The production and sale of alcoholic beverages have been heavily regulated, in most cases, since the United States was founded. Federal authorities have long relied on taxation of alcoholic products as an important revenue stream, and most states now do the same. While a special federal act of the late 1970s for the first time made it legal for individuals to brew wine or beer on their own, commercial production and sales are still heavily controlled. The federal Alcohol Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) governs who can produce beverages of what kinds and enforces compliance with its regulations under the penalty of law.
In practice, though, the TTB also has other, less forceful ways of making sure that registered, authorized producers comply with its dictates. Every successful application for a production permit must be followed thereafter by the posting of a bond that establishes a financial interest in remaining compliant. With the amount of this bond scaling in accordance with a given brewer’s or winery’s projected level of production, it is designed to be substantial enough to inflict considerable financial harm following a serious breach of any associated regulation.
As the federal agency has power over brewers in all states, operations based in Arizona must respect both the requirements of this system and those of more local kinds. Posting Federal Brewers Bonds in Arizona, however, generally turns out to be a fairly routine matter.
Local bond writers like Southwest Bond Services work regularly with breweries and vineyards in Arizona to make sure they will meet all the associated TTB requirements. Having plenty of experience with such matters, they can typically turn what could otherwise be a fairly complex, confusing process into another simple step on the way to becoming authorized to produce and sell alcoholic beverages.
As might be expected, the costs associated with Federal Brewers Bonds in Arizona will tend to track the size of the bond to be posted. Larger, more active breweries should generally expect to be required to put down more money as a result of their successes. In practice, though, these costs typically amount to very little in the grand scheme of things and will rarely need to be forfeited.