Alabama Alcohol Delivery Laws: Licensing, Limits, and Penalties

Alabama alcohol delivery laws require any business delivering beer, wine, or spirits to hold a delivery service license (type 530) from the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Board, cap how much a single customer can receive in a day, bar deliveries to dry areas and college dorms, and force drivers to scan a valid ID at every doorstep. Violations can bring fines up to $1,000 per offense, license revocation, and criminal charges against both the company and the individual driver.

Who Needs a Delivery License

Any business delivering alcohol in Alabama needs a delivery service license from the ABC Board. The rule applies whether you’re a retailer carrying your own inventory to customers or a third-party platform contracting with retailers.¹ The state fee is $250.² Third-party services that aren’t themselves retailers must file a sample retailer contract with the board and provide a list of every retail location they’ll deliver from, including contract start and end dates.³

Driver Training

Every driver must complete an approved alcohol delivery training program before making a single delivery. The program covers legal sales and delivery rules, customer verification, refusal criteria, and penalties. Drivers carry a certificate of completion (printed or electronic) and must renew it every 24 months. The certificate doesn’t transfer between employers, so a driver changing companies has to recertify.³

What Can Be Delivered and How Much

Beer, wine, and spirits are all eligible, but Alabama caps the quantity a single customer can receive within a 24-hour period, and the limits depend on the beverage and the type of licensee selling it.¹

Beer (non-draft): up to 120 twelve-ounce containers per customer per 24 hours, in any container size.
Draft beer: up to 288 ounces per customer per 24 hours, and only where the local government has specifically authorized draft beer delivery.
Wine: up to 9,000 milliliters per customer per 24 hours (roughly twelve 750-mL bottles).
Spirits from an off-premises retailer: up to 9,000 milliliters per customer per 24 hours.
Spirits from a restaurant: up to 375 milliliters per customer per 24 hours, and only when ordered with a meal.

A restaurant with a delivery service license can include a cocktail or small bottle of spirits with a food order, but the 375-mL cap is firm. The administrative rules define “customer” as whoever pays for and completes the transaction, regardless of how many meals are in the order.⁴

Sealed Containers

Everything delivered must be in a sealed container. Spirits delivered with a meal need tamper-evident packaging: a secure lid sealed with wax, heat-shrink wrap, or adhesive tape so any tampering is visible. A lid with a straw hole or sipping opening doesn’t qualify, and the container must be labeled “Contains Alcohol.”⁴ Containers must stay sealed during transport. Anything open in a vehicle on a public road violates Alabama’s open container law.

Where Deliveries Cannot Go

The most fundamental limit is geographic. No deliveries to anyone in a dry county or dry municipality.¹ Alabama still has a patchwork of wet and dry areas, and the ABC Board maintains a public list of each county and city.⁵ A driver can pass through a dry county on the way to a wet destination, but must carry evidence (electronic or otherwise) confirming the recipient’s address is in a wet area.

Two other restrictions catch people off guard:

No delivery to any residence hall on the grounds of a college, university, community college, technical college, or junior college.¹
No delivery more than 75 miles from the retail premises where it originated.¹

Deliveries to any other ABC-licensed premises are also prohibited, so one licensee can’t use a delivery service to stock another licensee’s bar or store. All delivered alcohol must be for personal use.¹

Age Verification at the Door

Alabama’s verification process has three layers, and skipping any of them exposes the licensee. The delivery service must first confirm the customer is at least 21 when the order is placed. At the door, the driver has to check a valid photo ID that conforms to ABC Board rules and confirms the recipient is 21 or older. Then the driver must use ID-scanning software or a board-approved alternative that verifies age and retains the recipient’s name, date of birth, and signature. The scan is not optional. The statute requires it.¹

The recipient must also physically sign for the delivery. If the recipient is under 21, appears intoxicated, won’t show ID, won’t sign, won’t complete the scanning process, declines the delivery, or anything about the situation suggests illegal activity or overconsumption, the driver must take the alcohol back to the retailer. Under no circumstances may a driver leave alcohol unattended.¹

When Deliveries Can Happen

Delivery services may only deliver during the retailer’s regular hours of operation.⁴ In practice, delivery hours depend on the retailer’s license type and the municipality. Sunday sales are a local option in Alabama; some cities and counties authorize them and the permitted hours vary. If a jurisdiction doesn’t allow Sunday sales, no deliveries happen there on Sundays either. State-controlled ABC stores also close on certain holidays, including Christmas Day and Thanksgiving.

