Mast liquor license: what it actually means and how to get one

Last updated 2026-07-25

What does "mast liquor license" actually mean?

If you typed "mast liquor license" into a search bar, you probably landed here because of one of two things. Either you're thinking of MAST, which stands for Mandatory Alcohol Server Training, a real program required in Washington State for anyone who sells or serves alcohol. Or it's a typo, maybe for "most common liquor license" or "basic liquor license," and the autocomplete or a keyword tool mangled it into "mast." There is no license called a "mast license" issued by any state alcohol authority. Washington's Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) runs the MAST program, and it requires most people who sell, serve, or deliver alcohol to hold a valid MAST permit before they pour a drink ^[1]. That's a server training credential, not a business liquor license. It's the individual card a bartender or server carries, similar to a food handler's card, not the license the bar or restaurant itself needs to operate. So this article does two jobs. First, it explains MAST clearly, since that's likely what brought you here if you're in Washington or hiring staff who need it. Second, it walks through the actual liquor license process, since "how do I get a liquor license" is the bigger question underneath all of this, whether you misspelled it or not.

What is MAST (Mandatory Alcohol Server Training) and who needs it?

MAST is Washington State's server training requirement, administered by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board. Under Washington law (RCW 66.20.310), most people who sell or serve alcohol for on-premises consumption, or who check IDs and sell it for off-premises consumption in certain settings, need a MAST permit before they start work ^[1]. Washington's alcohol server permit statute requires that a person serving or selling liquor "obtain a class 12 or class 13 alcohol server permit" as a condition of that employment, with training completed within the timeframe set by the board ^[1]. In practice, the WSLCB has run this as a 60-day window: a new hire can start pouring drinks while their permit is pending, but they need to complete training and get certified inside that window or they and the business are both exposed to violations. MAST training is typically a few hours, delivered online or in person through WSLCB-approved providers, and it covers checking IDs, recognizing fake identification, understanding intoxication cues, and knowing when to cut someone off. Permit validity and renewal periods are set by the board and have changed over time, so confirm the current term directly with the Liquor and Cannabis Board rather than relying on an old blog post, including this one. Other states run similar but differently named programs. Oregon has its Alcohol Server Education program through the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission. Texas has TABC certification through the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. California doesn't have a single unified statewide mandate in the same way but has moved toward Responsible Beverage Service (RBS) training requirements for many servers and managers under state law ^[2]. If you're opening in a specific state, check that state's ABC or liquor control board site directly, because server training rules are one of the most locally specific parts of alcohol law and a program named in one state usually doesn't exist by that name anywhere else.

How do I get a liquor license? (the real process)

Getting a liquor license, the actual business license to sell alcohol at your restaurant or bar, is a different animal from server training. It's issued by your state's alcohol beverage control (ABC) agency, sometimes with a local layer (city or county) stacked on top, and it typically runs through five stages: figure out the right license type, check availability (quota states may require a transfer instead of a new issue), assemble the application package, submit and wait through review and any public notice period, then pass final inspection before opening. Step one is identifying the correct license type for your business. A full-service restaurant serving wine and cocktails with food needs a different license than a beer-and-wine-only cafe, a nightclub, a brewery taproom, or a package store. States categorize these differently. New York, for example, has separate license categories for on-premises liquor sale at restaurants and taverns versus beer-and-wine-only establishments, each with its own fee schedule set under the state's Alcoholic Beverage Control Law ^[3]. Step two is quota research. Many states cap the number of full liquor licenses per county based on population, and if the quota is maxed out in your area, you can't get a new one issued at all, you have to buy an existing license from someone willing to transfer it. Florida is a well-known quota state for its most valuable license type. More on that below. Step three is paperwork: business formation documents, lease or proof of premises control, personal history and background disclosures for every owner with a qualifying ownership stake, floor plans, sometimes fingerprints and financial statements. Step four is the wait, which varies enormously by state and by whether local zoning or a community board weighs in. Step five is your final inspection, where the state or local fire marshal and building department confirm the space matches what you filed before they'll let you pour a drink for a paying customer. If you want a structured way to map this whole sequence against your actual lease and opening date instead of guessing at the order, that's exactly the gap LiquorReady's $199 State Liquor License Roadmap is built to close: a one-time, state-specific plan with a realistic timeline, not a subscription or a broker's cut.

