Do you tip a bartender when filling a growler?

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I always throw a buck or two in if I am getting a growler filled at the bar, especially if the bar is busy (extra buck if the bartender doesn't avoid me because they see the growler in hand at the busy bar). I figure that if I were buying the beers I would be paying more per beer and tipping a little more, so I can definitely afford a buck or two on a 9 -14 dollar growler.

That being said, the brewery I live next to has a growler exchange type set up. You bring in your empty growler, and they give you a fresh one from the fridge (I was skeptical of freshness at first, but after dozens of growlers I have only had 1 bad one). I never know what to do in this situation. The bartender is just grabbing something out of a fridge and setting it down. What would you guys do? Tip? No tip?

I've been leaving a buck if the bar is busy, sometimes nothing if the bar is dead. Having been in food service industry for several years I feel sorta scummy if I don't leave something, but then again at the restaurant I worked at we sold pre-packaged items and I never felt short changed if someone didn't tip when all they got was that.

What do you guys think?
 
For a growler fill I would typically tip something like $2-3. I try to tip at least a buck a beer, and a growler is more work. Sure, you could make the case that a carryout sale is basically the same as going to a liquor store, and the guy at the liquor store doesn't get tips. The difference is that there's no chance you're taking up time that the liquor store guy could be serving someone who WOULD tip.

My thinking on tipping in general is that I'm in a situation that requires a tip 2-3 times a week. So even if I throw the bartender/server a couple extra bucks, that's maybe $250/year. I was just going to blow that money on booze anyway.

I often wonder about the customers I have who don't tip. Have they never had a job working for tips, or has it just been so long that they've forgotten? Most of them do tend to be middle-aged and above.
 
I never know what to do in this situation. The bartender is just grabbing something out of a fridge and setting it down. What would you guys do? Tip? No tip?

I don't think there's an universal answer, but at the brewpub where I work the brewer and/or bartender has to fill those before the bar opens. So at the minimum I'd ask who does the work to fill them, and try to tip that person.

I was actually in the brewery yesterday and someone came down from the restaurant with $2 for me. "These customers said they really enjoyed the beer and they wanted to make sure you got this." I was floored.
 
That being said, the brewery I live next to has a growler exchange type set up. You bring in your empty growler, and they give you a fresh one from the fridge (I was skeptical of freshness at first, but after dozens of growlers I have only had 1 bad one). I never know what to do in this situation. The bartender is just grabbing something out of a fridge and setting it down. What would you guys do? Tip? No tip?

Meh, if you're a regular customer they know and tip well when you're there, you could skip the growler exchange tip. I know I would down a pint while they were walking to the fridge and throw a buck down, now your down to $.50 per transaction.:p

_
 
I think the growler tipping depends in part on how the brewery is set up. I'm fortunate to have a lot of craft beer access close at hand. Some of these places have a "growler fill" line. You go stand in the line and whoever is behind the bar will get to you, typically when any pending drinks have been served. You need to have patience if that's what you're there for. Personally if I'm just walking in and getting a growler to go in a place I frequent, I don't add a tip on the growler, I just pay cash and go. A lot of times the person filling the growlers is the owner and/or one of the brewers.

This being said, walking in and grabbing a growler is not my typical practice. Usually I will sit at the bar, have a pint or two, then get my growler filled. If this is the case, I tip generously on the cost of the beers but do not include the cost of the growler to bump up the tipping rate. If it's happy hour and the beers are discounted I bump the tip. If the bar has an AHA discount, particularly if it is added on without me asking, I almost always give the AHA discount back to the server on top of whatever I would leave as a tip. I would have paid the higher price for the beer anyway so I pass the savings on.

Because these places are really craft beer locations and the folks behind the bar are generally all about the beer fortunately I don't see a lot of jerky folks pulling pints so I can't say that I've ever felt the need to show my frustration at the local places by withholding tips. As a general tipping practice I don't feel the need to tip if I'm not being served. Fast food is not service (nor is fast casual).
 
