Himachal Pradesh craft beer and microbrewery rules, as of October 2026

The licence is L-10C, for a hotel or restaurant

Himachal's microbrewery licence is form L-10C. The Excise Policy 2026-27 grants it to hotels and restaurants, either on its own or alongside an existing L-3, L-4, L-5 bar licence. The fixed licence fee is ₹6 lakh, charged on top of the bar licence fee if you hold both.

The applicant must be registered as a hotel or restaurant with the state Tourism department and as a GST dealer. The Collector grants and renews the licence, with prior approval from the Commissioner of State Taxes and Excise.

What the licence lets you brew

The conditions in clause 6.19 of the policy are specific:

• Installed capacity of no more than 1,000 bulk litres a day.
• Draught beer only, at no more than 8% ABV.
• Shelf life of no more than 60 days in a lagering tank and 36 hours in a serving tank.
• pH, temperature and gravity recorded for every brew up to maturation, open to inspection.
• A sample from every brew sent to a laboratory the Excise Commissioner authorises, with the report displayed on the premises.
• A monthly summary of beer made and sold, filed by the 7th of the following month.

The 36-hour serving tank limit is the one that bites on the floor. A serving tank filled on Friday afternoon has to be empty by early Sunday morning, so size your serving tanks to a day and a half of sales, not to your fermenters. The policy also makes you keep a saccharometer, pH meter, thermometer and hydrometer on site, which any brewer should own anyway.

Duty: a lower rate for L-10C beer

The 2026-27 excise duty schedule sets these rates per bulk litre:

• Beer made by an L-10C microbrewery: ₹29.
• Draught beer: ₹36.
• Beer up to 5% ABV: ₹37.
• Beer above 5% and up to 8.25% ABV: ₹51.

These are flat per-litre rates, unlike Maharashtra's multiple of declared cost (our Maharashtra excise guide shows the contrast). Licence fees and assessed fees sit on top of duty, so duty alone is not your tax bill. Beer up to 8.25% ABV may be sold in the state.

Kegs to other bars: allowed, with an assessed fee

This is where Himachal is unusual. Clause 6.21 allows draught beer in kegs of up to 30 litres in bars holding licences in the L-3, L-4, L-5 family, including the L-4, L-5 and L-4A, L-5A combinations. Those bars may buy draught from L-2 and L-14 retail vends or directly from an L-10C microbrewery or an L-1B licensee, paying an assessed fee when they lift it.

The assessed fee for 2026-27 is ₹115 per bulk litre on draught lifted from an L-10C and ₹135 from an L-1B. So a microbrewery's draught reaches a bar ₹20 a litre cheaper in fees than the same beer through the L-1B route. Retail shops (L-2 and L-14) may sell 5 litre kegs, sourced from the district's L-1 wholesaler.

A bar without a brewery

A restaurant, hotel or pizzeria that wants craft beer on tap needs a bar licence in the L-3, L-4, L-5 family. With that in place it can buy kegs of up to 30 litres from a licensed L-10C microbrewery, an L-1B licensee or an L-2 or L-14 vend, paying the assessed fee per litre. Packaged beer for bars and shops comes through private L-1 wholesale vends, which the policy grants only to bona fide residents of Himachal with at least 2,000 sq ft of storage. There is no state corporation sitting between brewer and bar.

Our guide to brewpubs versus microbreweries covers what changes on the operating side once you sell beyond your own taps.

Contract brewing through a bottling tie-up

Clause 6.16 lets manufacturers and non-manufacturers who own liquor brands, beer included, register, make and market their brands in Himachal under a bottling or lease agreement with a manufacturer located in the state. Clause 10.43 sets the fixed fee at ₹6 lakh per bottling tie-up for IMFL, country liquor or beer. That is the legal shape of contract brewing here. Our contract brewing guide covers the commercial side of a tolling deal.

Before you commit

Read the policy PDF itself, not a summary. The scanned text is hard to search, which is how fees get misquoted. Check whether a notification after 1 April 2026 has changed any rate. Rates and rules change, sometimes mid-year. Before you sign a lease or order kit, get the current position for your licence class in writing from the excise office and work with a licensing adviser. This guide is a working summary, not legal advice.

Common questions

Does Himachal Pradesh have a microbrewery licence?

Yes. Form L-10C, granted to hotels and restaurants with a fixed fee of ₹6 lakh under the Excise Policy 2026-27, for draught beer up to 8% ABV and up to 1,000 bulk litres a day of installed capacity.

Can a Himachal microbrewery sell kegs to other bars?

Yes. Bars holding L-3, L-4, L-5 type licences may lift draught in kegs of up to 30 litres from an L-10C microbrewery, paying an assessed fee of ₹115 per bulk litre in 2026-27.

What is the excise duty on microbrewery beer in Himachal?

₹29 per bulk litre for beer made by an L-10C licensee, against ₹37 for beer up to 5% ABV and ₹51 for beer above 5%, under the 2026-27 policy.

Is contract brewing allowed in Himachal Pradesh?

Yes, through a bottling or lease agreement with a manufacturer in the state. The 2026-27 policy sets a fixed fee of ₹6 lakh per bottling tie-up for beer.