Moving to Utah? What happens to your bar cart

Welcome! Moving here changes how you buy alcohol more than almost anything else about Utah. Here's what to do with the bottles you already own, what stops working (wine clubs, mostly), and how locals actually shop.

Bringing your collection

Good news: if you're moving your home to Utah, you can bring the liquor you already own, in any quantity. A few related rules from DABS:

• Inherited bottles can come in too, in any amount, if you give DABS documents showing you're a beneficiary of the estate.
• After you live here, coming home from another state you can bring up to nine liters of liquor bought outside Utah (nine from abroad, too, once you've cleared customs).
• Military: liquor bought on a base is limited to two liters of wine or liquor, plus one case of heavy beer or flavored malt drinks.
• Never for resale. Bringing alcohol in to sell is illegal; only licensed retailers may sell alcohol in Utah.

What stops working

Wine clubs and online orders. Wineries and retailers can't ship alcohol to Utah homes; doing so is a felony here. Pause those subscriptions before the next shipment. If you love a specific bottle, the legal route is a special order through a state store, by the case.

Grabbing wine with groceries. Grocery stores only sell beer up to 5%. Everything else comes from state liquor stores, which are closed Sundays and holidays.

How locals actually shop

• Find your stores. There are state liquor and wine stores in the more populated areas, smaller package agencies elsewhere, and some stores have premium wine selections or refrigerated sections. Selection differs by store, since DABS stocks each one based on its sales and location.
• Check before you drive. Search Utah Drops for any bottle to see which stores near you have it, and watch it to get an email when it's back.
• Look for barrel picks. DABS gets occasional barrel-select releases in small amounts and sends them to a handful of stores for a limited time.
• Get in on the rare stuff. The rare-bottle drawing is for Utah residents, and winners prove it with a Utah driver license or ID (or a passport plus a Utah utility bill). Once you live here, you can enter. How the drop and the drawing work.
• Ask DABS. The DABS help desk is at (801) 977-6939.

Drink local

Utah's craft scene has grown fast. In 2018 Salt Lake Magazine counted 15 distilleries, 26 brewers and 4 winemakers. DABS's own “Proudly Utah” list now names more:

Breweries

42

Distilleries

22

Wineries

12

Cideries

7

Source: DABS, We Are Proudly Utah, counted October 2026.

Our Utah makers directory has a page for each of them: what they make, whether you can visit, and which of their bottles are in state stores near you.

Homebrewing and home winemaking

Legal since 2009. Utah law lets you make beer or wine at home for personal and family use, up to 100 gallons a year with one adult in the household, or 200 with two or more. You can take some out of the house (for example, to a competition, or a few bottles to share with family), in limited amounts: for personal use, about 72 ounces of beer or one liter of wine per adult in the household at a time. It's for personal and family use, not for sale.