The one thing I have learned with this thread is that people that don't tip ARE prick bastards.
 
If I do my job and someone dies, it sucks. But it happens more often than not. If I am negligent, then not only will I not be paid, but I'll probably be sued and or prosecuted. I have to carry malpractice insurance to make 12 bucks an hour, do you have to carry any sort of liability insurance to serve me dinner?

Off-topic curiosity. How do you only make $12 an hour as an paramedic? A buddy of mine with his national EMT-P certification makes something like $70k a year.
 
If you can afford $8 for a beer, you can afford $9. Those are the most ripped off servers in the entire industry.

_

:EDIT: Reference is to buying beer at a sports event, do you tip the beer cart or snack stand guy.

But are they really servers? They aren't making the $2.15 an hour like servers in other states. My buddy worked at Anaheim stadium and made $12/hr.

Granted he only worked on game and event days but he didn't depend on tips, the hourly more than made up for it.
 
THIS is the problem with this entire system. What in the world would make you tip someone for giving less than perfect service.

If I do less than "good" or "as expected" at my job, I get warnings, sent home, or could lose my job--not to mention the fact that if I am not on my game I could be sued and someone could die.

(This was in reference to my statement that I always tipped.)
Excuse me, but if you don't like my way, its hardly a 'problem of the entire system' or whatever it was you were going on about.
I tip well for good service, poorly for bad service -but I ALWAYS tip -even poor service -it lets them know that I most certainly did not 'forget' -and there are plenty of ways to show your displeasure through the tip.
If you don't like this method, feel free to NOT use it. Good manners are NEVER the problem.
NEVER.
 
Off-topic curiosity. How do you only make $12 an hour as an paramedic? A buddy of mine with his national EMT-P certification makes something like $70k a year.

Paramedics don't make crap. EMT's are different.

I don't know the specifics about EMT's but I know Paramedics in California make $9-12/hr and EMT's make good money.

A bunch of my friends have been Paramedics for years trying to get hired on to a fire dept.
 
Paramedics don't make crap. EMT's are different.

I don't know the specifics about EMT's but I know Paramedics in California make $9-12/hr and EMT's make good money.

A bunch of my friends have been Paramedics for years trying to get hired on to a fire dept.

My understanding (coming from said friend and what I read back when I contemplated entering the field) that EMT-P designates "Paramedic" and is the highest emergency medical response designation. I've always understood the lower rungs to be first responders and then EMT-Basic certs. NOT referred to as paramedics, as paramedics denote advanced life support training. It could simply be what localities refer to the positions as, I suppose, but first responder pay locally isn't a whole lot higher than 12/hr. Then again, first response units locally do very little more than basic first aid and CPR. Anything more serious and the advanced life support units are called in.
 
Off-topic curiosity. How do you only make $12 an hour as an paramedic? A buddy of mine with his national EMT-P certification makes something like $70k a year.

depends on the system (company or county/city/whatever) you work for -when I was a paramedic in Pasco county (one county north of where I live) we were salaried, but our per-hour rate actually broke down to about $10 per hour (that was after a countywide raise. When I started in that position, it was actually $8/hr). We worked every minute of overtime we could get our hands on, and working 24hr on, 48hr off, I used to work two 8hr shifts (on my off days) at a local ER to supplement my income. The county pays better now than it did -but I know quite a few who work for private companies and they don't make very good wages -the main problem being that paramedic firefighters (I was cross trained) are literally a dime a dozen -jobs for them are a bit tough to come by.
I burned out, took a 2 year break driving long-haul (cross-country), then came back home, went to school while hauling fuel locally (night-school) and got my RN, and went to work in the hospital setting. Sometimes I miss the meat wagon, but not too much. I enjoyed working in critical care (RN) until I got a virus that trashed my heart and took me out of THAT setting -I'm still an RN, but work in case management now -and make far better money than I did on the street (with better hours and much less filth).
Oh and yes, you are correct regarding the levels of EMT. Don't know anything about how california sets up their pay scales, but I think the other poster is probably a little confused regarding who makes what. The only way I could see things working as he described them would be if the EMT (basic life support) were also required to be cross-trained as a firefighter (which is most likely) and the EMT-Paramedic was not required to have the cross training -it could also have something to do with unions (presuming that at least one of those are unionized) differences in pay from difference employers etc.
In Florida the pay can vary wildly. When I worked as a paramedic, I worked for the lowest paying county in the state. The counties next to us, some of their employers were paying half again more than ours, as a starting wage. Jobs were tough to get and still are.
 
