Policy Description
(Period Covered: 1/1/1998 through 1/1/2015)
This policy topic covers laws addressing retail distribution of beer including State-run, private licensed sellers, or combination systems.
Note: The secondary literature and the laws and regulations related to this policy topic use a variety of terms that are sometimes used in different ways by different jurisdictions. To see definitions for these terms as they are used in APIS, see the Definitions heading below.
The policy topics that fall under the general heading of Alcohol Control Systems describe the systems for wholesale and retail distribution of alcoholic beverages in each State and the District of Columbia. For each beverage type (beer, wine, distilled spirits) a State may use a State-run distribution system, a system of private licensed sellers, or some combination of these at the wholesale level, the retail level, or both. All States with a license wholesale system also have a license retail system. However, States with State-run wholesale systems may have either State-run or license retail systems. No State maintains a State-run system of retail sale for on-premises consumption.
Many States distinguish among beers (and other beverage types) on the basis of alcohol content, usually expressed as a range (e.g.,