This division shall be known and may be cited as the “Alcoholic Beverage Control Act.”

This division is an exercise of the police powers of the State for the protection of the safety, welfare, health, peace, and morals of the people of the State, to eliminate the evils of unlicensed and unlawful manufacture, selling, and disposing of alcoholic beverages, and to promote temperance in the use and consumption of alcoholic beverages. It is hereby declared that the subject matter of this division involves in the highest degree the economic, social, and moral well-being and the safety of the State and of all its people. All provisions of this division shall be liberally construed for the accomplishment of these purposes.

If any provision of this division or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of this division that can be given effect without the invalid portion or application, and to this end the provisions of this division are severable. It is the intent of the Legislature that this division would have been adopted regardless if such invalid provision had not been included or any invalid application had not been made.

Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions and general provisions set forth in this chapter govern the construction of this division.

“Alcohol” means ethyl alcohol, hydrated oxide of ethyl, or spirits of wine, from whatever source or by whatever process produced.

“Alcoholic beverage” includes alcohol, spirits, liquor, wine, beer, and every liquid or solid containing alcohol, spirits, wine, or beer, and which contains one-half of 1 percent or more of alcohol by volume and which is fit for beverage purposes either alone or when diluted, mixed, or combined with other substances. “Alcoholic beverage” does not include “powdered alcohol,” as defined in Section 23003.1.

“Distilled spirits” means an alcoholic beverage obtained by the distillation of fermented agricultural products, and includes alcohol for beverage use, spirits of wine, whiskey, rum, brandy, and gin, including all dilutions and mixtures thereof. “Distilled spirits” does not include “powdered alcohol,” as defined in Section 23003.1.

“Beer” means any alcoholic beverage obtained by the fermentation of any infusion or decoction of barley, malt, hops, or any other similar product, or any combination thereof in water, and includes ale, porter, brown, stout, lager beer, small beer, and strong beer, but does not include sake, known as Japanese rice wine. Beer may be produced using the following materials as adjuncts in fermentation: honey, fruit, fruit juice, fruit concentrate, herbs, spices,

and other food materials. Beer aged in an empty wooden barrel previously used to contain wine or distilled spirits shall be defined exclusively as “beer” and shall not be considered a dilution or mixture of any other alcoholic beverage.

“Wine” means the product obtained from normal alcoholic fermentation of the juice of sound ripe grapes or other agricultural products containing natural or added sugar or any such alcoholic beverage to which is added grape brandy, fruit brandy, or spirits of wine, which is distilled from the particular agricultural product or products of which the wine is made and other rectified wine products and by whatever name and which does not contain more than 15 percent added flavoring, coloring, and blending material and which contains not more than 24 percent of alcohol by volume, and includes vermouth and sake, known as Japanese rice wine.

Nothing contained in this section affects or limits the power, authority, or duty of the State Department of Health Services in the enforcement of the laws directed toward preventing the manufacture, production, sale, or transportation of adulterated, misbranded, or mislabeled alcoholic beverages, and the definition of “wine” contained in this section is limited strictly to the purposes of this division and does not extend to, or repeal by implication, any law preventing the production, manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated, misbranded, or mislabeled alcoholic beverages.

“Person” includes any individual, firm, copartnership, joint adventure, association, corporation, estate, trust, business trust, receiver, syndicate, or any other group or combination acting as a unit, and the plural as well as the singular number.

“Licensee” means any person holding a license, a permit, a certification, or any other authorization issued by the department.

“Taxpayer” means a person liable for the payment of a tax pursuant to Part 14 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.

“Salesman” means any individual who solicits or receives an order for alcoholic beverages from any licensee.

“Beer manufacturer” means any person that has facilities and equipment for the purposes of, and is engaged in, the commercial manufacture of beer.

“Winegrower” means any person who has facilities and equipment for the conversion of grapes, berries, or other fruit into wine and is engaged in the production of wine.

A “wine blender” is a person authorized to operate a bonded wine cellar pursuant to a permit issued for that purpose under the Internal Revenue Laws of the United States but who does not have facilities or equipment for the conversion of grapes, berries or other fruit into wine and does not engage in the production of wine in commercial quantities, provided that any person who produces or blends not to exceed 200 gallons of wine per year shall not, because of such production or blending, be considered a wine blender within the meaning of this division.

“Brandy manufacturer” means any person engaged in the manufacture of brandy only and not in the manufacture of any other distilled spirits.

“Distilled spirits manufacturer” means a person who produces distilled spirits from naturally fermented materials or in any other manner. “Distilled spirits manufacturer” does not include a winegrower that produces spirits of wine, provided the spirits of wine are blended into wine produced by the winegrower, are sold to an industrial alcohol dealer or a distilled spirits manufacturer, or are destroyed by the winegrower.

“Rectifier” means every person who colors, flavors, or otherwise processes distilled spirits by distillation, blending, percolating, or other processes. “Rectifier” does not include an on-sale licensee that colors, flavors, or blends distilled spirits or wine products on the on-sale licensed premises to be consumed on the licensed premises.