Paramedics don't make crap. EMT's are different.

I don't know the specifics about EMT's but I know Paramedics in California make $9-12/hr and EMT's make good money.

A bunch of my friends have been Paramedics for years trying to get hired on to a fire dept.

1, emt-p is paramedic. Paramedic is the highest level of paramedic certification.

EMT's don't make more money. Paramedics can intubate, cardiovert, rsi, push drugs. EMT's can drive fast.

If they make good money, they work, for a fire department or they work 100 hours a week.
 
(This was in reference to my statement that I always tipped.)
Excuse me, but if you don't like my way, its hardly a 'problem of the entire system' or whatever it was you were going on about.
I tip well for good service, poorly for bad service -but I ALWAYS tip -even poor service -it lets them know that I most certainly did not 'forget' -and there are plenty of ways to show your displeasure through the tip.
If you don't like this method, feel free to NOT use it. Good manners are NEVER the problem.
NEVER.


Not tipping for bad service isn't bad manners. Bad manners would be me telling them to go **** themselves and stiffing them on the bill. THEIR bad manners got them no tip...
 
(This was in reference to my statement that I always tipped.)
Excuse me, but if you don't like my way, its hardly a 'problem of the entire system' or whatever it was you were going on about.
I tip well for good service, poorly for bad service -but I ALWAYS tip -even poor service -it lets them know that I most certainly did not 'forget' -and there are plenty of ways to show your displeasure through the tip.
If you don't like this method, feel free to NOT use it. Good manners are NEVER the problem.
NEVER.

As a former server/bartender, I have to agree. There are plenty of people out there who don't tip or forget to (not sure which, either is completely uncalled for) when service was perfect. I would hate to be lumped into their category because I don't leave an appropriate tip for crappy service.

$4 on a $50 bill says a lot to a server. $0 says only one thing about the person leaving it. Think about it from the server's perspective.
 
Let's try to cap this thread with the following: If I can't afford to tip a bartender, I'll just go home, crack a tube of homebrew, and relax.
 
Those of you here who need to belittle people for not tipping had really shytty trainers.
 
As a former server/bartender, I have to agree. There are plenty of people out there who don't tip or forget to (not sure which, either is completely uncalled for) when service was perfect. I would hate to be lumped into their category because I don't leave an appropriate tip for crappy service.

$4 on a $50 bill says a lot to a server. $0 says only one thing about the person leaving it. Think about it from the server's perspective.

That is dead on.:mug:
 
Yeah, its easy to sit back and say 'get a different job if you don't like the one you have' but the reality is that this is actually very difficult to do.
None of us (I'd presume) do the job because its a hobby. My hobby is brewing beer, NOT being a nurse in a hospital (otherwise I'd do that for free, too) -I do THAT so I can put food on the table and a roof over my head (and buy ingredients for brewing beer -the product that makes it all seem worthwhile).
We all have had bad days at work, even some good days. It happens. Its a rough scene out there for the employed, its even rougher for the unemployed. The ones who are working and have a job that barely makes ends meet (or barely doesn't) have it worst of all -you are scraping just to try to stay afloat, with little hope of seeing things get better, and just praying they don't get worse.
 
Seeing the reaction this thread received after I posted, it reminded me of a blog my friend wrote that will really got me thinking about tipping.

