Updated April 2026.
Colorado sealed-container beer — grocery, c-store, liquor store — may be sold from 8:00 a.m. until midnight, every day (C.R.S. § 44-3-901(6)(b)(II)). That includes Sunday. Christmas is no longer a statewide sealed-sale blackout: SB24-231 deleted the old Christmas clause (effective Aug. 7, 2024); LED Bulletin 24-02 said sales may run Dec. 25, 2024 onward. The store can still close. On-premise rooms may serve any day except 2:00 a.m.–7:00 a.m. Age 21.
A 24-hour King Soopers still has to lock the beer sale from midnight to 8:00 a.m. That 8:00 a.m. start is later than the on-premise 7:00 a.m. pour. Delivery is a different subsection — see Colorado alcohol hours. Locals may tighten; they do not extend past midnight for takeaway.
Beer you take home vs beer you drink there
| Channel | Legal window | Sunday / Christmas |
|---|---|---|
| Sealed containers (grocery, liquor, gas) | 8:00 a.m.–midnight daily | Same. Christmas follows the ordinary clock; a store may still lock the door. |
| On-premise service | 7:00 a.m.–2:00 a.m. daily | Same. Bars were never on the old Christmas package ban. |
| Store policy | May be shorter | May be shorter |
Full-strength beer in grocery has been legal since the 2019 fermented-malt change. The hour statute does not care about the old 3.2 label — leftover “3.2 only” grocery language on trade pages is historical. Wine at a fermented-malt-and-wine retailer sits on the same 8:00 a.m.–midnight sealed clock. Spirits in a grocery still need the matching license (liquor-licensed drugstore is rare and capped). Gas-station beer sits on that sealed-container clockgas stations.
Older Liquor Laboratory chain pages (QuikTrip / Circle K) still say Colorado sealed alcohol is closed Christmas Day. That tracked the pre-SB24-231 statute. Current 44-3-901 no longer has that clause. Do not treat those chain rows as the 2026 beer-hours answer.
Sources
- C.R.S. § 44-3-901(6)(b)(I)–(II) (FindLaw current through Jan. 1, 2025): on-premise except 2–7 a.m.; sealed containers 8:00 a.m.–midnight. Subsection (6)(c)(III) deleted by Laws 2024, ch. 205 (S.B. 24-231), eff. Aug. 7, 2024.
- Colorado General Assembly SB24-231 (signed May 18, 2024; effective Aug. 7, 2024): “The act allows alcohol beverage sales on Christmas.”
- Colorado LED Bulletin 24-02 (Dec. 16, 2024): Christmas Day sales permitted; no duty to open.
- No Sunday exception in that subsection. No city table. Age 21.