Yes, you can buy beer on Sunday in Minnesota. Grocery stores, gas stations, and convenience stores can sell 3.2 percent beer starting at 10:00 a.m., and liquor stores sell full-strength beer, wine, and spirits from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.1Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 340A.504 – Hours and Days of Sale Bars and restaurants can serve from 8:00 a.m. Sunday through 2:00 a.m. Monday.
Where You Can Buy Beer, and What Kind
Minnesota splits beer sales between two kinds of stores, and the difference matters.
Grocery stores, gas stations, and convenience stores are limited to 3.2 percent malt liquor, which is about 4 percent alcohol by volume. That’s weaker than most standard beers. If you want a craft IPA, a standard domestic lager, or anything above that 3.2 percent threshold, you’ll need to go to a liquor store. Legislation to allow stronger beer in grocery stores has been proposed more than once and has not passed.
Liquor stores (off-sale) carry the full range: beer, wine, and spirits.
Sunday Hours at a Glance
Liquor Stores
Off-sale liquor stores can sell on Sundays from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.2Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes 340A.504 – Hours and Days of Sale That’s a shorter window than the Monday-through-Saturday schedule of 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. The 6:00 p.m. cutoff is the one most people get caught by. Planning a Sunday evening get-together? Shop earlier in the day.
Grocery and Convenience Stores (3.2 Percent Beer)
Sales of 3.2 percent beer are prohibited between 2:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. on Sundays, so grocery and convenience stores can start selling an hour before liquor stores open.2Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes 340A.504 – Hours and Days of Sale After 10:00 a.m., the store’s regular hours apply.
Bars and Restaurants
Bars, restaurants, bowling alleys, clubs, and hotels with at least 30 seats can serve beer, wine, and spirits on Sundays from 8:00 a.m. through 2:00 a.m. Monday. Sunday on-sale service has to go alongside the sale of food, and the establishment needs a separate Sunday liquor license.2Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes 340A.504 – Hours and Days of Sale
Holidays That Cancel Sunday Sales
Even though Sunday sales are legal, two holidays shut off-sale down regardless of what day they fall on. Liquor stores cannot sell on Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Day, and sales must stop by 8:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve.2Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes 340A.504 – Hours and Days of Sale When Christmas or Thanksgiving lands on a Sunday, the holiday prohibition overrides the normal Sunday hours. Bars and restaurants aren’t subject to those holiday closures for on-premise service, so you can still order a drink out.
Your City May Have Shorter Hours
State law sets the outer limits. Cities can narrow the window further, though they can’t permit sales during hours the state prohibits.2Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes 340A.504 – Hours and Days of Sale If a city imposes restricted on-sale hours for intoxicating liquor, the same restrictions apply to 3.2 percent beer. Before you make a Sunday run, it’s worth checking that your city hasn’t set an earlier closing time than the state default.
Sunday on-sale service at bars also depends on local approval: a city can only issue Sunday on-sale licenses if its voters approved Sunday sales in a general or special election. Most Minnesota cities have signed off by now, but the authority is local.
Breweries and Taprooms
Minnesota breweries and brewpubs can sell growlers and packaged beer for off-site consumption on Sundays if they hold the right license. Brewery off-sale hours generally run from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. every day, and local authorities can tighten that. Small brewers producing 7,500 barrels or less annually can get an additional license to sell cans and bottles, limited to 128 ounces per customer per day.