Brewery and Growlers

[_BullDog_]

So, I just called a newish brewery and they said they would fill growlers as long as it wasn't from another brewery.... Have you guys heard of other places doing this?

 

[Fedora]

SOP

You have to buy (or at least possess) one of their growlers to have it filled. They are trying to make money.

 

[Baja_Brewer]

Yes.

In RI and CT the breweries I frequent don't seem to care where the growler is from, another brewery or otherwise.

In VT some breweries are picky and will only fill their growlers (Hill Farmstead) and others don't care, but now that retail stores can do Growler fills some are restricting the fills to their growler only, which is a money grab because the law states that they cannot fill growlers from breweries, so something like a Hydroflask growler should be fair game.

 

[_BullDog_]

Well I'll fill my growler somewhere else since I don't want to buy another one right now.

 

[Yooper]

In some states, that is the law due to labeling requirements. They can only fill a container with the product that is on the label on the container.

In other states, it's not the law but it may be policy.

 

[_BullDog_]

it is annoying none the less.

 

[JohnSand]

I like collecting growlers, but I would be annoyed if I had to buy one to get a fill. I haven't run into that problem in NY, or anywhere else yet.

 

[day_trippr]

So, I just called a newish brewery and they said they would fill growlers as long as it wasn't from another brewery.... Have you guys heard of other places doing this?

All of them around me have that same policy.
I don't know that there's any legal basis for it or not, but that has been alluded to more than once...

Cheers!

 

[SGTSparty]

I can understand not wanting to fill one branded with the competition but what if you had a non-branded growler? SWMBO bought me a a growler with the Michigan State University Spartan head logo on it. Would they fill that? Or what about those Stainless Steel non-branded ones that are always on sale somewhere on the internet?

If so there is a starsan solution you can use to strip the printing of growlers and bottles so you'd have non-branded ones. That's probably not an option if you're a growler collector but if you're just a growler drinker you'd be OK.

 

[Phunhog]

I wish more places are like Oregon. Went there on vacation a few months ago. Check this out any restaurant, bar, or brewery can fill growlers!!! They even have growler fill stations at a few gas stations! Glad I found out before we packed. I brought my nice, stainless insulated growler for fills. Got to try lots of great local craft beer this way!!

 

[DromJohn]

All y'all are lucky.
In Georgia, breweries cannot fill growlers.

 

[Jorb]

I have heard from a Maryland brewery that they can only fill growlers from MD breweries. I've never had a growler refused here.

 

[cegan09]

In VT some breweries are picky and will only fill their growlers (Hill Farmstead) and others don't care, but now that retail stores can do Growler fills some are restricting the fills to their growler only, which is a money grab because the law states that they cannot fill growlers from breweries, so something like a Hydroflask growler should be fair game.

Incorrect. Striaght from Hill Farmstead's website:

We will fill 750ml and 2L growlers, which does include growlers from other breweries of that size.

Some states do have laws that limit breweries however and force them to only accept their own. I believe NH is like this.

 

[chickypad]

I think it was only a year or two ago that the ABC of California changed the regulations to allow breweries to fill any growler, before they could only fill their own. The new verbage is something like labels or names from other breweries must be removed or obscured - i.e. if you cover the label with opaque masking tape they can then fill it.

 

[Jim311]

If I want to buy your product it perplexes me why you'd care what container I put it in. Does Publix get pissed when you bring in a reusable grocery bag from Cosco?

 

[myelo]

SWMBO bought me a a growler with the Michigan State University Spartan head logo on it. Would they fill that?

Not if they are Wolverine fans.

 

[prrriiide]

I fail to see the logic in passing up profit of any kind, especially when you risk giving a customer less the the 110% positive experience they expect.

If a new, filled growler costs $18, you're making approximately $3/pint + $3 profit on the growler itself = ~$12 profit per filled growler.

If you fill an empty for $12, and your gross cost to make the beer is about $.50/pint, you're going to clear $10 just on the fill. I'll take that all night long.

I'm not passing up clear profit just because the growler is from Uncle Funkenstein's Backyard Brewery. Besides, maybe the next time they stop in they don't have a growler with them and I've got a killer smoked oyster RIS that he just can't live without. If I refused to fill his itinerant growler last time he might not be as apt to buy a new one from me this time.

Like my father in law told me when I was moving his little girl halfway across the county: "Don't let a dime get past you."

 

[FloppyKnockers]

I was corrected a while back thinking that other states were as cool as Oregon when it comes to growler fills. I can take whatever growler I have to whatever other brewery/grocery store/restaurant and have it filled. My growler filling days would be further and fewer between if I was restricted to what can be filled.

