There is no single nationwide cap on the maximum alcohol delivery container size by state. Federal rules set which bottle sizes manufacturers may use at all — up to 3.75 liters for distilled spirits and even larger for wine — and then each state decides which of those sizes a licensed retailer can actually deliver to your door. The ceiling you care about is whichever is lower: the federal standard of fill, or your state’s delivery rule.
Federal Bottle Sizes Set the Outer Limit
Every bottle a delivery driver carries has to match a container size approved by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). These approved sizes, called standards of fill, are a menu of legal volumes. A size not on the menu cannot be bottled, so it cannot be delivered.
For distilled spirits, the TTB authorizes 25 container sizes from 50 milliliters up to 3.75 liters. Familiar retail sizes like 750 milliliters, 1 liter, and 1.75 liters sit on that list, along with newer additions such as 355 milliliters (roughly the size of a standard can) and 475 milliliters. The TTB finalized an expansion in January 2025 that added 15 new spirits sizes and removed the older distinction between sizes allowed in cans and sizes allowed in other containers.1eCFR. 27 CFR 5.203 – Standards of Fill for Distilled Spirits
Wine has 25 authorized sizes from 50 milliliters up to 3 liters, and beyond 3 liters it can be bottled in any even whole-liter volume — 4 liters, 5 liters, 6 liters, and up. That rule is what makes box wines and large-format bottles legal.2eCFR. 27 CFR 4.72 – Standards of Fill for Wine The same January 2025 rule added 13 new wine sizes, including 473 milliliters (16 ounces) and 568 milliliters (19.2 ounces), largely to accommodate canned wine.3Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. TTB Adds New Standards of Fill for Wine and Distilled Spirits
Beer and other malt beverages sit under a separate, more flexible regulation (27 CFR 7.71). Growlers (typically 64 ounces) and crowlers (typically 32 ounces) are common for draft beer to go, though state rules on whether those containers may be delivered vary.
Why Your State Decides What Can Actually Be Delivered
The 21st Amendment, which ended Prohibition, gave states “virtually complete control over whether to permit importation or sale of liquor and how to structure the liquor distribution system.”4Legal Information Institute. Twenty-First Amendment Doctrine and Practice A customer in one state may legally receive a 1.75-liter bottle of whiskey while a customer across the state line cannot. There is no federal delivery permit and no federal cap on delivery container size.
Each state’s alcohol beverage control (ABC) board decides whether delivery is allowed, which beverage types qualify, and what sizes a retailer may send out. Some states restrict spirits delivery to containers no larger than 750 milliliters. Others allow any federally approved size. A handful still prohibit home delivery of spirits altogether while permitting beer and wine. More than 45 states now allow some form of alcohol delivery, with over 30 states having introduced or expanded delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic and most of those changes now permanent.
Separately, a few states ban delivery of 50-milliliter mini bottles, treating them as impulse items unsuited to delivery.
What Typically Gets Delivered, by Beverage Type
Beer and Malt Beverages
Standard 12-ounce cans and bottles are the baseline, with larger 16-ounce and 19.2-ounce cans also common. Multi-packs, six-packs, and cases are generally allowed; regulators look at the volume of each individual container, not the total order. Growlers and crowlers are deliverable in many jurisdictions, though some states require them to be filled and sealed by a licensed retailer rather than at home.
Wine
Standard 750-milliliter bottles and 1.5-liter magnums go out in essentially every state that permits wine delivery. Larger formats, including 3-liter boxes and 5-liter bag-in-box wines, are federally authorized and deliverable in many states.2eCFR. 27 CFR 4.72 – Standards of Fill for Wine Canned wines at 355 milliliters and 473 milliliters are increasingly common on delivery menus.
Distilled Spirits
The most commonly delivered spirits sizes are 750 milliliters and 1.75 liters. Federal rules now permit bottles up to 3.75 liters, but few states let a container that large reach a residential doorstep.1eCFR. 27 CFR 5.203 – Standards of Fill for Distilled Spirits Some states impose delivery-specific caps that stop at 750 milliliters, and some channels are limited to single-serving sizes of 375 milliliters or smaller.
Prepared Cocktails From Bars and Restaurants
To-go cocktails became widespread during the pandemic and are now permanently legal in a majority of states. Size limits for prepared drinks tend to be tighter than for sealed manufacturer bottles. Many states cap individual cocktail containers in the 16-to-24-ounce range, and some limit the number of drinks per order. A prepared cocktail generally must contain at least one non-alcohol component (a mixer or garnish); a bar cannot pour straight spirits into a cup and send it out as a cocktail.
Sealing and Labeling Can Affect What Counts as a Container
Delivered alcohol almost always must arrive in a properly sealed container. Manufacturer-sealed bottles and cans meet that bar on their own. Drinks prepared by restaurants or bars face more detail: most states require tamper-evident containers for to-go cocktails, meaning any opening during transport must be obvious. Straw holes, loose lids, and open caps generally fail that test. Many states also require the container to display the selling establishment’s name and a clear indication that it holds alcohol. A properly sealed to-go drink is also treated differently from an open container during transport under most state laws.
How to Confirm the Limit Where You Live
Your state’s ABC board is the authoritative source, and most publish specific delivery guidance covering per-container size caps, per-order volume limits, which beverage types qualify, and any sealing or labeling rules. Because the figures move — more than 30 states changed delivery rules during the pandemic, and the TTB expanded federal sizes as recently as January 2025 — checking the current state page before placing a large order is worthwhile.
A separate rule governs who can receive the package: every state that allows delivery requires the recipient to be at least 21, and drivers are expected to check identification. That rule applies regardless of container size.