mike geary: I want to get a bartending license before I leave for college. I'm currently in PA, and you only have to be 18 to serve alcohol here. I'll be moving to Boston, MA for college, and was wondering how old you have to be to serve alcohol there. I don't want to take a course if I won't be able to serve alcohol for another 3 years! Thanks.|||You only have to be 18 yrs old to serve. I worked in a restaurant in that area when I was 18, and I was legally allowed to serve alcohol. Here is a sight that confirms it.|||You need a license to be a bartender in PA? I lived in Boston for a couple of years, and never heard of such a thing. Nor anywhere else I have ever lived....