California alcohol laws
What California has enacted on alcohol, what each law requires, and what the bills still moving would do. California is one of 47 states that enacted an alcohol law in the 2025 and 2026 sessions.
167 new California laws take effect in 2027, 9 on alcohol
- Bills in scope
- 31bills in scope
- Past committee
- 28past committee
- Most recent action
- 30 September 2026most recent action
Alcohol laws enacted in California
21 alcohol laws enacted in the California Legislature in the 2025 and 2026 sessions, newest first. Each links to the legislature's own page.
What it requires: Holders of on-sale licenses for bona fide public eating places with off-sale privileges, and licensed beer, wine, or craft distillery manufacturers operating bona fide public eating places, may sell distilled spirits in manufacturer-prepackaged containers and non-prepackaged alcoholic beverages except beer for off-sale consumption if ordered online, by phone, or in person and picked up by the consumer with identification presented. Beverages must meet packaging, labeling, and warning requirements.
Licensing and retail permits
- AB 2751Alcoholic beverages: imports: personal or household use: reasonable amounts.Takes effect 1 January 2027
What it requires: Any adult entering the United States as a pedestrian or by a vehicle that is not a common carrier may bring no more than six liters of alcoholic beverages into California every 31 days for personal or household use. An adult may bring incidental amounts of alcoholic beverages into California from a hotel jointly located within California and Nevada jurisdictions for personal use.
Licensing and retail permits
- AB 1982On-sale general public premises: drink lids and drug testing devices.Takes effect 1 January 2027
What it requires: Applicants for and holders of Type 48 on-sale general public premises licenses must offer drug testing devices for sale at a cost not exceeding a reasonable amount based on wholesale cost, provide drink lids upon request for a reasonable fee, and post one of two specified notices in a prominent location about availability of these items.
Licensing and retail permits
What it requires: Licensed wholesalers must initiate electronic funds transfer payment from licensed retailers by the 30th day after delivery of beer, wine, or distilled spirits. If payment is not received by day 30, wholesalers must charge 1 percent of the unpaid balance on day 31 and an additional 1 percent for each subsequent 30-day period. Wholesalers must select third-party payment processors meeting specified requirements.
Three-tier, distribution and franchise
- SB 1273Alcoholic beverages: tied-house restrictions: instructional events and promotional lectures: advertisements.Takes effect 1 January 2027
What it requires: Winegrowers, wine importers, beer manufacturers, and distilled spirits licensees may conduct instructional events at retail premises and advertise them with videos up to 60 seconds long containing pictures of the retailer's premises, personnel, and customers. Advertisements must not contain retail prices or laudatory references to the retailer beyond event participation.
Three-tier, distribution and franchise
What it requires: Licensed winegrowers, beer manufacturers, distilled spirits manufacturers, craft distillers, brandy manufacturers, rectifiers, and wine rectifiers may conduct taste testing of alcoholic beverages for bona fide market research measuring consumer perceptions of sensory characteristics, subject to conditions including: only responsible persons aged 21+ may administer testing, participants must be aged 21+, participants receive no more taste samples than reasonably necessary, monetary compensation cannot exceed $500 per participant, and the same person cannot participate in more than three taste tests per year.
Licensing and retail permits
- AB 744Alcoholic beverage control: tied-house restrictions: exceptions: off-sale retail services.Takes effect 1 January 2027
What it requires: Winegrowers, wine blenders, beer manufacturers, brandy manufacturers, distilled spirits manufacturers, rectifiers, distilled spirits wholesalers, and beer and wine wholesalers may perform specified services for off-sale retail licensees, including stacking, rotating, and rearranging alcoholic beverages. Single-serve containers are redefined to include distilled spirits between 50 and 500 milliliters and wine between 187 and 500 milliliters. Beer manufacturer licensees are exempt from draught beer labeling requirements.
Three-tier, distribution and franchise
- AB 2731Alcoholic beverage control: neighborhood-restricted on-sale general licenses.Takes effect 1 January 2027
What it requires: The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control may issue no more than five new original neighborhood-restricted special on-sale general licenses per year to bona fide public eating places in specified Santa Cruz County census tracts until 12 total licenses are issued. Licensees must not hold or have held other on-sale licenses for the same premises within 12 months prior.
Licensing and retail permits
- SB 1195Tied-house exceptions: advertising: Counties of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and San Diego.Takes effect 1 January 2027
What it requires: Beer manufacturers, winegrower's license holders, rectifiers, craft distillers, distilled spirits manufacturers, and distilled spirits manufacturer's agents may purchase advertising space and time from on-sale retail licensees at specified venues in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and San Diego counties, subject to written contracts and conditions including service of competing brands.
Three-tier, distribution and franchise
What it requires: Licensed winegrowers conducting instructional tasting events at certified farmers' markets must ensure persons conducting such events complete RBS training. No more than three licensees may conduct instructional tasting events during any one certified farmers' market's operational hours. Wine poured per person per day cannot exceed three ounces.
