Changes to retail sales authorizations for breweries, wineries, manufacturers, and rectifiers

April 29, 2024

To: Municipal Clerks

Cc: Municipal Treasurers

The Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR) would like to inform you of significant changes that 2023 Wisconsin Act 73 made to the way that producers – specifically breweries, wineries, manufacturers, and rectifiers – may make retail sales of alcohol beverages.

  • All municipal retail alcohol beverage licenses issued to producers expire and cannot be renewed as of May 1, 2024
  • Producers will automatically be able to sell their own products at their production facility for on- or off-premises consumption and provide taste samples through their state-issued permit
  • Producers will need Division of Alcohol Beverages (DAB) approval – but not municipal approval – for retail sales of alcohol beverages they do not produce at the production facility
  • Producers will need DAB approval and municipal governing body approval for retail sales of alcohol beverages at an outlet away from their production facility
  • Note: Brewpubs are unaffected by these changes

Form AB-105: Producer Full-Service Retail Sales Application

  • Posted on DOR's alcohol beverage permit applications webpage
  • Producers will use this form to request retail sales authority from municipalities and DAB
  • Producers may request some full-service retail sales authority from municipalities – this is not a retail license
  • Municipal approval of this authority does not allow the business to make these sales without final approval from DAB

Effective May 1, 2024

  • All producer permittees must have licensed operators (bartenders) supervising the service of alcohol beverages
  • Municipal clerks may see an uptick in operator's license applications
  • 2023 Wisconsin Act 73 created an operator's permit, issued by the state. This provision does not go into effect until January 1, 2025, and does not change the municipal operator's license process at all.
  • Fees, qualifications, and application process for municipally-issued operators licenses is unchanged

Background

  • Producers, as a condition of their state-issued alcohol beverage permit, may make sales of alcohol beverages produced on any of their production premises.
    • Example: ABC, LLC holds a winery and a manufacturing permit. ABC, LLC may make retail sales of the wine produced under its winery permit and the distilled spirits made under its manufacturing permit at BOTH the winery and the manufacturing premises.
  • For producers to sell alcohol beverages they do not produce, they will have to earn the ability to do so by meeting certain production thresholds and asking the appropriate authority for permission to engage in additional sales. For production threshold levels, read DOR on Tap – February 2024.
  • "Full-Service Retail Sales" means sales of intoxicating liquor (including wine) and fermented malt beverages, sold for on-or off-premises consumption, and the furnishing of taste samples.
  • There are three ways a producer can engage in full-service retail sales if the production thresholds are met:
    1. Full- service retail sales on the production premises.
      • Full portfolio of alcohol beverages, purchased from a wholesaler (except for their own products), for on- or off-premises consumption from the production premises identified in the producer permit.
      • Request this authorization using AB-105 and filling out Part C. Submit ONLY to the Division of Alcohol Beverages.
    2. Full-service retail sales at a fixed off-site retail outlet.
      • Full portfolio of alcohol beverages, purchase from a wholesaler (except for own products), for on- or off-premises consumption from a fixed offsite location that is not the production premises identified in the producer permit.
      • Example: A brewery, with its production premises located in Wausau, would like to open a tap room in Milwaukee.
      • Request this authorization using AB-105 and filling out Part D. Submit first to the municipality in which the proposed outlet will be located. After municipal approval, the application should be submitted to the Division of Alcohol Beverages for final approval.
    3. Full-service retail sales at an unlimited transfer off-site retail outlet.
      • Full portfolio of alcohol beverages, purchased from a wholesaler (except for their own products), for on- or off-premises consumption from a location that moves without limitation on frequency in a calendar year.
      • Example: A winery would like to participate in a community festival at their local park. The event is for three days over a weekend.
      • Request this authorization using AB-105 and filling out Part D. Submit first to the municipality in which the proposed premises will be located. After municipal approval, the application should be submitted to the Division of Alcohol Beverages for final approval.

Process

  • Municipalities must approve of fixed full-service retail outlets and unlimited transfer retail outlets
  • When evaluating applications for full-service retail outlets, municipalities should use the same process they use for evaluating retail alcohol beverage licenses. A step-by-step guide on this is found in DOR on Tap – May 2023.
  • Municipalities must use the same standards and criteria, established by ordinance, for the evaluation and approval of retail license applications
  • Municipalities may limit the scope of alcohol beverages offered for sale at a full-service retail outlet, but only with respect to alcohol beverages that are not the same type as those produced by the applicant
  • Once approved, an appropriate municipal official should fill in Part G of AB-105 and return it to the applicant. The applicant will submit the form, with municipal approval, to DAB for final authorization.
  • DAB will
    • Issue a permit for display in the off-site retail outlet to demonstrate approval
    • Inform a municipality that an outlet was NOT granted final approval

Questions?

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