Only fill their own growlers?

[triethylborane]

ftfy

You concede that nonsense about the "US in its early days was framed by fun-loving Prussians and religious puritans?"

 

[MaxStout]

I dont think any UKer can really thumb their nose at our legal system or how interventionist our courts are . . . lets not forget the origin of our common law legal system.

You concede that nonsense about the "US in its early days was framed by fun-loving Prussians and religious puritans?"

 

[day_trippr]

Not sure if this article is visible to non-subscribers, but I'll give it a shot.
If not, the upshot is "Current Massachusetts law prohibits breweries from filling growlers not their own."
https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifesty...nger-effect/Uk5GXQGOrCjgHb7lMwIrdK/story.html

Cheers!

 

[Northern_Brewer]

While there was prohibition, there was also a time where you could drink and drive in many states - after prohibition.

I dont think any UKer can really thumb their nose at our legal system or how interventionist our courts are . . . lets not forget the origin of our common law legal system.

It's that common origin that makes it easy to spot the differences. Alcohol is one area where the differences are huge, the US legal system still has a lingering distrust of the demon drink, as evidenced by all the daft restrictions on selling/shipping alcohol within the country, the 3-tier system (I get that it was to some extent a reaction against the British tied system, but it doesn't really seem fit for purpose these days) and an age limit of 21, compared to 16 for drinking beer with a meal and 18 for "proper" drinking in the UK. I'm not sure that unrestricted drink driving is an example of A Good Thing - in the UK we only got a formal limit in 1967, before that there was a general restriction of being incapable of controlling one's vehicle that went back to the days of horse and carriage.

Coming from the outside, I'm fascinated to see the glimpses of German culture that show up in US culture, when the role of Germans in US history has been largely forgotten. It's hard to put a finger on it but there's just a certain pettifogging and controlling instinct in much of the detail of US legislation that feels far more German than British - for instance, jaywalking is just not a thing in Great Britain, the idea just doesn't exist. You get it in culture too - there's an obvious strain of German romanticism in the US that feels rather Disney-sickly to Brits who prefer something a bit more bittersweet.

I'm not trying to say one country is better than the other - there's lots to admire in the way US democracy works, for instance the devolution and the improved scrutiny of the unelected bits by the elected bits. But yep, from a European perspective your laws around alcohol have always been kinda nuts. ;-)))

 

[MaxStout]

It's that common origin that makes it easy to spot the differences. Alcohol is one area where the differences are huge, the US legal system still has a lingering distrust of the demon drink, as evidenced by all the daft restrictions on selling/shipping alcohol within the country, the 3-tier system (I get that it was to some extent a reaction against the British tied system, but it doesn't really seem fit for purpose these days) and an age limit of 21, compared to 16 for drinking beer with a meal and 18 for "proper" drinking in the UK. I'm not sure that unrestricted drink driving is an example of A Good Thing - in the UK we only got a formal limit in 1967, before that there was a general restriction of being incapable of controlling one's vehicle that went back to the days of horse and carriage.

Coming from the outside, I'm fascinated to see the glimpses of German culture that show up in US culture, when the role of Germans in US history has been largely forgotten. It's hard to put a finger on it but there's just a certain pettifogging and controlling instinct in much of the detail of US legislation that feels far more German than British - for instance, jaywalking is just not a thing in Great Britain, the idea just doesn't exist. You get it in culture too - there's an obvious strain of German romanticism in the US that feels rather Disney-sickly to Brits who prefer something a bit more bittersweet.

I'm not trying to say one country is better than the other - there's lots to admire in the way US democracy works, for instance the devolution and the improved scrutiny of the unelected bits by the elected bits. But yep, from a European perspective your laws around alcohol have always been kinda nuts. ;-)))

The repeal of Prohibition gave a lot of control to the states (Section 2). This resulted in a patchwork of varying laws re alcohol, with some states (and counties) being less tolerant than others. From an overall view, the US does appear to be more uptight about alcoholic beverages than European nations. Historically in the US, that was temperance-based, but today, resistance to change is mainly economic. Those retailers and distributors have powerful lobbying groups to maintain the status quo. There still is some temperance element, as was evident when people fought to pass bills allowing Sunday sales here in Minnesota. The retailers and trucking unions fought it, and there were some religious groups opposing it, too.

 

[newtobrew1981]

Well call me crazy but I for one would not drink from a growler. The only way I would is if they worked on a exchange program for the simple reason of sanitation. How do you know the person before you cleaned theirs? Call me nuts but it's a good way to spread pathogens

 

[jpakstis]

Not sure if this article is visible to non-subscribers, but I'll give it a shot.
If not, the upshot is "Current Massachusetts law prohibits breweries from filling growlers not their own."
https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifesty...nger-effect/Uk5GXQGOrCjgHb7lMwIrdK/story.html

Cheers!

That article is old, from 2015. The law was updated, or re-interpreted I guess, in 2017. Here is the actual advisory from the MA ABCC:

http://www.mass.gov/abcc/pdf/2017Advisories/5-24-17AdvisoryRefillingGrowlers.pdf

 

[Upthewazzu]

and an age limit of 21, compared to 16 for drinking beer with a meal and 18 for "proper" drinking in the UK. I'm not sure that unrestricted drink driving is an example of A Good Thing - in the UK we only got a formal limit in 1967, before that there was a general restriction of being incapable of controlling one's vehicle that went back to the days of horse and carriage.

You could also argue that the U.S. comes at it from a scientific approach...

http://alcoholthinkagain.com.au/Par...ain/Impact-of-Alcohol-on-the-developing-brain

https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh284/213-221.htm

 

[day_trippr]

That article is old, from 2015. The law was updated, or re-interpreted I guess, in 2017. [...]

You're right - and I had that thought even while I was posting.
Practically speaking, however, there's a hole you can drive a truck through.
To wit:
"1) the growler is entirely blank, devoid of any labeling of another brewery;"

I don't have a large collection of growlers, but they're all painted with the brewery logos from where they were obtained.
And as I recently learned the hard way, Wachusetts will still graciously refuse to refill Cape Cod growlers.

I don't hold it against them, however. Bidness is bidness...

Cheers!

 

[homebrewer_99]

Nope, not land of the free...more and more the land of tyranny....But the citizens and taxpayers are used to it and won't complain too much.

We've gone from the Land of the FREE to the Land of the ME to the Land of the FEE...

I purchased a few when they first came out but no more.

Back in the "old days" parents used to send their kids to the pub with an empty bucket to get filled and bring back home.

 

[Cape Brewing]

In Mass you are able to fill either your own or a completely blank glass growler (that you may then add some sort of label to if you want), that’s it.

It’s a shtty topic all around as I 1,000% get everyone’s view that they don’t want to spend the money but the notion “breweries just want the extra cash” doesn’t have any basis in reality.

Brewery’s desire to use their own growlers comes down, for most of them, to pure marketing. Today marketing is dramatically more important than the actual beer and making a brewery fill a different brewery’s growler strips that marketing away.

Does that outweigh the consumer’s problem of spending the extra few bucks? Not saying it does. Just saying why a lot of brewery’s don’t want to fill other growlers.