How much is a liquor license?

There is no single national number, and anyone quoting you one flat figure without asking what state and license type you need is guessing. Liquor license costs range from a few hundred dollars for a beer-and-wine permit in a low-fee state, to tens of thousands of dollars in state issuance fees alone in a high-cost state, and into the hundreds of thousands when you're buying a transferable quota license on the open market in a capped county. Three cost buckets stack on top of each other. First, the state issuance or renewal fee, set by statute and published on your state ABC's fee schedule. Second, local fees: city or county alcohol licensing fees, health permits, zoning or conditional use permit costs where required. Third, if you're in a quota state and no new licenses are available, the market price to buy an existing license from a current holder, which is set by supply and demand in that specific county, not by any government fee schedule at all. Because every one of these numbers is state and even county specific, and because they change, don't trust a blog post (including this one) for your exact dollar figure. Go to your state ABC's official fee page and confirm your specific number there before you budget.

How much is a liquor license in Florida?

Florida is one of the more complicated states to answer this in because it runs a quota system for its most flexible license, the Series 4-COP (or 4-COPX for larger establishments), the full liquor license that lets you sell beer, wine, and spirits for consumption on premises ^[4]. Under Florida Statutes section 561.20, the number of quota liquor licenses in each county is tied to county population, with new licenses becoming available as population crosses set thresholds, and allocated by drawing when there are more applicants than available licenses ^[4]. If your county's quota is full, and in many populous Florida counties it is, you cannot get a new 4-COP issued by the state. You have to buy one from someone who already holds it, and those transfer prices are set entirely by the private market in that county, not by any state fee table. Depending on the county, that market price can run from the tens of thousands of dollars into six figures or more; the state's own fee schedule only covers the government-side issuance and renewal fees, not what a seller charges you for their existing license. Florida does offer non-quota alternatives that sidestep this entirely. Florida Statutes section 561.20(2)(a) exempts certain licenses issued to bona fide public eating establishments (restaurants meeting seating, kitchen, and food-sales-percentage requirements) from the county quota limits ^[4]. Beer and wine only licenses (Series 2-COP) are also not capped by the same quota system in most counties. Because quota status, population brackets, and current market transfer prices all shift, go straight to Florida's Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco for the current quota count in your county and the current state fee schedule before you budget anything ^[4]. If your search actually started because you're researching Florida specifically, our Florida bar guide and Florida Bar member search page cover the state's professional bar admission system, which is a completely separate thing from a liquor license, more on that mix-up below.

How do I obtain a liquor license? (application checklist)

Obtaining a liquor license comes down to proving to your state and local government that you, your business, and your premises meet their standards, and that usually means assembling the same core documents no matter which state you're in, even though the exact forms differ everywhere. Expect to provide: your entity formation documents (LLC or corporation paperwork), a signed lease or deed showing you control the premises, a detailed floor plan showing the bar, seating, and any outdoor service area, personal history disclosures and often fingerprints for every owner or manager with a qualifying stake, proof of any required local approvals (zoning sign-off, health department permit, fire marshal clearance), and your state's specific application form with the correct license type selected. Most states also require some form of public notice, posting a sign at the premises, publishing in a local paper, or notifying neighbors, before final approval, which builds in a comment period you need to plan around, more than the government's internal processing time. Federally, a Basic Permit issued by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) is required for producers, importers, and wholesalers under 27 U.S.C. 203, but a retail bar or restaurant that just buys and sells alcohol at retail generally does not need a separate federal permit for that activity ^[5]. You will still need an Employer Identification Number and your state and local retail license regardless. Build your timeline backward from your opening date, not forward from today. If your lease starts in 90 days and your state's typical processing window runs 60 to 120 days depending on whether a public comment period applies, you're already behind before you've filed anything.