Licensing and retail permits, Underage sales and liability
- AB 828Alcoholic beverage control: neighborhood-restricted special on-sale general licenses.Enacted 13 October 2025
What it requires: The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control may issue no more than 12 new original neighborhood-restricted special on-sale general licenses per year to bona fide public eating places in specified Los Angeles census tracts until 40 total licenses are issued. Licensees must not sell or transfer licenses for more than the original fee paid and must not transfer licenses between counties or to other premises except within the same neighborhood or if premises are destroyed.
Licensing and retail permits
What it requires: The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control may issue up to 10 additional new original on-sale general licenses for bona fide public eating places in the County of San Luis Obispo, with no more than 5 licenses issued per year. Licenses issued under this section cannot be transferred out of the county or to non-qualifying premises, and cannot be sold or transferred for a price exceeding the original fee paid.
Licensing and retail permits
What it requires: Beverage manufacturers must label beverage containers sold in California with redemption value messages by etching, embossing, printing, or affixing a stamp or label. Machine-readable codes must be at least one-half inch in size. Winegrowers may apply for estate tasting event permits to conduct tastings at adjacent or non-adjacent vineyard properties they own or control.
Licensing and retail permits
What it requires: Restaurants may operate with open windows, folding doors, or nonfixed storefronts if they develop and submit an integrated pest management and food safety risk mitigation plan to the enforcement agency for approval, maintain the facility fully enclosed during nonoperating hours, and self-close upon observation of vermin activity. The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control shall not issue new COVID-19 Temporary Catering Authorizations on or after January 1, 2027.
Licensing and retail permits
- AB 344Alcoholic beverages: beer price posting and marketing regulations: definitions.Enacted 6 October 2025
What it requires: A successor beer manufacturer or any person, whether licensed or unlicensed, who acquires rights to manufacture, import, or distribute beer and cancels an existing beer wholesaler's distribution rights must notify the wholesaler by certified mail and ensure the successor beer manufacturer's designee negotiates in good faith to determine fair market value compensation for affected distribution rights.
Three-tier, distribution and franchise
What it requires: The local governing body of the City and County of San Francisco must adopt an ordinance designating a hospitality zone containing at least 1,000,000 square feet of retail shopping space, with specified findings and boundary information, and submit it to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. The department may then issue up to 20 additional on-sale general licenses for bona fide public eating places within that zone, with issuance capped at 10 licenses in the first year and 5 per year thereafter, ending July 1, 2033.
Licensing and retail permits
What it requires: Licensed craft distillers and qualifying out-of-state distillers must hold a current distilled spirits direct shipper permit to directly ship distilled spirits to consumers, not exceeding 2.25 liters per day per consumer. Winegrowers may possess and transport brandy for aging on their premises. Licensed craft distillers may sell up to 4.5 liters of prepackaged spirits per day per consumer at their premises.
Direct-to-consumer shipping and delivery, Licensing and retail permits
What it requires: The act imposes no new duties on licensees. It modifies the existing defense available to licensees by providing that use of active age verification software or age verification devices that fail to identify false identification cards constitutes evidence in prosecutions or license proceedings, provided the identification was physically inspected, is seemingly legitimate, and matches the customer's appearance.
Underage sales and liability
What it requires: Beginning January 1, 2026, industrial hemp raw extract incorporated into food, beverages, or dietary supplements must have purity greater than 99 percent and contain no THC or synthetic cannabinoids. Beginning January 1, 2028, industrial hemp entering the licensed cannabis market must comply with cannabis regulatory requirements including track and trace, testing, and security standards.
Three-tier, distribution and franchise, Hemp and THC beverages
What it requires: The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control may issue up to 10 additional new original on-sale general licenses for bona fide public eating places in Colusa County. Licensees must not transfer these licenses out of the county or to non-qualifying premises, and must not sell or transfer them for more than the original fee paid. Beer manufacturers must file delivery records within 30 days and maintain three-year records of glassware provided.
Three-tier, distribution and franchise, Licensing and retail permits
What it requires: A licensed beer manufacturer or a licensed beer wholesaler may sell beer from wagons, trailers, or trucks operated by them to licensees authorized to sell beer, in addition to selling beer at their licensed premises.
Three-tier, distribution and franchise
Alcohol in California, by topic
Licensing and retail permits
18 bills, 13 enacted. Enacted in 41 states.
Three-tier, distribution and franchise
9 bills, 8 enacted. Enacted in 23 states.
Underage sales and liability
6 bills, 2 enacted. Enacted in 16 states.
Excise taxes and fees
3 bills. Enacted in 19 states.
Hemp and THC beverages
2 bills, 1 enacted. Enacted in 9 states.
Direct-to-consumer shipping and delivery
1 bill, 1 enacted. Enacted in 12 states.
Alcohol bills in California
The bills not yet law, furthest along first, with what each would do.
21Enacted
7Past committee
3Introduced or inactive
31 bills in scope
Past committee
7
What it would do: Establishes a $440 application fee and $755 annual fee for duplicate craft distilled spirits manufacturer licenses, and allows licensed craft distillers to operate branch offices away from their production premises and conduct tastings at those locations.
What it would do: Prohibits wine produced, bottled, labeled, offered for sale, or sold in California from using "American" or "United States" appellation unless 100 percent of the wine is derived from grapes or agricultural products grown in the United States, effective July 1, 2027. Authorizes the department to seize violating wine.
