Apply for an Alcoholic Beverages Farmer Brewery License (ABCC)

To apply for for a Farmer Brewery license pursuant to M.G.L. c. 138, § 19C you will need electronic copies of the documents listed below.

Required Documents for ALL new Farmer Brewery licenses:

• Alcohol & Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) License [Brewer's Notice]
• Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Food Facility Registration
• Surety Bond, sometimes referred to as the excise tax bond. Entity must be bound unto the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for $3,000.
• Personal Information Form for anyone with Beneficial or Financial Interest in this license (any person or business entity with ownership).
• CORI Release Form for the liquor license manager.
• Proof of Citizenship for the liquor license manager. Any one of the following is acceptable: US Passport, US Passport Card, Birth Certificate, Voter Registration or Naturalization Papers.
• Floor Plan of proposed premises to be licensed.
• Lease / Occupancy Documents for the premises.
• Financial Statement and Documents for the proposed transaction.

In addition

    If entity applying is a Business:

• Vote of the Corporate Board or LLC is required authorizing any transaction you are applying for.
• Business Structure Documents: Articles of Organization, Partnership Agreement, Bankruptcy Documents, Estate Documents, Trust Documents or Business Certificate, are required depending on your corporate structure.

    If applying as an Alternating Proprietorship - Host

• Alternating Proprietorship Agreement

    If applying as an Alternating Proprietorship - Tenant

• Alternating Proprietorship Agreement
• Brewing Schedule

    If Pledging license/stock/beneficial interest/inventory, the following is required:

• Pledge Agreement
• Promissory Note
• Vote of the Corporate Board or LLC approving the Pledge.

    If applying for a transportation permit with your license:

• Vehicle Registration for each vehicle being permitted.

• The Farmer Brewery License is issued by the state and not the Local Licensing Authority.
• A Farmer Brewery Licensee may serve samples on their premises as long as the Local Licensing Authority permits it.
• To serve alcohol by the glass on the premises, the Farmer Brewery license holder must obtain a Farmer Series Pouring Permit. This application is submitted through the Local Licensing Authority.
• A Farmer Brewery licensee can sell directly to licensed Massachusetts retailers. They can also sell directly to licensed Massachusetts wholesalers.
• A Farmer Brewery licensee can sell at retail by the bottle to consumers for consumption off the brewery premises.
• If you would like to have a Farmer Brewery, a Farmer Distillery, and a Farmer Winery at the same location, each business must be on separate and distinct parts of the property.  In other words, each license would list a different portion of the property as being only for a brewery, distillery, or winery.  The premises for each license cannot overlap.
• You can not hold both a Farmer Brewery license and a Pub Brewery license at the same time.

To generate a list of the most current on-premises and off-premises licensees (retailers) or Wholesalers, please use our General Search Function provided on our eLicensing and ePermitting portal.