Title 27: Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
PART 19—DISTILLED SPIRITS PLANTS
Subpart M—Processing Operations Other Than Denaturation and Manufacture of Articles
Bottling, Packaging, and Removal of Products
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§ 19.386 Alcohol content and fill.
(a) General. (1) At representative intervals during bottling operations, proprietors shall test and examine bottled spirits to determine whether those spirits agree in alcohol content and quantity (fill) with that stated on the label or bottle.
(2) If the appropriate TTB officer finds that a proprietor's test procedures do not protect the revenue and ensure label accuracy of the bottled product, the appropriate TTB officer may require corrective measures.
(b) Variations in alcohol content and fill. The proprietor shall rebottle, recondition, or relabel spirits if the bottle contents do not agree with the respective data on the label or bottle as to:
(1) Quantity (fill), except for such variation as may occur in filling conducted in compliance with good commercial practice with an overall objective of maintaining 100 percent fill for spirits bottled; and/or
(2) Alcohol content, subject to a normal drop in alcohol content which may occur during bottling operations not to exceed:
(i) 0.25 percent alcohol by volume for products containing solids in excess of 600 mg per 100 ml, or
(ii) 0.25 percent alcohol by volume for all spirits products bottled in 50 or 100 ml size bottles, or
(iii) 0.15 percent alcohol by volume for all other spirits and bottle sizes.
For example, a product with a solids content of less than 600 mg per 100 ml, labeled as containing 40 percent alcohol by volume and bottled in a 750 ml bottle, would be acceptable if the test for alcohol content found that it contained 39.85 percent alcohol by volume.
(c) Records. Proprietors shall record the results of all tests of alcohol content and quantity (fill) in the record required by §19.750.
(Sec. 201, Pub. L. 85–859, 72 Stat. 1356, as amended, 1394, as amended (26 U.S.C. 5201, 5301)
[51 FR 36395, Oct. 10, 1986, as amended by T.D. ATF–288, 54 FR 47770, Nov. 17, 1989]