How do I get a liquor licence if I'm outside the US?

If you spelled it "licence" you're likely in the UK, Canada, Australia, or another Commonwealth country, and the process runs on a genuinely different legal framework than the US state-by-state ABC system, so US-specific guidance won't transfer directly. In England and Wales, alcohol licensing runs through the Licensing Act 2003, and you apply to your local licensing authority (usually the borough or district council) for a premises licence, which requires a Designated Premises Supervisor holding a personal licence. Section 11 of the Act sets out that a premises licence authorizes the premises to be used for licensable activities in accordance with the licence conditions ^[6]. Scotland runs its own separate system under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005, administered through local Licensing Boards rather than councils. In Canada, alcohol licensing is provincial, not federal, so Ontario's Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) runs a completely separate application system from British Columbia's Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch, with different forms, fees, and timelines. If you're opening outside the US, go straight to your national or provincial/state licensing authority's website. The core concepts (premises approval, a designated responsible person, local public notice) show up in most English-speaking systems, but the specific forms, fees, and appeal processes do not translate between countries, and guessing based on US rules will cost you time.

Can you serve alcohol without a liquor license?

No, not for a business selling to the public. Every US state requires some form of license or permit to sell or serve alcohol commercially, and operating without one is a criminal or administrative violation that can bring fines, forced closure, and in some states misdemeanor or felony charges against the owner personally. There are narrow exceptions. Private, non-commercial events where no one is selling alcohol, truly BYOB setups in states that permit them (rules vary sharply by state and even by city on whether a restaurant can allow customers to bring their own bottle without any license at all), and certain nonprofit or one-day special event permits that let an organization serve alcohol at a single event under a temporary permit rather than a full license. If you're planning a one-off event rather than an ongoing restaurant or bar, ask your state ABC about a temporary or special event permit before assuming you need the full commercial license track. These are typically faster and cheaper, but they don't cover ongoing operations, and using one to cover what's actually a regular business is exactly the kind of thing that gets caught during a compliance check.

How do I get a bartending license?

Most states don't actually issue a "bartending license" in the way people mean it; what they usually need is a responsible beverage server (RBS) certification or, in some states, a bartender permit tied to alcohol sales specifically. The name and requirement vary enormously by state, and some states have no individual server certification requirement at all, leaving it up to the employer. Washington's MAST program, covered above, is the clearest example of a true individual bartender permit system, required within a set window of starting work and covering ID checks, intoxication signs, and refusal of service, under RCW 66.20.310 ^[1]. Other states with mandatory server training include Oregon (through OLCC) and Texas (TABC certification, required for anyone who sells, serves, or delivers alcoholic beverages under Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code training rules). Some states leave server training optional or employer-driven rather than state-mandated, which means the specific course, cost, and renewal period depend entirely on your state, and sometimes your city. Check your state ABC or liquor control board's training or education page directly rather than a generic bartending school ad, since only the state page will tell you whether the certificate you're about to pay for is actually legally required where you work.

Can anyone take the bar exam?

This one's unrelated to liquor licensing entirely, it's the professional exam to become a licensed attorney, but it shows up in the same searches because of the shared word "bar," so it's worth a straight answer here. No, not literally anyone. Each state's bar admission authority sets its own eligibility rules, but the near-universal baseline is a Juris Doctor degree from a law school, usually one accredited by the American Bar Association, plus passing a character and fitness review ^[7]. Some states allow "reading the law" (apprenticing under a practicing attorney instead of attending law school) as an alternative path, California, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington are the most commonly cited examples, but this route is rare, slow, and has a much lower historical pass rate than the traditional law school route. If you're actually researching this because you're interested in law, not liquor, check your target state's bar admission agency directly. For Florida specifically, the Florida Bar governs attorney licensing in that state, and the Florida Bar member search tool lets you verify whether a given attorney is currently licensed and in good standing. None of this overlaps with alcohol licensing despite the shared name.

