Indiana’s cold beer law allows only package liquor stores to sell refrigerated beer for carryout. Grocery stores, convenience stores, gas stations, and pharmacies can sell beer in Indiana, but only at room temperature. The rule comes from Indiana Code 7.1-5-10-11, which prohibits any holder of a beer dealer’s permit from selling beer that has been iced or cooled before the point of sale.1Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 7.1-5-10-11 – Sale of Cold Beer Prohibited
Which Stores Can Sell Cold Beer
Indiana splits beer sellers into two permit categories, and the permit decides the temperature.
A beer retailer’s permit, held mostly by package liquor stores, allows the sale and delivery of warm or cold beer for carryout in quantities up to fifteen and a half gallons at a time.2Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 7.1-3-4-6 – Scope of Permit A beer dealer’s permit, held by grocery stores, convenience stores, gas stations, and pharmacies, only authorizes the sale of beer at room temperature. If a dealer refrigerates or ices beer before or at the time of sale, the sale is illegal.1Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 7.1-5-10-11 – Sale of Cold Beer Prohibited
For a shopper, that means one practical rule: if you want a cold six-pack to take home, a liquor store is the only legal option. A grocery store can sell you the same beer at the same price, but it has to be warm when it leaves the shelf.
What Counts as a Violation
The statute targets knowing or intentional conduct. A dealer who deliberately stocks a walk-in cooler with beer intended for sale is violating the law. An accidental equipment issue that happens to cool beer near a refrigerator is treated differently because the knowing element is missing.
Selling cold beer without the proper permit is a Class B misdemeanor, which carries up to 180 days in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.1Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 7.1-5-10-11 – Sale of Cold Beer Prohibited The Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission (ATC) also has independent administrative authority to fine a permit holder, suspend the permit, or revoke it for any violation of Title 7.1. For continuing violations, the commission can impose fines for each day the conduct persists, and a second violation of any Title 7.1 provision can trigger revocation even without a criminal conviction. The ATC must provide at least 10 days’ notice and a hearing before revoking a permit.3Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 7.1-3-23-2 – Fine, Suspension, and Revocation of Permit For a convenience store or supermarket, losing the permit means losing the ability to sell any alcohol at all.
Restaurants, Breweries, and Events
The cold beer rule applies to carryout sales by dealers. Restaurants and bars with on-premises permits can serve cold beer by the glass because that is consumption on the premises, not a retail carryout sale.
Breweries also sit outside the restriction because they hold a brewer’s permit rather than a dealer’s permit. A brewer can sell its own beer by the glass for on-premises consumption when food is also available, and can sell beer for carryout in quantities up to a half barrel at a time. Sunday carryout is limited to 576 ounces per transaction.4Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 7.1-3-2-7 – Brewers Permit A brewer that also operates a farm winery or artisan distillery in the same building can serve both products from a single bar without a physical separation.5Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 7.1-3-2-7.5 – Sale of Beer and Wine or Liquor From Bar
Temporary event permits allow cold beer sales at festivals and community events under conditions set by the ATC. Breweries can also participate in trade shows and expositions with ATC approval, but no single brewery may participate for more than 45 days in a calendar year.4Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 7.1-3-2-7 – Brewers Permit
Sunday and Carryout Hours
Indiana permits alcohol service at bars and restaurants from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m., seven days a week.6Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission. Rules and Laws Retail carryout sales at liquor stores, grocery stores, and convenience stores follow a more restrictive Sunday schedule, generally noon through 8:00 p.m. Indiana only legalized Sunday carryout sales in 2018.
Delivery of Beer in Indiana
Indiana’s delivery rules are tighter than the app-based delivery market suggests. A holder of a liquor dealer’s permit can deliver alcohol, but only through the permit holder personally or a bona fide employee who holds an employee permit. The ATC has stated that the relevant statutes do not allow delivery by third-party companies on a permit holder’s behalf.7Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission. Advisory Opinion 19-07 – Alcohol Delivery by a Beer, Wine and Liquor Dealer
Direct wine sellers may use a common carrier under a specific permit type. No equivalent exception exists for beer. Services like DoorDash and Instacart cannot legally deliver beer in Indiana. A 2025 bill, SB 381, would have created a delivery service permit and a delivery agent permit to legalize third-party alcohol delivery and would also have authorized delivery of cold beer by beer retailers. It died in committee.8BillTrack50. IN SB0381
Why the Law Is Still on the Books
The cold beer rule has survived both a federal constitutional challenge and repeated attempts at legislative reform.
In Indiana Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association v. Cook, decided by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in 2015, a group of convenience stores and an individual consumer argued that barring grocery and convenience stores from selling cold beer violated the Equal Protection Clause, the Commerce Clause, and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The court rejected every argument. Writing for the panel, Judge Diane Sykes held that the statute is subject to rational-basis review and survives that standard. The court acknowledged the Twenty-First Amendment gives states broad authority over alcohol regulation, while stopping short of calling that authority “nearly absolute,” as Indiana had argued. The ruling pointed to the legislature as the proper venue for any policy change.9Justia. IN Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association v. Cook, No. 14-2559
The legislative track record is just as consistent. Multiple bills to expand cold beer sales have been introduced in the Indiana General Assembly, and all have failed. A bill to allow cold beer sales at gas stations and convenience stores was defeated in the Senate Public Policy Committee by a 9-1 vote during a recent session. SB 381 in 2025 tried a different route by combining delivery reform with cold beer expansion and died without a floor vote.8BillTrack50. IN SB0381 Until a reform bill passes, the two-permit system stands: warm beer at the grocery store, cold beer at the liquor store.