What it would do: Requires alcohol sellers to verify age and identity before sales starting January 1, 2028. Authorizes courts to prohibit DUI offenders from purchasing alcohol and requires DMV to issue special identification cards marked "NO ALCOHOL SALES" for those subject to such orders.
What it would do: Requires courts to prohibit individuals sentenced to state prison for a third DUI offense within 10 years from purchasing alcoholic beverages for life, and requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue identification cards or driver's licenses marked "REPEAT SERIOUS DUI OFFENDER" that licensees may use to refuse alcohol sales.
What it would do: Requires persons with catering authorization or daily on-sale licenses at large outdoor events (over 10,000 daily attendees) to offer drug testing devices and drink lids to customers, contact law enforcement if drink spiking is suspected, and post related notices. First violations result only in warnings.
What it would do: Beginning June 1, 2026, allows on-sale licensees in local-designated hospitality zones to sell alcohol until 4 a.m. on Fridays, Saturdays, and state holidays with an additional serving hours license costing $2,500 annually, subject to local ordinance requirements and law enforcement approval.
What it would do: Amends the prohibition on dispensing mislabeled draught beer to apply to all licensees rather than just retailers, and exempts temporary licenses issued for retail beer sales at special events from this prohibition. Adds a prohibition against identifying one product and selling another to a consumer.
Introduced or inactive
3
What it would do: Makes a nonsubstantive change to Section 23957 of the Business and Professions Code regarding applications for retail alcoholic beverage licenses for premises under construction or to be constructed.
What it would do: Requires applicants for and holders of Type 48 on-sale general public premises licenses to offer drug testing devices for sale to customers at reasonable cost and post a notice about them, and adds carfentanil and fentanyl to the definition of controlled substances for this requirement.
What it would do: Authorizes hemp manufacturers to produce and sell low-dose hemp drinks containing no more than 0.55 milligrams of total THC per container and not exceeding 0.3 percent THC concentration, tested by independent laboratories and not sold to persons under 21. Imposes a 10 percent excise tax on low-dose hemp drink sales beginning January 1, 2026.
Bill titles link to the California Legislature's own page.
What counts as alcohol legislation
In scope: Direct-to-consumer shipping and delivery; three-tier, distribution and franchise; licensing and retail permits; excise taxes and fees; hemp and THC beverages; and underage sales and liability.
Questions
Does California have an alcohol law?
Yes. California enacted 21 alcohol laws in the 2025 and 2026 sessions, among them AB 2663, AB 2751 and AB 1982. Each is listed on this page with what it requires.
When do California's alcohol laws take effect?
AB 2751 on 1 January 2027, AB 1982 on 1 January 2027, AB 2375 on 1 January 2027, SB 1273 on 1 January 2027 and AB 1991 on 1 January 2027. The others have no single date in their text.
Which alcohol bills are moving in California?
7 bills not yet law have passed a committee or a chamber, the furthest along AB 2211 (passed chamber), AB 1585 (passed chamber) and AB 1605 (passed committee).
What does California legislate on most in alcohol?
Licensing and retail permits (18 bills), Three-tier, distribution and franchise (9 bills) and Underage sales and liability (6 bills).
Are these summaries reviewed by a lawyer?
No. Which bills count as Alcohol bills, and the line on what each law requires or each bill would do, are drafted by software from the bill's own text and not reviewed by an attorney. Every bill links to the legislature's own record: read the text before relying on it. The list covers bills from the 2025 and 2026 sessions.
Other practice areas in California
- AI in California78
- Cannabis in California18
- Children's Online Safety in California21
- Cybersecurity in California9
- Data center and energy in California16
- Data Privacy in California50
- Employment in California196
- Healthcare in California246
- Insurance in California146
- Intellectual Property in California10
- Packaging and PFAS in California36
- Payments and fintech in California15
- Rental housing in California44
- Tobacco and nicotine in California8
- Transportation in California30
- All jurisdictions
Alcohol legislation in other jurisdictions
52 more currently hold bills in this tracker
- Massachusetts153
- Maryland142
- New York118
- New Jersey114
- Mississippi56
- Montana53
- Texas49
- West Virginia48
- Oklahoma44
- Michigan39
- Pennsylvania38
- Iowa36
- Virginia33
- Illinois32
- Missouri32
- Hawaii30
- Rhode Island27
- South Carolina27
- Connecticut25
- Tennessee25
- Washington25
- Florida24
- Indiana24
- New Hampshire24
- Kentucky20
- Louisiana20
- Maine18
- Alabama17
- Arkansas16
- Delaware16
- Congress16
- Minnesota15
- North Carolina15
- Nebraska15
- Arizona14
- Georgia13
- Idaho13
- Vermont13
- Kansas11
- Colorado10
- New Mexico10
- Oregon10
- District of Columbia9
- Ohio9
- South Dakota9
- Alaska7
- North Dakota6
- Nevada6
- Utah6
- Wisconsin6
- Puerto Rico3
- Wyoming3
Know when California's alcohol law changes
An alert when a bill moves, and one report a month on what changed in every state and Congress.