2023 Vermont Statutes › Title 7 - Alcoholic Beverages, Cannabis, and Tobacco › Chapter 9 - Licensing › § 253. Sampling event permits

§ 253. Sampling event permits
(a) The Division of Liquor Control may grant a sampling event permit if the applicant has:
(1) received approval from the local control commissioners;
(2) submitted a request for the permit to the Division in a form required by the Commissioner at least 15 days prior to the event; and
(3) paid the fee provided in section 204 of this title.
(b) An event required to be permitted under this section is any event that is open to the public for which the primary purpose is to serve one or more of the following: malt beverages, vinous beverages, ready-to-drink spirits beverages, fortified wines, or spirits.
(c) A sampling event permit holder is permitted to conduct an event that is open to the public at which one or more of the following are served: malt beverages, vinous beverages, ready-to-drink spirits beverages, fortified wines, or spirits.
(d) The permit holder shall ensure the following:
(1) Attendees at the sampling event shall be required to pay an entry fee of not less than $5.00.
(2)(A) Malt beverages and hard ciders for sampling shall be offered in glasses that contain not more than 12 ounces with not more than 60 ounces served to any patron at one event.
(B) Vinous beverages or ready-to-drink spirits beverages for sampling shall be offered in glasses that contain not more than five ounces with not more than 25 ounces served to any patron at one event.
(C) Fortified wines for sampling shall be offered in glasses that contain not more than three ounces with not more than 15 ounces served to any patron at one event.
(D) Spirits for sampling shall be offered in glasses that contain not more than one ounce with not more than five ounces served to any patron at one event.
(E) Patrons attending a sampling event where combinations of malt beverages, vinous beverages, ready-to-drink spirits beverages, fortified wines, or spirits are mutually sampled shall not be served more than a combined total of six U.S. standard drinks containing 3.6 fluid ounces or 84 grams of pure ethyl alcohol.
(3) The event shall be conducted in compliance with all the requirements of this title.
(e)(1) A sampling event permit holder may purchase invoiced volumes of malt beverages, vinous beverages, or ready-to-drink spirits beverages directly from a manufacturer or packager licensed in Vermont or a manufacturer or packager that holds a federal Basic Permit or Brewers Notice or evidence of licensure in a foreign country that is satisfactory to the Board.
(2) The invoiced volumes of malt beverages, vinous beverages, or ready-to-drink spirits beverages may be transported to the site and sold by the glass to the public by the permit holder or its employees and volunteers only during the event.
(f) A sampling event permit holder shall be subject to the provisions of this title, including section 214 of this title, and the rules of the Board regarding the sale of the alcoholic beverages and shall pay the tax on the malt beverages, vinous beverages, or ready-to-drink spirits beverages pursuant to section 421 of this title.
(g) A person shall be granted not more than four sampling event permits per year, and each permit shall be valid for not more than four consecutive days. (Added 2017, No. 83, § 50; amended 2018, No. 1 (Sp. Sess.), § 50; 2021, No. 70, § 3; 2021, No. 177 (Adj. Sess.), § 15, eff. July 1, 2022; 2023, No. 67, § 6, eff. July 1, 2023.)