How to get a Montana brewery license
How does a brewery apply for and hold a Montana brewery license?
- Hold the federal Brewer's Notice first
- Decide your production band before filing
- Apply through TAP or on paper Form DBLA
- Pay the $500 license fee and $200 processing fee
- Meet the location and premises rules
- Set up the sample room or stacked retail license
- Renew every year by June 30
What the license is, and what it lets you do
In Montana, a brewery is a business licensed to manufacture, import and distribute beer. The license is the state's permission for the whole operation, not just the brewing.
What the license allows depends on production. A domestic small brewery, between 200 gallons and 60,000 barrels a year, may sell samples in a designated sample room, sell beer for take-home, and deliver beer with its own employees and equipment.
That single production number also sets the renewal fee. Read the three-tier page before filing if you are unsure which band your plan lands in.
In Montana, a brewery is a business licensed to manufacture, import and distribute beer, and permissions and license fees are based on how many barrels per year the brewery produces. — Montana Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-29
The Brewer's Notice comes first, then the application
The application order is fixed. You must hold a Brewer's Notice issued by the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau before the department will take your application.
In-state breweries apply online through the TransAction Portal, called TAP, or by mail on the Domestic Brewery License application, Form DBLA. Out-of-state breweries apply online only.
Start the federal application early, because it is the slower of the two. The Brewer's Notice guide covers that side, including the bond exemption most small breweries use.
Form DBLATo apply for a Montana brewery license, you must first have a Brewer's Notice issued by TTB, then apply online through the TransAction Portal or by mail using Form DBLA. — Montana Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-29
The fees, and which one does not repeat
A new brewery license costs $500, and the original application carries a $200 processing fee. The processing fee applies only to original applications and is not charged on renewals.
Renewal costs $200 for a brewery producing under 20,000 barrels a year, and $500 for a brewery at 20,000 barrels or more. The same production number that set your permissions sets your renewal bill.
The statute behind the schedule sets the brewer's annual license fee at $500, wherever located, for any brewer whose product is sold or offered for sale in Montana. Put both fees in the plan rather than one.
$500 + $200A new Montana brewery license costs $500 with a $200 application processing fee on original applications only, and renewal is $200 for breweries under 20,000 barrels a year or $500 at 20,000 or more. — Montana Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-29
16-4-501, MCAUnder 16-4-501, MCA, each brewer and beer importer, wherever located, whose product is sold in the state pays a $500 fee, and a brewer at 10,000 or fewer barrels renews at $200. — Montana Code Annotated, retrieved 2026-09-29
The location and premises rules
The department checks what the building is, not just who owns it. The premises must be recognizable as a brewery and physically separated from any other alcoholic beverage business.
The rules that follow trip up adaptive-reuse plans. No operating under a concession agreement. No selling alcoholic beverages through automatic vending machines or self-service devices. No unauthorized people in the manufacturing area.
A shared food hall with a shared tap wall can fail these tests. The detailed requirements sit in the administrative rules, ARM 42.12.149 and ARM 42.13.601. Walk the building against them before signing a lease.
A Montana brewery must be recognizable as a brewery, physically separated from any other alcoholic beverage business, and may not operate under a concession agreement. — Montana Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-29
The sample room, or the stacked license
To sell beer directly to the public, you need a designated sample room or an approved on-premises retail license stacked at the brewery's premises. There is no third way.
A domestic small brewery may give away or sell up to 48 ounces in samples per customer from 10 AM to 8 PM in that room. Take-home sales run from 8 AM to 2 AM. A deck or patio may count if it is enclosed and accessible only from the consumption area.
The stacked retail license is a different license with its own fee class, and it widens what you may serve. The taproom page covers the ounce limits and hours in detail.
48 ouncesA Montana brewery must have a designated sample room or an approved on-premises retail license stacked at its premises to sell beer directly to the public. — Montana Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-29
Labels and the approval that surprises people
All beer labels must be approved by the Montana Department of Revenue before selling and shipping into Montana. You register labels through TAP, the same portal as the license.
The surprise is the in-house rule. A domestic brewery's beer from 8.75 percent alcohol up to under 14 percent must be approved by the department's Cannabis and Alcohol Regulation Division even if the beer is only served and sold in your own sample room.
A high-alcohol imperial stout that never leaves the taproom still needs state approval. Check the label page for how the federal certificate and the state registration interact.
8.75% ABVAll beer labels must be approved by the Montana Department of Revenue before selling and shipping into Montana, and beer from 8.75 percent ABV to under 14 needs approval even in the sample room. — Montana Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-29
Renewal, reporting and the yearly calendar
The license renews every year by June 30. Miss the date and the license lapses, which stops the sample room and the deliveries with it.
On top of renewal, all breweries selling and distributing beer in Montana report beer sales and pay brewery taxes through TAP. The state tax runs on its own fiscal quarters, starting July 1.
Put both in the calendar next to the LLC annual report, due April 15. The yearly renewals page collects every date a Montana brewery owes, and the taxes page covers the returns themselves.
June 30A Montana brewery license must be renewed every year by June 30, and all breweries selling and distributing beer in Montana must report beer sales and pay brewery taxes. — Montana Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-29
Questions
Can I apply for the Montana brewery license before the federal permit is approved?
No. The department requires the federal Brewer's Notice to be issued first, so the federal application has to be approved before the state application can go in. Start the federal filing first.
Does the $200 processing fee repeat every year?
No. The processing fee applies to original applications only and is not charged on renewals. What repeats is the renewal fee, $200 under 20,000 barrels a year and $500 at 20,000 or more.
Can a brewery operate in a shared space with another alcohol business?
No. The premises must be physically separated from any other alcoholic beverage business, the business must be recognizable as a brewery, and it may not operate under a concession agreement.
Is a sample room required to sell beer on site?
You need either a designated sample room or an approved on-premises retail license stacked at the brewery's premises. One or the other is required to sell beer directly to the public.
Where do the detailed Montana brewery rules live?
The department's brewery license card points to the administrative rules at ARM 42.12.149 and ARM 42.13.601 for the detailed requirements, and the license itself is set out in Title 16 of the Montana Code Annotated.