The short answer
Brewery and distillery insurance brings together property cover for tanks, stills and stock, equipment breakdown and spoilage for batches that fail mid-process, product liability for what leaves the building, and liquor liability for the taproom or tasting room. Distilleries add a fire question insurers treat seriously: flammable vapour. Stock held in bond or on a truck may need its own wording. A licensed broker shapes the package around your production, sales channels and licence.
- Craft breweries and brewpubs with a taproom on site
- Craft distilleries running pot or column stills
- Wineries, meaderies and cideries with orchards, vineyards or a tasting room
- Contract brewers and producers who rent time on someone else's equipment
- Producers starting to ship to liquor stores, other provinces or export buyers
2 licensed brokers in the network handle this. In Alberta, Canada, a request for brewery and distillery insurance can be offered to up to three of them, chosen because they are licensed for this line and place. They are test brokers while we are in demo.
See the brokers → Outside Alberta, Canada you can prepare and save a request today; sending opens place by place. Brokers answer with their own quotes. Broker.insure does not quote, advise or take commission.
01 / What it covers
The parts worth understanding
Production equipment and buildings
Brewhouses, fermenters, bright tanks, stills, canning and bottling lines, and the building or leased unit around them. Ask whether the values reflect what replacing stainless equipment would cost today, including installation and the glycol and steam systems.
Equipment breakdown and spoiled batches
A glycol chiller that quits over a long weekend, or a boiler that fails mid-boil, can ruin tanks of product. Breakdown and spoilage are often added separately, and contamination from a bad batch may be treated differently again, so ask which events trigger payment.
Product liability and recall
Claims that a can, bottle or keg hurt someone: a bottle that over-carbonates and bursts, a foreign object, an undeclared allergen. Withdrawing product from shelves is a separate expense that a liability policy may not pay, which is why recall cover is its own conversation.
Taproom and liquor liability
Pouring for visitors brings liquor liability, the claim that someone was over-served and then caused harm. Tours, tastings, growler fills and patio events each change the picture, and insurers ask how staff are trained and how service is cut off.
Distillery vapour and fire
Ethanol vapour around stills, spirit receivers and barrel rooms is an ignition risk a brewery does not carry in the same way. Insurers commonly ask about ventilation, electrical equipment suited to flammable atmospheres, separation of the still room and how high-proof spirit is stored.
Stock in bond, in storage and in transit
Finished goods and spirit ageing in barrels can be worth more than the equipment. Ask how stock is valued, whether duty not yet paid affects the figure, and whether pallets are covered on a carrier's truck, at a warehouse or at a distributor.
Business interruption
Lost sales and ongoing costs while a covered loss stops production. Ageing spirits and wine raise a timing question, since replacement stock can take years to make, so ask how the period of restoration is set.
02 / Get ready
Bring this, and expect these questions
Gather
- What you make, your yearly production volume, and how sales split between the taproom, retail and distributors
- An equipment list covering the brewhouse, fermenters, stills, packaging lines, chillers and boilers, with ages and replacement values
- Your provincial manufacturer licence, any taproom or lounge endorsement, and any federal excise licence or registration
- A floor plan showing the still room, barrel storage, grain handling and the tasting area
- Fire protection details: sprinklers, ventilation, vapour or gas detection and how electrical fittings near the stills are rated
- Stock values at their highest point in the year, split between ageing, packaged and in transit
- Your recall plan, lot coding system and how you trace a batch to the stores that received it
- The lease, plus distributor and retailer agreements that set insurance requirements
- Claims, contamination incidents, liquor licence issues or inspection findings from the past several years
A broker will ask
- What do you produce, and in roughly what volumes?
- Does the distillery run at high proof, and where is spirit above drinking strength stored?
- How is the still room ventilated, and is its electrical equipment rated for flammable vapour?
- Do you pour on site, and what are the taproom hours, capacity and events?
- How do you trace a batch, and could you pull it from every store that received it?
- Where does finished stock sit before it is sold, and who moves it?
- Do you ship to other provinces or outside Canada?
- Does anyone else produce on your equipment under a contract or alternating arrangement?
Not sure of an answer? Leave it. "Not known yet" is a fine answer, and a broker will help you fill it in.
03 / Build your request
Answer a few questions. Get your own list.
Pick what fits. Your answers shape the list beside them, and they are saved to your request as plain facts a broker can read. "Not sure yet" is always a fine answer.
04 / Three situations
See which one sounds like yours
A brewpub adding a canning line
A ten-barrel brewpub has sold almost everything by the pint for five years. The owners just booked a mobile canning service and signed with a regional grocery chain, which wants proof of product liability and a recall plan before the first shipment.
First steps. Bring the grocery agreement's insurance clause, the lot coding plan for cans and an estimate of how many cases will be on shelves at once. Ask the broker how product liability changes once beer is sold off site, whether recall expense is available, and how the canning contractor's own cover fits.
