I had no idea. I'm glad that I live in Iowa, where we can pretty much buy anything, anywhere, and anytime.
Here's the more complicated version:
- Beer (6 packs): breweries, specialty beer stores, taverns, and state approved grocery stores. Capped at two 6-packs per transaction -- though you can buy 2, take them to your car, go back and buy 2 more, etc.
- Beer (growlers): breweries and specialty beer stores.
- Beer (cases and kegs): beer distributors only.
- Wine (bottles): wineries, state stores, and state approved grocery stores.
- Wine (cases): state stores only.
- Liquor (any): state stores only.
In the other direction:
- Breweries can sell 6-packs and growlers -- only their own beer.
- Specialty beer stores can sell any beer and growlers.
- Taverns can only sell 6-packs. (By "taverns" we'll include pizza and cheesesteak shops.)
- Beer distributors can only sell cases, kegs, and beer balls -- no smaller quantities.
- Harrisburg approved grocery stores can sell beer 6 packs and wine bottles -- but only in a separate section of the store with its own checkout. You can't buy alcohol in the regular grocery lines or regular groceries in the alcohol lines.
- PA wineries can sell their own wine on site and if their license allows, at a limited number of offsite stores. (I think the number is 4 or 5.) I don't think out of state wineries can operate a store in PA.
- State stores can sell wine and liquor by bottle or case.
- Convenience stores and Costco can't sell any alcohol. Also no New Orleans-style drive-thru daiquiri shops.
- Mail order and beer/wine of the month clubs: some are legal, some aren't, too tangled to bother.
All of the above is for direct sales to individuals for personal consumption. Restaurants and bars can buy beer directly from breweries but must buy wine and liquor from the state store. And, yes, the PA state police will go to out of state liquor store parking lots and bust PA drivers as soon as they cross the state line. (Though, really, they don't care about 1 or 2 bottles of wine -- it's about the restaurant owner who packs a truck full of cases.)
Believe it or not, this is actually more complicated yet (somewhat) better for the consumer than 10 or so years ago -- the explosion of microbreweries created new markets (breweries and specialty beer stores), and lowered barriers to entry for other markets (i.e., state store government employee unions and beer distributors lost the political clout to block grocery stores).
LOL.
