You are a manufacturer, a bar and a landlord, and the policy has to know.
Cover for breweries and brewpubs — production, tasting room and distribution are three exposures on one site, and liquor liability sits over all of them.
Tell us the situation.
A licensed human replies the same business day — not an auto-responder, and not five producers calling at once. We shop it across our carriers and tell you if the policy you already have is the right one.
We use this to quote and service your insurance, and we do not sell it or pass it to lead networks. Privacy policy.
What craft brewery businesses actually need.
Liquor liability
Claims arising from serving or supplying alcohol, in the taproom and downstream.
Without it — General liability excludes it outright for anyone in the alcohol business.
Product liability and recall
Contamination, over-carbonation, foreign material — and the cost of pulling the batch.
Without it — A bad batch already distributed is a recall, not a liability claim.
Equipment breakdown
Glycol, refrigeration, boilers and controls, plus the spoiled batch when they fail.
Without it — A glycol failure over a weekend ruins tanks of beer, and property excludes the cause.
Tanks and stock in process
Beer in fermentation valued as product rather than as raw ingredients.
Without it — A tank of finished beer is worth many times the malt it started as.
Taproom general liability
Slips, assaults and the ordinary exposures of a public room.
Without it — A production policy alone does not contemplate the public on site.
What craft brewery operators ask us.
Does general liability cover the taproom?
For an ordinary slip, yes. For anything alcohol-related, no — general liability carries a liquor liability exclusion, and for a business that manufactures or serves alcohol it applies broadly. Liquor liability is a separate purchase and dram shop statutes in many states extend it beyond the premises to what an over-served customer does afterwards.
How is beer in tank valued?
It should be valued as work in progress at its cost to produce, and frequently is not — a policy set up around ingredients values a tank of finished beer at the price of the malt. Set the stock limit against your peak, not your average: a brewery is fullest before its busiest season, which is exactly when a refrigeration failure costs the most.
We self-distribute. Does that change anything?
Yes, twice. You add commercial auto with product in the vehicle, and you add a distribution exposure to the liquor liability — supplying a retailer is not the same act as serving a customer, and some forms are written for one and not the other. Tell us the split between taproom, self-distribution and wholesale, because those three revenues rate differently.
Not ready to talk? The guides answer the questions this page raises in more depth. Already insured with us and need a certificate or a policy change? Ask the service team rather than starting a quote — it is faster and it goes to the people whose job it is. We also write home and auto, which is usually cheaper alongside the business policy than apart from it.