Frequently Asked Questions

PlainAlcohol covers 83,590 federal alcohol permits, 18,038 wineries, 5,590 distilleries, 21,314 importers, and 38,648 wholesalers, across 52 states and territories, taken from the TTB List of Permittees (April 2025).

The TTB (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau) is a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. It regulates and collects federal taxes on the production, importation, and wholesale distribution of alcohol. Wineries, distilleries, importers, and wholesalers must hold a TTB federal permit.

Breweries operate under a Brewer's Notice, which the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 6103) keeps separate from the FAA Basic Permits and Distilled Spirits Plant registrations in the public List of Permittees. Brewery data is not part of that public file, so PlainAlcohol does not publish brewery counts or pages, only the four permit types TTB releases publicly.

No. PlainAlcohol only includes businesses holding a federal permit. Producers who do not require a TTB permit are not in the public list and are not shown here.

PlainAlcohol reflects the April 2025 List of Permittees. Permit status can change between TTB releases, permits are issued, surrendered, revoked, or modified. For the current status of any specific permit, use the official TTB Public Permit Search at ttb.gov.

No. PlainAlcohol covers only federal TTB permits. State-level licenses (e.g., distributor and retail liquor licenses) are issued by state Alcoholic Beverage Control agencies and are not included.

No. PlainAlcohol is an independent directory that reformats the publicly available TTB List of Permittees. We are not affiliated with the TTB, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, or any government agency.