A craft distillery with whisky ageing in barrels
A small distillery has several years of whisky ageing in barrels in a leased warehouse unit next to the still room. The owner realises the barrels are now worth more than everything else in the building and has never confirmed how they are valued on the policy.
First steps. Gather a barrel inventory with fill dates, the warehouse floor plan and the fire protection details for both spaces. Ask the broker how ageing stock is valued, whether separating storage from the still affects the terms, and how a long rebuilding period would be handled.
A cidery with a summer tasting patio
A family orchard presses its own apples and runs a cider tasting patio on summer weekends, with food trucks and live music. The family now wants to host weddings among the trees and pour at farmers markets.
First steps. Write down every place cider will be poured, with expected crowds and hours, and check what the provincial liquor regulator allows at each one. Ask the broker how liquor liability extends to markets and private events, and whether the orchard and pressing equipment are insured as farm or as manufacturing.
05 / Words you will hear
The jargon, in plain words
- Product liability
- Cover for claims that something you made and sold injured a person or damaged property, such as a bottle that bursts. It usually does not pay the cost of a recall.
- In bond
- Alcohol held under federal excise arrangements before duty is paid, often spirits or wine in a licensed warehouse. How unpaid duty is treated in a claim depends on the policy wording.
- Recall expense
- The cost of pulling product back from stores and customers, telling the public, destroying stock and replacing it. It is usually a separate cover from product liability.
- Period of restoration
- The time a policy allows for rebuilding and returning to normal output after a covered loss. For aged spirits, real recovery can take far longer than the repairs.
- Alternating proprietorship
- An arrangement where another licensed producer makes product on your equipment under their own licence. Insurers want to know who owns that product and who answers for the equipment.
- Hazardous location
- An area where flammable vapour or dust may be present, such as a still room or grain handling space. Electrical equipment there is often expected to be specially rated.
06 / Common mistakes
What trips people up
- Insuring tanks and stills at what they cost years ago rather than what replacing and installing them would cost now.
- Assuming a chiller or boiler failure that ruins product is covered without equipment breakdown and spoilage on the policy.
- Starting retail or export sales without telling the insurer that product now leaves the building in volume.
- Storing high-proof spirit or barrels in a space the insurer was never told about.
- Treating the taproom as an afterthought when it brings liquor liability, events and crowds.
- Running without lot coding or a recall plan, which makes any withdrawal slower and harder to insure.
Ready when you are
Turn this into one clear request.
Save it, add what you know, and choose when to send it. A licensed broker who handles brewery and distillery insurance takes it from there.
07 / Questions people ask
Straight answers
What insurance does a craft brewery need?
Most breweries combine property cover for the building or leased unit, equipment and stock with general and product liability, and liquor liability when beer is poured on site. Equipment breakdown, spoilage, business interruption and cover for product in transit are common additions. Retailers, distributors and landlords often set their own requirements in contracts. A licensed broker reads those and the way you brew and sell to decide which pieces apply.
Why do distilleries face more questions about fire?
Distilling concentrates alcohol to a strength where its vapour can ignite, and spirits are often stored at high proof in tanks and barrels. Insurers commonly ask about ventilation, how the still is heated, whether electrical fittings in the still room suit flammable atmospheres, and how far storage sits from production. Fire and building codes also apply, and local requirements vary. Have your fire protection details ready before the broker asks.
Is a product recall covered by product liability insurance?
Usually not in full. Product liability responds when a product injures someone or damages their property. Pulling bottles and cans from shelves, notifying stores, destroying stock and replacing it are recall costs, which are often excluded or limited unless recall cover is added. Ask the broker what triggers recall cover, whether a regulator's request or your own decision counts, and how lost sales are treated.
Do I need liquor liability if I only offer tasting samples?
Samples are still alcohol served by your business, so a claim that a visitor was over-served can follow even from small pours. Which tastings, tours, growler fills and full servings are allowed depends on your provincial licence, and the rules differ from province to province. Ask the broker how liquor liability is written for your licence and whether events and off-site pouring are included.
How is stock in bond or ageing in barrels valued?
It depends on the policy wording. Stock might be valued at what it cost to make, at its selling price, or somewhere in between, and spirits still held under federal excise arrangements raise the question of whether unpaid duty is part of the figure. Barrels that took years to age cannot be replaced quickly. Bring a barrel inventory with fill dates and ask the broker to explain the valuation basis.
Does my policy cover product on a truck or at a distributor?
Not always. Some property policies limit cover once goods leave your premises, and a carrier's liability for loss is often limited by its own terms. Stock at a third-party warehouse or distributor may need to be listed by location. Describe how product moves, who carries it and where it waits, and ask the broker whether inland transit or cargo cover is needed for each step.
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General information, not insurance advice. Broker.insure is a directory and request service: it is not an insurer and does not quote, bind or advise. Policy terms, availability and what is required where you live depend on your situation and on licensed professionals. Updated 2026-10-31.