How does all this connect for someone opening a restaurant or bar?

If you're actually opening a restaurant or bar, here's the honest sequence, in order, so the MAST tangent and the bar exam tangent don't distract you from what actually needs to happen before your doors open. First, confirm your license type with your state ABC based on what you're actually serving (beer/wine only versus full liquor) and how you're serving it (on-premises consumption versus retail sale). Second, check whether your state or county runs a quota system for that license type, because if it does, your timeline and budget both change dramatically, you may be buying an existing license rather than applying for a new one. Third, gather your ownership, premises, and financial documents while that quota question gets answered, don't wait on one before starting the other. Fourth, submit, and build in real time for public notice periods and any required local sign-offs (zoning, health, fire). Fifth, get your final inspection scheduled well before your target opening date, since inspection backlogs are one of the most common reasons a restaurant slips its opening by weeks. Somewhere in that sequence, if you're staffing up, get your servers and bartenders their required training (MAST in Washington, TABC in Texas, RBS in California, or whatever your state calls it) so you're not scrambling on day one with untrained staff and a state inspector who asks for certifications you don't have yet. For a broader look at how license categories differ across states, our liquor and bar hub pages break down the main license types and what they typically require, and our bares guide covers Spanish-language search terms for the same topic if that's useful for bilingual staff or ownership teams.

What should I do next?

Start with your state ABC's official licensing page, not a generic guide, since fees, quota status, and processing times are set at the state level and change. From there, map your specific timeline backward from your lease start and opening date. If you want that mapping done for you in a structured, state-specific format rather than piecing it together from a dozen state PDFs, LiquorReady's $199 State Liquor License Roadmap builds a one-time plan around your actual state, license type, and opening date. It's not legal advice and it doesn't replace your state ABC's requirements, but it turns the scattered checklist above into an ordered, dated plan you can actually work from.

Frequently asked questions

How much is a liquor license?

It depends entirely on your state, license type, and whether you're in a quota county. State issuance fees alone can run from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands. In quota states, buying an existing license on the private market can run into six figures. Check your state ABC's fee schedule for the government-side cost, and separately research current market transfer prices in your county if it's a capped license type.

How to get bartending license?

Most states require a responsible beverage server certification rather than a formal "bartending license." Washington's MAST program requires a permit under RCW 66.20.310 within a set window of starting work. Oregon (OLCC) and Texas (TABC) have their own mandatory training programs. Check your specific state ABC's server training or education page, since requirements, costs, and renewal periods vary by state and some states have no mandatory program at all.

How can I get a liquor license?

Identify the correct license type from your state ABC for what you're serving, check whether your county has a quota system, gather your business formation and premises documents, submit your application with any required local approvals, and pass final inspection before opening. Timelines and costs vary sharply by state, so start with your state ABC's official application page.

How to get a liquor license, step by step?

The general sequence is: pick the right license type, confirm availability under any state or county quota, assemble ownership and premises paperwork, submit and wait through review and public notice, then pass final inspection. Build the timeline backward from your opening date since public notice periods and inspection scheduling often take longer than the paperwork itself.

How to obtain a liquor license?

Obtaining a liquor license means proving to your state and local government that your business, ownership, and premises meet their standards through a formal application. Expect entity documents, a lease, floor plans, personal history disclosures, and sometimes fingerprints. Most states also require a public notice period before final approval. Start at your state ABC's licensing page for the exact form and current fee.

Can anyone take the bar exam?

No. Bar exam eligibility (this is the legal profession's licensing exam, unrelated to liquor licensing) generally requires a Juris Doctor from an ABA-accredited law school plus a character and fitness review. A few states allow apprenticeship-style "reading the law" instead of law school, but this path is rare and has lower historical pass rates. Check your state's bar admission authority for exact rules.

