Fee Interest Non Resident Brewer’s Permit(U) ($30,000) Bond - Statewide in Texas
Table of Contents
Brief Summary
If your brewery makes beer in Texas under a contract brewing deal or an alternating proprietorship and does not own a fee interest in a brewing facility, TABC will not issue or renew your nonresident brewer's license without this $30,000 bond. A surety bond meets the requirement for an annual premium, so you are not tying up $30,000 in a certificate of deposit or letter of credit.
Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code Section 63.05(e) requires a bond of not less than $30,000 from any party to an alternating brewery proprietorship or contract brewing arrangement that does not own a fee interest in a brewing facility. The bond is written on TABC form L-2-18.5, payable to the State of Texas, and must be on file and approved before TABC issues the license or renewal. Older TABC forms call this the Nonresident Brewer's Permit (U). TABC now issues it as the Nonresident Brewer's License (BN).
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How to Apply for a Fee Interest Non Resident Brewer’s Permit(U) ($30,000) Bond:
- Confirm whether your company owns a fee interest in any brewing facility. If it does not and it brews for Texas under a contract or alternating proprietorship, this bond applies.
- Have the legal entity name exactly as it appears on your TABC Form L-NRES application or BN license.
- Identify the Texas brewery you contract with or share facilities with, and its TABC license number.
- Provide owner or officer information for the surety's underwriting review.
- Have the surety execute TABC Form L-2-18.5 for $30,000, payable to the State of Texas.
- Submit the executed bond to TABC with the application or renewal. It must be on file and approved before the license is issued.
Detailed Information About the Texas Fee Interest Non Resident Brewer’s Permit(U) ($30,000) Bond:
The trigger is ownership, not where you are based
Most brewers assume this bond comes with being out of state. It does not. Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code Section 63.05(e) says an entity that is a party to an alternating brewery proprietorship or contract brewing arrangement must post with the commission a bond of not less than $30,000 if the entity does not own a fee interest in a brewing facility. If you pay a Texas brewery to brew your beer, or share a licensed brewery's equipment under an alternating proprietorship, and you do not own a brewing facility, this bond applies to you.
How much
$30,000 is the floor in the statute and the amount printed on TABC form L-2-18.5 (rev. 11/2021), titled Fee Interest Bond Contract Brewing and/or Alternating Proprietorship for Resident and Non Resident Brewers. Section 63.05(d) also lets TABC require, by rule, a bond of up to $200,000 from a party to one of these arrangements. TABC accepts a surety bond, a letter of credit or an assignment of a certificate of deposit.
Permit (U) or License (BN)
The page name uses the older Nonresident Brewer's Permit (U) label found on earlier TABC renewal forms. Chapter 63 was amended by H.B. 1545 effective September 1, 2021, and the statute and TABC's current forms now use Nonresident Brewer's License (BN). Form L-2-18.5 covers both the Brewer's License (BW) and the Nonresident Brewer's License (BN).
Other filings this bond does not replace
Section 63.05(a)(2) requires each party to an alternating proprietorship to have filed the federal Brewer's Notice and Brewer's Bond with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, and, if applicable, to have posted the TABC bond. Section 63.05(b-1) requires each party to hold a license at the location where the brewing is done. Separately, Section 63.03 requires a nonresident brewer that hauls malt beverages into Texas in its own or leased vehicle to furnish a bond large enough, in TABC's judgment, to cover the tax due over any six-week period. That is a different bond. The TABC conduct surety bond is a retailer bond and is not this one either.
Applying and keeping it in force
The nonresident application packet (Form L-NRES) asks whether the applicant holds an ownership interest in a brewing facility. If the answer is no, a Fee Interest Bond must be on file and approved. TABC has said new contract brewing applicants should file a paper L-NRES, and since September 1, 2025 a nonresident brewer may hold one BN license regardless of how many locations it has outside Texas. TABC's two-year licensing fee chart effective September 2021 lists the BN license at $1,500. Under the bond form, the surety may cancel on 30 days written notice, and the license holder must then submit a replacement within 30 days.
Eligibility and Requirements for a Texas Fee Interest Non Resident Brewer’s Permit(U) ($30,000) Bond:
- Bond of not less than $30,000 under Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code Section 63.05(e). TABC may require up to $200,000 by rule under Section 63.05(d).
- Obligee is the State of Texas, on TABC Form L-2-18.5.
- A federal Brewer's Notice and Brewer's Bond on file with the TTB for each party to an alternating proprietorship.
- A TABC license held at the location where the brewing services are performed.
- A replacement bond within 30 days if the surety cancels on 30 days written notice.
Texas Fee Interest Non Resident Brewer’s Permit(U) ($30,000) Bond FAQs:
No. The $30,000 bond in Section 63.05(e) is tied to contract brewing and alternating proprietorships by an entity that does not own a fee interest in a brewing facility. A nonresident brewer that hauls beer into Texas in its own or leased trucks has a separate bond under Section 63.03, sized to the tax due over any six-week period.
$30,000 is the statutory minimum and the amount printed on TABC Form L-2-18.5. Section 63.05(d) allows TABC to require up to $200,000 by rule from a party to one of these arrangements, so confirm the amount TABC wants on your file before the bond is issued.
Yes. Older TABC forms used the Nonresident Brewer's Permit (U) name. Chapter 63 was amended effective September 1, 2021, and TABC now issues the Nonresident Brewer's License (BN). Form L-2-18.5 covers BN license holders.
No. Section 63.05(a)(2) requires both the TTB Brewer's Notice and Brewer's Bond and, where applicable, the TABC bond. They protect different governments and are filed separately.
TABC accepts a surety bond, a letter of credit or an assignment of a certificate of deposit. With a surety bond you pay a premium instead of holding $30,000 in a certificate of deposit.
Form L-2-18.5 lets the surety cancel on 30 days written notice. The license holder then has 30 days to submit a replacement bond to TABC.
