Distillery Insurance
Guardian Insurance Agency
Protect your craft from mash to market.
Distilleries face unique risks: high heat and pressure, flammable vapors, CO₂ systems, specialized equipment, tastings/tours, events, and distribution. A tailored distillery insurance program safeguards your plant, product, people, and brand so one incident doesn’t stop production or sales.
Why distilleries need a purpose‑built policy
Your risk changes with batch size, tasting room operations, events and tours, mobile activations, and how you distribute (self‑deliver vs. wholesale). Off‑the‑shelf coverage often misses contamination/spoilage, product recall, equipment breakdown, and supply‑chain dependencies. We design protection around how you distill, package, serve, and ship.
Core coverages for distilleries
(Coverage varies by carrier and policy; we’ll tailor limits, deductibles, and endorsements to your operation.)
Property & Income (on‑site protection)
- Commercial Property: Buildings, cookers, fermenters, stills, mash tuns, piping, pumps, barrels, bottling/packaging lines, signage, tenant improvements.
- Business Income & Extra Expense: Replace lost revenue and fund temporary workarounds after a covered physical loss (e.g., fire, wind, water damage).
- Ordinance or Law: Increased costs to meet current codes during rebuilds.
- Utility Service (time‑element): Lost income when off‑premises power/water/communications fail.
Equipment & Process
- Equipment/Systems Breakdown: Mechanical/electrical failures of boilers, chillers/glycol systems, compressors, pumps, controls, electrical panels, and refrigeration; includes expediting expense and often haz‑mat clean‑up (e.g., ammonia releases).
- Contamination & Spoilage: Losses from microbial contamination, foreign substances, temperature excursions, or utility failure that ruin mash, spirits, or perishable stock.
Liability (premises, products, alcohol service)
- General Liability & Products Completed Operations: Bodily injury/property damage from premises hazards and finished products.
- Liquor Liability: Claims tied to alcohol service/sales (tasting room, events). Funds defense and awards when intoxication‑related incidents arise often required by landlords and venues.
- Umbrella/Excess Liability: Higher limits over GL/Auto/Employers Liability for catastrophic claims.
- Premises/Events Liability: Venue‑required coverage for festivals, tours, pop‑ups, and off‑site tastings; we issue COIs with Additional Insured, Primary & Non‑Contributory, and Waiver of Subrogation wording.
People, Funds & Data
- Workers Compensation & Employers Liability: Employee injuries (hot work, lifting, slips).
- Employment Practices Liability (EPLI): Harassment, discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination claims.
- Crime/Employee Dishonesty & Social Engineering: Theft/diversion of funds; protection against wire/ACH fraud.
- Cyber Liability: POS/e‑commerce, loyalty/membership data, online reservations; covers privacy breaches, ransomware, and regulatory response.
Distribution, Transit & Mobile Gear
- Commercial Auto / Fleet: Owned vehicles for deliveries, mobile events, or purchasing runs.
- Hired & Non‑Owned Auto (HNOA): Staff using personal or rented vehicles for business.
- Inland Marine / Equipment Floater: Mobile gear, event fixtures, portable bars, tents, displays in transit or off‑site.
- Motor Truck Cargo / Stock Throughput: Warehouse‑to‑warehouse protection for ingredients and finished goods across inbound, storage, and outbound legs; add temperature deviation endorsements for sensitive products.
Product Recall & Brand Protection
- Product Recall / Contaminated Products: Recall execution, disposal, replacement, business interruption, and crisis management/PR (form‑dependent). Helps defend your brand and distributor relationships.
Supply Chain & Dependency
- Contingent Business Interruption (Dependent Properties): Lost income when a key supplier or customer suffers a covered loss think grain, glass, closures, CO₂ suppliers, or contract packagers.
- Leader Locations / Attraction Property: Income impact when nearby draw properties are damaged (tourism corridors, shared venues).
Your product and your equipment carry high values
Cookers, fermenters, and stills are significant capital assets. A breakdown or loss can halt production and drain cash. Pair Property and Equipment Breakdown with Contamination & Spoilage to cover repairs, expedited parts/labor, and ruined batches. Add Business Income so payroll, rent, and recovery stay funded while you restart.
Alcohol service why liquor liability is a must
If you serve or sell alcohol, liquor liability addresses claims from intoxication‑related incidents on or off premises. It’s often required by landlords, venues, and municipalities and should sit cleanly under your Umbrella for higher limits.
Vehicles why business auto matters
Personal auto policies don’t cover business use. Even small, frequent errands create exposure. Add HNOA for employee‑owned/rented vehicles used for work. If you own delivery units, place Commercial Auto with appropriate liability and physical damage limits.
What affects price
- Production scale & equipment profile (boilers, chillers, packaging lines).
- Taproom/restaurant operations (hours, alcohol/food ratios, events).
- Tours & off‑site activations (frequency, crowd sizes, venue requirements).
- Distribution footprint and transit controls (reefer, route planning, security).
- Claims history and documented safety/quality protocols.
- Selected limits, deductibles, endorsements (contamination, recall, utility time‑element, umbrella).
Practical risk controls (often earn credits)
- Process safety: Hot‑work permits; ventilation; CO₂/O₂ sensors; eyewash/showers; PPE; lockout/tagout; explosion‑proof equipment where appropriate.
- Quality & traceability: Lot/batch tracking, retention samples, CIP/SIP logs, calibrated instruments.
- Cold chain & utilities: Temperature alarms on cold rooms/glycol loops; generator quick‑connects; surge protection.
- Liquor service: RBS/TIPS training, ID checks, cut‑off protocols, incident logs.
- Events & vendors: Written waivers, vendor COIs, site plans, crowd/queue management, emergency action plans.
- Cyber & funds: MFA on POS/back office, offline/immutable backups, Positive Pay/ACH filters, dual approvals.
The Guardian way
We walk your stillhouse, bottling line, tasting room, and distro, review contracts and vendor COIs, then assemble a clean stack Property/Income, Equipment Breakdown, Contamination & Spoilage, Liquor Liability, GL/Products, Umbrella, Recall, Auto/HNOA, Inland Marine, Workers’ Comp, EPLI, Cyber/Crime, Contingent BI with fast COIs and the exact wording landlords, venues, and distributors demand. No gaps. No delays.
Guardian Insurance Agency — Proper protection—prior to peril.
Call
+1 888 388 2864
Visit
1818 E 1st Street #530 Santa Ana CA 92705