Which business structure for a Montana brewery

The permit follows the entity, not the brewer

Pick the entity before the federal application, because the Brewer's Notice is issued to the business. A sole proprietorship puts the federal permit on you personally.

That matters for the life of the brewery. When ownership moves, TTB expects amendments keyed to the entity's ownership structure: stock for corporations, membership for LLCs. A clean entity makes those filings routine, and the Brewer's Notice guide lists what must be amended.

Both structures can hold a Montana brewery license. The choice is about tax treatment, ownership change mechanics and how much paperwork you want, which is what the rest of this page weighs.

A change in actual or legal control of a brewery occurs with changes in stock ownership, LLC membership ownership, or major changes in the corporate officers or directors of a corporation. — Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, retrieved 2026-09-29

Why most breweries pick an LLC

An LLC gives liability separation with partnership-style taxation: profit passes to the members and the brewery files no corporate return of its own. For one to five owners running a taproom, that fits.

The filing in Montana is the Articles of Organization, at $35 with the Secretary of State. Amending them later, for a new name or a new member, costs $15.

Annual upkeep is light. The LLC annual report is due April 15, and the Secretary of State waives the fee for reports filed before that date. Compare that with the corporate route before deciding.

$35Montana charges a $35 filing fee for domestic LLC Articles of Organization and $15 for Articles of Amendment, and waives the annual report fee for reports filed prior to April 15. — Montana Secretary of State, retrieved 2026-09-29

The costs of a corporation, published

A corporation files Articles of Incorporation. The Montana fee is $35 for a profit corporation, the same as the LLC filing, and $15 for later amendments.

The difference is upkeep, not the filing fee. A corporation runs bylaws, officer roles, resolutions and its own tax return. A brewpub with outside investors and a board often wants exactly that scaffolding.

A brewery with one or two owners rarely does. The tax pass-through and the lighter meetings usually decide it for the LLC, which is why the formation services on the comparison page mostly sell LLCs.

$35Montana charges a $35 filing fee for profit corporation Articles of Incorporation and $15 for Articles of Amendment. — Montana Secretary of State, retrieved 2026-09-29

The ownership-change trap both structures share

However you organize, the federal rules track who holds the power. A new investor is not just a private transaction when the brewery holds a Brewer's Notice.

Any stockholder or interest holder at 10 percent or more must be reported when they join, with an Owner Officer Information Application filed through Permits Online for each new person. A change in control itself is a separate amendment category.

The threshold is low. An investor buying a 10 percent stake for the price of a brewhouse triggers federal paperwork. Read this before the term sheet, not after.

10 percentWhen a new stockholder or interest holder holding 10 percent or more joins, an amendment with an Owner Office Information Application is required for that person. — Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, retrieved 2026-09-29

What the entity choice does not touch

The structure does not change the license math. The brewery license fee, the renewal date and the sample room rules are the same for an LLC and a corporation.

The structure does not change the taxes on the beer either. The federal $3.50 barrel rate and the Montana graduated barrel tax follow the production volume, not the entity type. The rates are on the taxes page.

And the structure does not decide your production band. Montana sorts breweries by barrels per year, from the micro band under 200 gallons to the large band over 60,000 barrels, whatever the paperwork behind it says.

$500A new Montana brewery license costs $500 with a $200 original application processing fee, and the license must be renewed every year by June 30, regardless of entity structure. — Montana Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-29

Filing it: the $35 route and the services

Once the choice is made, the filing is cheap either way. You can type the Articles of Organization yourself for the $35 state fee, or pay a service to do the typing.

A service does not change the fee, the timeline or the odds of approval. What it changes is who does the typing and what arrives bundled: an operating agreement, an EIN application, deadline reminders.

The comparison page lists each service's own published prices next to the do-it-yourself route. The opening guide places the filing in the full order, right before the federal application.

$35Montana LLC Articles of Organization carry a $35 filing fee, whether the owner files directly or through a formation service. — Montana Secretary of State, retrieved 2026-09-29

Questions