From Home Delivery to Happy Hour: The Complex Alcohol Laws in Indiana

Indiana’s alcohol laws, regulated by the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission (ATC), have evolved recently to permit home delivery by specific permit holders and allow happy hours after a decades-long ban. Liquor dealers with appropriate permits can deliver up to 12 quarts of liquor in permissible containers directly to residences or offices, but only by the permit holder or an employee with an employee permit—no third-party services are allowed. Bars and restaurants may now sell sealed mixed drinks for carryout in new, clean containers without perforations, a change codified from pandemic-era allowances.​

Happy Hour Rules

Happy hours became legal on July 1, 2024, ending a 1985 ban driven by concerns over excessive drinking. They are limited to 4 hours per day and 15 hours per week, prohibited from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m., and cannot include all-you-can-drink deals, consumption-based games, or prizes of alcohol.​

Delivery Restrictions

Home delivery remains tightly controlled; beer, wine, and liquor dealers must handle it personally or via permitted staff, as third-party contractors violate statutes like IC 7.1-3-10-7. Recent 2025 updates expanded some permitting and sampling but upheld these core limits on delivery methods.​

Key Regulations

Cold beer sales restricted to licensed package liquor stores only; groceries sell warm beer.​

Carryout mixed drinks require sealing by permit holders in approved containers.​

Alcohol servers (bartenders, waitstaff) at bars, restaurants, and stores need training post-July 2025.​

Events and retailers gained sampling enhancements in 2025.​

These rules balance business flexibility with public safety under ATC oversight.

SOURCES

[1](https://www.in.gov/atc/files/Advisory-Opinion-19-07.pdf)
[2](https://www.indianapolismonthly.com/food-and-drinks/new-indiana-law-happy-hour-cocktails/)
[3](https://www.skofirm.com/news/new-indiana-law-will-end-ban-on-happy-hour-permit-carry-out-alcohol-and-establish-new-liquor-liability-insurance-requirements/)
[4](https://warrickandboyn.com/indiana-alcohol-law-updates/)
[5](https://warrickandboyn.com/happy-hours/)