Guides & Resources
Plain-language guides on federal TTB Basic Permits, the U.S. winery and distillery landscape, the alcohol import market, and how state regulation layers on top of federal licensing.
How to Get a Federal TTB Basic Permit, Distillery, Winery, Importer, or Wholesaler
Step-by-step guide to federal alcohol licensing: the Distilled Spirits Plant permit, the Bonded Winery permit, and the Importer and Wholesaler Basic Permits under the FAA Act.
The Three-Tier System, Explained
Why U.S. alcohol passes through producers, wholesalers, and retailers, the Prohibition-era design that makes wholesalers the largest federal permit class, and the exceptions that shape where producers cluster.
U.S. Craft Distilleries by the Numbers
What the TTB permit registry shows about the 5,590 federally permitted distilled spirits plants, where they cluster, and how the distillery count compares state by state.
Wineries vs. Distilleries: How U.S. Alcohol Production Splits
The TTB registry holds 18,038 winery permits and 5,590 distillery permits. How the two production tiers compare, and how each fits the federal permit system.
State Alcohol Regulations: What Permit Holders Need to Know
How state alcohol laws differ from federal TTB requirements. Control states, open states, direct-to-consumer shipping rules, and three-tier system variations.
U.S. Wine Industry by State: What Federal Permit Data Reveals
Beyond Napa Valley, how the 18,038 federally bonded wineries are spread across the country and which states have built the deepest wine industries.
U.S. Alcohol Importer Landscape: Federal Permit Data Analysis
Where the 21,314 federal alcohol importers are concentrated, what drives the geographic pattern, and how to read the TTB importer registry.
Methodology
The permit counts in these guides come from one source: the TTB "List of Permittees," the federal registry of active Basic Permits released by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau through its FOIA reading room (published April 2025, public domain). Per-capita figures use U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2023 state population estimates.
The registry covers wineries, distilled spirits plants, importers, and wholesalers, the four permit classes governed by the Federal Alcohol Administration Act. Breweries file a separate Brewer's Notice that the TTB does not release publicly, so brewery counts are not part of this dataset and are not reported here. See the methodology page for the full source detail.