How to obtain a liquor licence (UK/Canada/Australia spelling)?

Outside the US, alcohol licensing runs on different national or provincial systems. In England and Wales, you apply to your local council for a premises licence under the Licensing Act 2003, requiring a Designated Premises Supervisor. In Canada, licensing is provincial (Ontario's AGCO, BC's Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch, etc.). Check your specific country or province's licensing authority directly.

How much is a liquor license in Florida?

It depends on license type. A capped Series 4-COP (full liquor) license in a quota-maxed county may require buying an existing license on the private market, sometimes for tens of thousands to six figures, since state fees only cover government issuance, not market transfer price. Non-quota options like a special food service (SFS) license for qualifying restaurants, or beer/wine-only 2-COP licenses, avoid the quota system. Check Florida's Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco directly.

How much is a liquor licence in Florida (alternate spelling)?

Same answer regardless of spelling: it depends on whether you need Florida's quota-capped full liquor license (Series 4-COP) or a non-quota option like a special food service license or beer/wine-only permit. Quota-county market prices are set by private sellers, not the state, and can run well into six figures. Florida's Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco publishes current state fees and quota counts by county.

Can you serve alcohol without a liquor license?

Not for a commercial business selling to the public; every US state requires a license or permit for that. Narrow exceptions exist for private non-commercial events, BYOB setups where state and local law permits them, and one-day special event permits for nonprofits or single events. Operating a regular bar or restaurant without a license risks fines, forced closure, and possible criminal charges against the owner.

What's the difference between MAST and a liquor license?

MAST (Mandatory Alcohol Server Training) is Washington State's individual server permit, required for the person pouring drinks under RCW 66.20.310. A liquor license is the business-level permit that allows the restaurant or bar itself to sell alcohol. You need both if you're opening in Washington: the business license for the establishment, and MAST permits for each qualifying employee.

Do I need a federal permit to sell alcohol at retail?

Generally, retail bars and restaurants don't need a separate federal Basic Permit to sell alcohol; that requirement under 27 U.S.C. 203 mainly applies to producers, importers, and wholesalers registering with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). You will need an EIN and your state and local retail liquor license. Confirm your specific situation with TTB, since rules differ for anyone involved in production or distribution.

Is a liquor license the same as a business license?

No. A business license (or general operating license) lets you legally run a business in your city or county, covering things like sales tax registration and zoning compliance. A liquor license is a separate, alcohol-specific permit issued by your state ABC (sometimes with a local layer) that specifically authorizes selling or serving alcohol. Most restaurants and bars need both, applied for separately.

Sources

1. Revised Code of Washington 66.20.310, Alcohol server permits: Washington requires most alcohol servers to complete MAST training and obtain an alcohol server permit as a condition of employment
2. California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, Responsible Beverage Service Training Program Act summary (Business and Professions Code section 25680 et seq.): California requires Responsible Beverage Service training for many alcohol servers and managers under state law
3. New York Alcoholic Beverage Control Law section 64, On-premises liquor licenses: New York categorizes liquor licenses by type such as on-premises liquor license and tavern wine license with separate fee schedules
4. New York Alcoholic Beverage Control Law section 63, License and permit fees: State liquor license fees are set by statute and vary by license type
5. 26 U.S.C. 5401 and 27 U.S.C. 203, Federal Basic Permit requirements for producers, importers, and wholesalers: Federal Basic Permits are generally required for producers, importers, and wholesalers, not standard retail bars and restaurants
6. Licensing Act 2003, section 11 (premises licences): In England and Wales, alcohol premises licensing runs through local councils under the Licensing Act 2003 and requires a Designated Premises Supervisor
7. Revised Code of Washington 66.44.010, Selling without license: Selling or serving alcohol commercially without the required state license is a violation subject to enforcement action
8. American Bar Association, ABA Standard 502, admission requirements summary in Standards for Approval of Law Schools: Bar admission generally requires a Juris Doctor from an accredited law school and a character and fitness review