphold the Board’s decision or rule in favor of the licensee.

At any point during the hearing or court process, the licensee may propose an offer in compromise to the non-renewal of its license to the Board. This will usually involve the sale of the license to an independent third party. During the process of the sale the license will be placed into safe-keeping (inactive) with the Board.

Why are Pennsylvania liquor laws so strict?

History. Pennsylvania’s complex alcohol laws can be traced back to the Prohibition era. Gifford Pinchot, who served as governor from 1923 to 1935, had a ‘dry’ stance on alcohol. Even as Prohibition was repealed in Pinchot’s second term, he maintained his tough stance on alcohol control.

Can PA sell alcohol on sunday?

Liquor licensees and retail dispenser licensees with Sunday sales permits may dispense alcohol between 9 a.m. Sunday and 2 a.m. Monday. A liquor licensee with a wine expanded permit and a Sunday sales permit may sell wine to go on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.

1. Airport Restaurant Liquor (AR) licensees with Sunday sales permits may dispense alcohol between 5 a.m.
2. Sunday and 2 a.m. Monday.
3. The following types of liquor licensees are permitted to sell alcohol – even without a Sunday sales permit – between 1 p.m.
4. Sunday and 2 a.m.
5. Monday on Super Bowl Sunday, as well as on Dec.31, when New Year’s Eve falls on a Sunday.

Additionally, when March 17 falls on a Sunday, no Sunday sales permit is required for the following types of licensees to sell alcohol between 7 a.m. and 2 a.m. on St. Patrick’s Day and Groundhog’s Day:

Can you open carry alcohol in Pennsylvania?

The Open Container Law – Under the PA open container law, possession of an open container of alcohol while on the roadway is considered illegal. Both driver and passenger caught violating this law may be cited for violations. Even passengers could get charged with DUI convictions and face severe penalties such as probation, jail time, and license suspension.

Do you have to ID everyone buying alcohol in PA?

47 P.S. § 4-495(g). A policy wherein a licensee checks the identification of each and every patron purchasing alcohol, regardless of age, gender, race or any other factor, is not discriminatory and is completely permissible under Pennsylvania law.

What is the highest alcohol content in PA?

Pennsylvania restricts sales of alcohol at 190 (95 ABV) proof or greater to non-potable uses.

Can you sell homebrew in PA?

Can I Brew Beer at Home and Sell It Without a Liquor License? By Attorney Frank C. Sluzis, Esq. No. If you brew beer at home and sell it at farmer’s markets or other locales, you need a liquor license. More specifically, you need a brewery license. In Pennsylvania, the type of license you need depends on what you do with your beer after you brew it.