Quoted from Lonnie Bruner's blog http://lonniebruner.blogspot.com/2006/05/your-20-tip-is-for-service-and.html:

Your 20% Tip is for Service *AND* Experience. Don't You Forget It.

Real Situation #1: You're at a restaurant, receiving perfectly fine service from the wait staff, when you bite into something very hard in your sandwich. You fish around in your mouth and discover a shard of glass. You put the shard on a coaster and ask for management. You're not injured, and would be happy with a free meal, but the manager refuses, saying that you must pay full price.

Real Situation #2: You're at a restaurant, receiving perfectly fine service from the wait staff, but your jaw aches from how tough the steak is. You mention it to the wait staff, they take it back, but the owner comes out and berates you for 15 minutes for insulting his establishment.

Let's say you left 20% in both situations. Wouldn't you feel emasculated? What recourse would you have, other than not going back and telling all your friends not to go? In extreme cases, the damage must go deeper, my restaurant-going friend. Leave a dog turd of a tip, or none at all, and you'll not only make the waiter hate his job and want to quit---therefore doing financial damage to the restaurant in the long run---but what's more, you'll feel vindicated.

But strangely, there are a number of people who would tip in the above situations. They're the same folks who force you and your friends to give some jerk-off rude waiter a 20% tip on a meal that came an hour late, just because it's hard to be a waiter (picture me, sarcastically making a miniature violin with my thumb and forefinger). Those friends must be man-handled and stopped.

The customer has the right to good service and a good experience while eating out. No duh. You should leave a ****ty tip or zero tip for two reasons: 1) to teach a crappy waiter to get better or quit, or; 2) to force a crappy restaurant to go out of business because the wait staff keeps leaving. That might sound harsh, but think of it as tough love.

(Disclaimer: I tip 20% in 99% of the times I dine out. And yes, I've waited tables before, so don't even try that line.)
 
It's customary to tip for service goods - bartenders, barbers, cabs and the like. I tip them all.

I don't tip counter service when they leave a tip jar. That's not a personal service like a barber or bartender, it's selling me a product. I don't tip the guy at the hardware store, why should I tip the guy at the bakery?

Having said all of that, I don't tip the guy who fills my growler. First, he's not a bartender - he's the guy that runs the wine shop that brews hard cider for refill. They sell it in bottles and most of their stuff is bottled and I always thought it might be awkward to tip him for filling the growler and not tip him if I'm just buying a bottle of blush for the wife.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
 
I usually tip a buck or two on a growler refill if I'm just going in for the growler. If I'm already sitting at the bar, and have been buying beers and tipping all night, I don't tip for the growler fill.

My girlfriend berates me when I don't tip for picking up take out. I really don't see why I need to tip when I'm driving to the restaurant, walking inside, and getting my own food at the counter? If I go for something like Applebee's carside to go, I'll tip because they are actually running food and money from the restaurant to the car.

If I receive a bad experience at a sit down restaurant and know that its due to idiot management, I still leave at least a 15% tip. But I will also leave a complaint with said manager, as well as leave a poor yelp review (yelp is becoming a really powerful tool to let a restaurant know how you feel). No reason to punish a waiter who really has no control over a situation.
 
No reason to punish a waiter who really has no control over a situation.

I beleive this is very true, there are quite a few things that servers or bartenders dont have control of... this is a problem for management not your server


I read a great article one time in City Pages about how to get good service in a resaurant and I think that should be posted outside every eating establishment


by the way Im a bartender and could go on and on with stories but really whats the point? unless everyone is looking for a laugh I dont bring them up too much
 
I tip. Pretty excessively most days. 30% and higher. I've worked in food service, from busser to kitchen supervisor. I know what everyone in the restaurant goes through. I've done it. And I was smart enough to get out.

I go through times where I'm working on the road, and eat EVERY meal out. There's places I've been that I've left a decent tip and the next time I go back (even a year or two later,) and they remember me. "Hey, good to see you again, you still working on the same show?" Now that's good service.

