Opening a microbrewery in Montana

What this site covers, and the one fact behind it

In Montana, a brewery is a business licensed to manufacture, import and distribute beer, and what that license lets you do depends on how much beer you make.

The pages here split along that line. One set covers the federal Brewer's Notice and the state license you need before the first brew day. Another covers how the beer may leave the building: by the glass, by the growler, by your own van, or only through a wholesaler. Start with the full opening guide if you are at the beginning.

The two licenses, in the order you need them

The federal permit comes first, and that order is not a preference. Montana will not take your brewery application until you hold a Brewer's Notice from the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.

The Brewer's Notice guide covers the federal application, the form numbers and the bond question. The Montana license guide covers the state application, its $500 fee and the June 30 renewal date.

What it costs, before the equipment

The state fees are small next to a brewhouse. They still add up, and some of them surprise people.

The cost breakdown lists every fee with a number attached, from the $35 Articles of Organization to the $1.30 per barrel state tax. The yearly page collects what comes due after year one.

The business behind the beer

The Brewer's Notice is issued to your business entity, not to you as a brewer. That single fact shapes the structure choice and what happens when ownership changes.

The LLC page explains the entity rules and the amendment traps. The formation services page lists what each filing service publishes about its own prices, next to the $35 file-it-yourself route.

How the beer may leave the building

Montana runs the three-tier system with a carve-out for small breweries, and the carve-out has hard edges: 48 ounces, closing hours, your own trucks.

The three-tier page explains the tiers and where a small brewery sits in them. The taproom page covers the sample room rules. The distribution page weighs delivering your own beer against a wholesaler.

Labels, taxes and the calendar

Two label approvals can attach to one can: the federal certificate and the Montana registration, and a beer over 8.75 percent alcohol adds a third review.

The label page untangles them. The taxes page covers the federal $3.50 barrel rate and the Montana graduated tax, with the filing deadlines each one runs on. The opening checklist puts the whole order in one list.

Opening a brewery in Montana

• How to open a brewery in Montana — The full order for opening a Montana microbrewery: the entity, the EIN, the federal notice, the state license, the sample room and the taxes.
• How to get a Montana brewery license — The Montana brewery license: the $500 fee, the TAP application, the location rules, the sample room and the June 30 renewal.
• Montana brewery opening checklist — The opening checklist for a Montana microbrewery: the entity, the EIN, the notice, the license, the sample room, labels and calendar.

The federal permit

• How to get a federal Brewer's Notice — The TTB Brewer's Notice application for a new brewery: Form 5130.10, the EIN you need first, the bond exemption, and what must be amended after approval.
• Beer label approval for a Montana brewery — The federal COLA at no fee, the Montana label registration in TAP, and the 8.75 percent ABV rule that reaches beer that never leaves the taproom.

What does it cost?

• Microbrewery startup costs in Montana — The fees behind a Montana microbrewery: the $500 state license, the $35 LLC filing, the $1.30 barrel tax and what carries no fee at all.

The business behind the beer

• Which business structure for a Montana brewery — LLC or corporation for a brewery: the permit follows the entity, ownership changes need amendments at 10 percent, and the license rides along.
• LLC formation services for breweries — Formation services for a Montana brewery LLC: each service's own prices, the agent treatment, renewals, and the $35 file-it-yourself route.

How the beer reaches customers

• Montana's three-tier system and your brewery — How Montana's three tiers apply to breweries: which tier a brewery license sits in, and the self-delivery carve-out small breweries keep.
• Montana taproom rules for breweries — Sample room rules for a Montana small brewery: the 48-ounce limit, the 10-to-8 window, take-home sales, patios and the stacked license.
• Self-distribution or a wholesaler in Montana — A Montana small brewery may deliver its own beer with its own trucks and staff, and may not use common carriers. When the van beats the distributor.

What comes due each year

• Brewery taxes in Montana, explained — Two taxes on one barrel: the federal $3.50 rate on the first 60,000 barrels, and Montana's $1.30 barrel tax on its own July-to-June year.
• The yearly calendar for a Montana brewery — Every date a Montana brewery owes: the June 30 renewal, the April 15 report, the July 1 fiscal quarters, and the federal clock.

Questions