Taxes and Reporting

For tax purposes, Alabama treats a delivery as a sale at the retailer’s primary location, even when the order comes through a third-party app. The retailer collects and remits state and local sales taxes based on where the licensed premises sit, not the delivery address.⁶ Both the ABC Board and the Department of Revenue can audit a delivery service licensee’s records.¹ Delivery services must also report the total beer, wine, and spirits delivered to Alabama residents each calendar year, at the board’s direction. Discounts on alcohol purchased through a delivery service are prohibited.⁴

Shipping Wine From Out of State Is a Separate License

Buying wine directly from an out-of-state winery doesn’t fall under the delivery service rules. It’s governed by the direct wine shipper license under Section 28-3A-6.1. The winery must hold a valid manufacturer license (Alabama or home state) and a federal wine manufacturing permit, pay a $200 application fee plus $150 annual renewal, and ship through a common carrier. The cap is 12 cases per Alabama resident per year, with each case limited to nine liters.⁷

Direct wine shippers face a broader prohibited-destination list: no shipments to ABC-licensed premises, any public or private school (elementary through post-secondary) including dormitories, prisons or correctional facilities, hospitals or healthcare facilities, storage lockers, mailbox services, or any address without a permanent street address. Every box must be labeled “CONTAINS ALCOHOL: SIGNATURE OF PERSON AGE 21 OR OLDER REQUIRED FOR DELIVERY,” and shippers file quarterly reports with the board covering each shipment’s recipient, tracking number, quantity, and proof of a 21-or-older signature.⁷

Penalties for Violations

The ABC Board can impose administrative sanctions on any licensee who violates the alcohol laws or board regulations. Options include written warnings, license suspension, revocation, and fines up to $1,000 per violation.⁸ The published fine schedule sets specific amounts by violation type: selling or furnishing alcohol to a minor triggers a $1,000 fine on the first offense, while less severe violations such as broken-seal infractions start at $300.⁹ Serious or repeated violations can trigger a hearing before the ABC Commission, which may suspend or revoke the license entirely.

Criminal Charges

Most alcohol-law violations in Alabama are misdemeanors. Selling, delivering, or furnishing alcohol to someone under the legal drinking age brings a fine of $100 to $1,000 on the first conviction, with up to six months in jail at the court’s discretion. A second conviction carries a mandatory three to six months. A third or subsequent conviction means six to twelve months, plus the fine.¹⁰ Delivering into a dry county or municipality is also a misdemeanor, with a first conviction carrying a $50 to $500 fine and up to six months in jail, escalating with each subsequent conviction to mandatory jail time of six to twelve months.¹¹

Drivers aren’t insulated from personal liability. The statute reaches any “person” who delivers alcohol unlawfully, so a driver who hands a package to a minor or delivers into a dry area can be charged individually, not just the company that employs them. That’s why the mandatory training requirement is more than paperwork.

1
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 28-3A-13.1 – Delivery Service License
2
Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. License Types and Fees
3
Alabama Administrative Code. Alabama Administrative Code 20-X-5-.17 – Delivery Service License
4
Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. Alabama ABC Board Chapter 6 – Operation of Licensed Premises
5
Alabama ABC Board. Wet Cities
6
Alabama Department of Revenue. Tax Guidance for Alcoholic Beverage Delivery, Wine Festivals, Direct Wine Shippers, Direct Wine Sales
7
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 28-3A-6.1 – Direct Shipment of Wine by a Manufacturer
8
Alabama Administrative Code. Alabama Administrative Code 20-X-2-.03 – Violations
9
Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. Alabama ABC Board Violation and Penalty Schedule
10
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 28-3A-25 – Unlawful Acts and Offenses
11
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 28-4-21 – Penalties for Violations of Section 28-4-20