I will not leave anything under 8%. I know they're getting taxed on their CC sales, and I"ll actually do the math right on the receipt. I figure if I'm tipping less than 8%, I'm actually taking money out of their pockets.

Hell, I'm finally to a place in my life where that extra $1 doesn't matter to me. It's a buck, FFS. To me it's that weird dollar you find in your pocket at the end of the day and smoosh it into your change jar. To me, it's no big deal. To the server it could mean they have a better day.

I do complain when the 'gratuity is added.'
I'll tip what I feel is deserved. We went to a bar after a wedding last month, and I bought the first round for the wedding party. We were all there couple of hours. The Lady and I each had a few drinks and some food.
The bill came at the end of the night and was $212. It seemed a bit high, so I asked for the itemized. While the server went and got it, I filled out the CC slip, $275 total. The server returned and tried to take the CC slip before handing me the itemized. I kinda sensed something was up. They added an 18% tip and weren't going to mention it, hoping for more tip.

I switched slips, filled out the total as $212 and wrote the note "Would have been 30% if you weren't a ******." If I wasn't with a group of 15 people leaving I would have disputed it with the manager, and left 10%. She was a really good server, too.

To each their own. If you don't want to tip, don't. But I've noticed that if I tip well, I don't have to wait long for my next drink.

B
 
This is my second contribution to this thread. I keep getting the updates, and it's a little hard for me to see the basis for some of this discussion.

1. While it's not customary to tip in some countries it is here, so....it's customary.

2. It's become more than a custom, because employers and the IRS have gotten involved in it, and made the lives of underpaid service people harder than they were before. (No, I have never worked in a job connected with being tipped)

3. It's now to the point where we must acknowledge that tips constitute a significant part of the income of service people. Tipping is, therefore, and to whatever degree, obligatory if not mandatory.

4. My conclusion: YES. Growler, whatever, you tip. I don't see how filling a growler is any differnent than drawing a pint, and I tip a buck a drink, so there.

NB: Just to keep the record completely straight, I have never actually purchased a growler. We've got a couple of micros in the area, but they don't do growlers. You mention growler to people around here, they think you've got a mean dog.
 
When I get a growler at the bar they have to stick the tube on the tap and it take a while for them to get it filled to the top so its time they cant be pouring for other customers. Its a bit more involved than a pint. So what if you are not bellied up to the bar?

Went to the tap spot thos weekend and gave my usual 2 bucks and he made me drink a few half pint test glasses ha. Its worth more than 2 bucks so everyone wins.
 
I was the growler boy back in the day:
Especially leave a buck if the kid or bartender filling the growler is smart enough to sanitize the growler before filling it and gives you a brand new cap. Nothing is worse that having a growler go sour.

If there's no sanitizer around, I probably wouldn't buy a beer. I've seen some scary growlers go out the door. Also, regarding exchanges. STAY AWAY! My eyes have been tainted with the sight of more mishandled beer than you can imagine! Crimes of the brew ignorant, and greedy business owner.

Also, those people bringing in moldy growlers and expect me to somehow scrub that concrete out, go **** yourself! Have the decency to wash your damn growler when you're done!

Lastly, people with the big fancy flip top growler with the fancy metal handle, those things are a ***** to fill without wasting beer. Leave 2 bucks.

Hot thread, I respect everyone's passion. Now lets chill with a home brew! Cheers!

P.s. +1 for the Old Toad in Rochester!
 
Typically whenever I go to a brewpub and order a growler its after I have had a few or more pints and have eaten. I always tip my service people more so if they were good. I've never went in just to get a growler but Id probably throw them a buck and whatever change was left.
 
Tipping, especially at places I go to regularly, has been a cheep investment that has gotten me fantastic service. There is a good Mexican place I go to that has a wait at 2pm on a Tuesday. I haven't had to wait for a table there for years, even at 7pm on a Friday/Saturday. There is always the same waitress in the front section and she gets my wife and I a table in her section as soon as we walk in.
 
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