New Hampshire

Updated: 3/2009

Status: Permitted

Statute

New Hampshire statute Title XIII, Chapter 175, § 175:5-b provides that a license or permit is not required for the manufacture of family beer by persons over age 21 for personal or family use, and not for sale.

Discussion

This statute is a concise exception enabling the limited production of beer for home consumption without a license or permit. It also allows for transportation of the homebrew from the home for meetings, competitions, tastings, ect. and for personal use.

Special Provisions

N/A

State Alcohol Beverage Control Agency

• New Hampshire Liquor Commission
• 50 Storrs Street
• P.O. Box 503
• Concord, NH 03302-0503
• Phone: 603.271.3755
• Phone: 603.271.3134
• Fax: 603.271.1107

Applicable Statutory Material

§ 175:1. Definitions.

In this title:
I. “Adult” means any individual 21 years of age, or older.

III. “Alcohol” means that substance known as ethyl alcohol or hydrated oxide of ethyl alcohol which is commonly produced by the fermentation or distillation of grain, starch, molasses, sugar, potatoes or other substances, including all dilutions and mixtures of these substances.

VII. “Beer” means beer, lager beer, ale, porter and similar fermented malt beverages.

VIII. “Beverage” means any beer, wine, similar fermented malt or vinous liquors and fruit juices and any other liquid intended for human consumption as a beverage having an alcoholic content of not less than 1/2 of one percent by volume and not more than 6 percent alcohol by volume at 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

XIII. “Brewer” means a person who owns or operates a brewery.

XIV. “Brewery” means any place or premises where any beer is manufactured and all offices, granaries, mash-rooms, cooling-rooms, vaults, yards, cellars, and storerooms connected therewith or where any part of the process of manufacture of beer is carried on, or where any apparatus connected with such manufacture is kept or used, or where any of the products of brewing or fermentation are stored or kept.

§ 175:5. Cider.
This title shall not apply to sales of cider containing not more than 6 percent of alcohol by volume at 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Sale by manufacturers and farmers of cider containing more than said 6 percent may be made to the commission under such regulations and with such fees as said commission may prescribe, and such cider may be shipped out of the state under such regulation and fees as the commission may prescribe.

§ 175:5-b. Production of Beer for Personal or Family Use.
I. Except as provided in this section, this title shall not apply to the production of beer by persons over 21 years of age for personal or family use, when such beer is not offered for sale or sold, when produced in the following aggregate amount per household:

(a) Not in excess of 200 gallons per calendar year if there are 2 or more persons producing beer in such household.

(b) Not in excess of 100 gallons per calendar year if there is only one person producing beer in such household.

II. It shall be unlawful for any person to produce beer for personal or family use in excess of the amounts permitted in paragraph I or to offer for sale or sell such beer.

III. Beer produced under the provisions of paragraph I may be removed from the premises where made for personal or family use for use at organized home brewing meetings, exhibitions, or competitions, such as homebrewer’s contests, tastings, or judgings, and for personal off-premises use. Beer used under this paragraph shall not be sold or offered for sale.

§ 178:1. Licenses Required; Enforceability of Contracts and Agreements.

I. No person shall manufacture for sale or sell or keep for sale any liquor or beverage without first registering to do business with the secretary of state and obtaining a license for such activity under the provisions of this title.

Note: The information presented here is to the best of our knowledge and should not be used as a substitute for legal advice specific to the laws of your state.