14b NCAC 15A .2302      COMPETITIONS

(a)  Consumption of homemade products at a competition, other than at a private residence, shall be limited to judges and stewards of the competition, as defined by a national or international beer or wine judging program, who are identified in advance of the competition by the competition organizer. Judges may enter their homemade product in competitions in which they judge provided they do not judge any competition category in which they have entries. A competition may be limited to invitees or open to the general public, except as prohibited in Paragraph (c) of this Rule.

(b)  A competition may be held on a premise holding a retail ABC permit if the following conditions are met:

(1)           the competition shall be segregated from the remainder of the premises in a separate space with closable doors, or by a barrier that may include curtains, partitions or other structures, that separates the competition area and makes the competition not visible from the portion of the premises where food or beverages are served to the general public during the time of the event;

(2)           no homemade product shall be consumed outside of the homemade product consumption area designated pursuant to Subparagraph (1) of this Paragraph during the times any portion of the retail premises is open to the general public;

(3)           the retail permittee shall only provide or offer commercial alcoholic products to participants in the competition at the same rate and method as offered to the general public at any other times of that business day that the permittee is authorized to sell; and

(4)           homemade product for the competition shall not be stored on permitted premises for more than 48 hours prior to the competition, provided the homemade product is sealed, labeled as "homemade product for competition entry," and segregated from other alcoholic beverages located on the premises. No homemade product shall remain on the permitted premises the day after the conclusion of the competition. All containers of homemade product left on the permitted premises contrary to the provisions of this Rule shall be disposed of by the permittee or the permittee's employee by making the homemade product unsuitable for, or incapable of, being consumed.

(c)  A competition may be held on a premise holding a commercial ABC permit if the following conditions are met:

(1)           the area for consumption of homemade product during a competition shall only be in the areas of the permitted premises without active production;

(2)           the competition shall only be held on those portions of permitted premises that are not open to the public;

(3)           no homemade product shall be consumed on the commercial permitted premises, except for judges and stewards, during the times any portion of the commercial premises is open to the general public; and

(4)           homemade product for the competition shall not be stored on permitted commercial premises for more than 30 days prior to the competition, provided the homemade product is sealed, labeled as "homemade product for competition entry," stored only in post-production areas that may also contained sealed alcoholic beverages produced by the commercial permittee, and segregated from other alcoholic beverages located on the premises. No homemade product shall remain on the permitted premises the day after the conclusion of the competition. All containers of homemade product left on the permitted premises contrary to the provisions of this Rule shall be disposed of by the permittee or the permittee's employee by making the homemade product unsuitable for, or incapable of, being consumed.

(d)  Cash prizes may be paid to entrants in a competition from the registration fees collected so long as not all homemakers participating in the event share in the proceeds from the registration fees.

History Note:        Authority G.S. 18B-100; 18B-207; 18B-306;

Eff. January 1, 2019.