1.    A microbrew pub shall obtain a brewer license and a retailer license as required under this title. A microbrew pub may manufacture on the licensed premises, store, transport, sell to wholesale malt beverage licensees, and export no more than ten thousand barrels of malt beverages annually; sell malt beverages manufactured on the licensed premises; sell alcoholic beverages regardless of source to consumers for consumption on the microbrew pub’s licensed premises; and sell or direct ship malt beverages manufactured on the licensed premises to an individual in this state for consumption in accordance with section 5-01-16. A microbrew pub may not engage in any wholesaling activities. Except as provided in subsection 3, all sales and delivery of malt beverages to any other retail licensed premises may be made only through a wholesale malt beverage licensee. Beer manufactured on the licensed premises and sold by a microbrew pub directly to the consumer for consumption on or off the premises is subject to the taxes imposed pursuant to section 5-03-07, in addition to any other taxes imposed on brewers and retailers. A microbrew pub is required to file a monthly sales report with the tax commissioner by the fifteenth day of the month following the month in which the sales are made. The report must be prepared and submitted in a form and manner as prescribed by the tax commissioner. A microbrew pub is not precluded from retailing beer it purchases from a wholesaler. Complimentary samples of beer may not be in an amount exceeding sixteen ounces [.47 liter] per patron. A licensee may sell beer to any person for off-premises consumption if sold in a brewery-sealed container and the total amount sold to each person does not exceed five and sixteen-hundredths gallons [19.53 liters] per day. This section may not be superseded under chapters 11-09.1 and 40-05.1.

     2.    The tax commissioner may issue a special event permit for not more than forty events per calendar year to a microbrew licensee allowing the licensee, subject to local ordinance, to give free samples of beer manufactured by the licensee, sell beer manufactured by the glass or in closed containers, or dispense beer manufactured by the licensee, at off-premises events.

3.    A microbrew pub may transfer beer in bulk, as defined by section 5-01-01, manufactured by the microbrew pub to an affiliated microbrew pub licensee. For purposes of this subsection, “affiliated microbrew pub licensee” means a microbrew pub of which at least an eighty-five percent interest is owned by the microbrew pub measured annually and:

a. The microbrew pub does not own more than three affiliated microbrew pub licensees; b.    The microbrew pub licensee receiving the beer in bulk has produced no less than five thousand gallons [18927.06 liters] of beer on the premises in the preceding calendar year. For the purpose of calculating the production requirements, the production must be prorated based on the number of days beer was produced; c.    The beer in bulk transferred in any calendar year constitutes no more than fifty percent of the beer being produced by the microbrew pub licensee receiving the beer; and

d.    For purposes of determining whether the ten thousand barrel production limit under subsection 1 is being exceeded, the beer being transferred is credited to the microbrew pub that manufactured the beer.

4.    A contractee brewer may contract with a contractor brewer to produce beer for the contractee brewer to the extent allowed by federal law under the following conditions:

a.    The contractee brewer and the contractor brewer must be licensed and owned separately; b.    The contractee brewer must have a proper license issued under this section and maintain a physical brewing presence in the state; c.    Beer brewed for a contractee brewer counts toward the contractee brewer’s annual barrels produced, and the beer does not count toward the contractor brewer’s annual barrels produced; d.    The contractee brewer retains ownership of the product; and

e.    Each brewer is separately and distinctly responsible for compliance with this chapter.