In stricter states can the label be a sports team, blank, or other as long as it's not a different brewery? If so I suppose you could StarSan the print off the growler to make it generic.

 

[Magnus314]

Stone (in CA) won't fill growlers from another brewery, but will fill un-branded ones.

Here in So. FL they'll fill just about anything. I've seen people getting 2-liter soda bottles filled.

 

[JohnSand]

I wish more places are like Oregon. Went there on vacation a few months ago. Check this out any restaurant, bar, or brewery can fill growlers!!! They even have growler fill stations at a few gas stations! Glad I found out before we packed. I brought my nice, stainless insulated growler for fills. Got to try lots of great local craft beer this way!!

This gives a whole new meaning to "Fill her up!"

 

[Yooper]

If I want to buy your product it perplexes me why you'd care what container I put it in. Does Publix get pissed when you bring in a reusable grocery bag from Cosco?

The breweries DON'T care. It's the state's labeling laws and their brewery license that the DO care about. In many states, it's illegal to sell a growler without listing the name of the brewery, the address, and the name of the actual contents inside. Trust me, they'd rather sell you beer than not- but they don't want to lose their brewery and their license by breaking state law and filling a growler illegally. They have far too much to lose.

I was corrected a while back thinking that other states were as cool as Oregon when it comes to growler fills. I can take whatever growler I have to whatever other brewery/grocery store/restaurant and have it filled. My growler filling days would be further and fewer between if I was restricted to what can be filled.

In stricter states can the label be a sports team, blank, or other as long as it's not a different brewery? If so I suppose you could StarSan the print off the growler to make it generic.

No- unless the brewery can legally slap a label on it with the correct info that is non-removable. (Some of the laws even state 'nonremovable/non changeable label' and other nonsense).

 

[specharka]

Yes.

In RI and CT the breweries I frequent don't seem to care where the growler is from, another brewery or otherwise.

In VT some breweries are picky and will only fill their growlers (Hill Farmstead) and others don't care, but now that retail stores can do Growler fills some are restricting the fills to their growler only, which is a money grab because the law states that they cannot fill growlers from breweries, so something like a Hydroflask growler should be fair game.

Nah, Hill Farmstead will fill anything so long as it fits under their taps (no huge German style ones). From my understanding there are states like MA that restrict growler fills to vessels purchased on premises. VT is as laissez-faire as can be with their liquor laws.

 

[jpakstis]

In Massachusetts you can only fill a growler from the brewery you bought the growler from. I'm sure in addition to restricting alcohol sales there might be a health rationale to it. You cannot bring an unbranded/"third party" growler.

 

[Natdavis777]

I know some breweries that will do this. Others will just slap their logo sticker on the growler if it isnt one from their brewery.

 

[Yesfan]

Some pretty stupid laws some of these states have. And I thought the low abv law in TN was bad.


I was able to fill my growler, which has a FL brewery logo on it, at my local brewery no problem. About the only issue I have that doesn't jive is some breweries/locales won't allow my club to host their monthly meetings. They do however sponsor some of the craft festivals/events we have, so I guess that's good.

Kinda hard to support your local brewery if they are not supporting their local home brew club. I'm sure there's a reason, but it still doesn't feel right.

 

[JonM]

Ah, here in Wisconsin, we have some of the most forgiving booze laws in the country. There's a growler filling station at a liquor store by me where they say "Give us a brewery-labeled growler for our wall of fame, and (as long as we don't already have one from that brewery) we'll fill up another growler (from anywhere) for you for free."

 

[Baja_Brewer]

Incorrect. Striaght from Hill Farmstead's website:







Some states do have laws that limit breweries however and force them to only accept their own. I believe NH is like this.

My mistake, it was the oddball sizes that caught things up.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

About the only issue I have that doesn't jive is some breweries/locales won't allow my club to host their monthly meetings. They do however sponsor some of the craft festivals/events we have, so I guess that's good.

Kinda hard to support your local brewery if they are not supporting their local home brew club. I'm sure there's a reason, but it still doesn't feel right.

They may be worried about several things from a liability standpoint, such as your club bringing in homebrew, bringing in competing commercial beers, people being overserved because their servers aren't the ones pouring, etc. The liability (legal, safety, etc) they might be incurring to allow outside alcohol to be consumed on their premises might not be worth it.

Locally it can be hit or miss whether a restaurant or brewery will allow us to host a meeting. Our club officers organizing the meetings are always very clear with a venue that we will be bringing in homebrew (and a bit of commercial beer for style presentations) and get the venue ok for that.

One place was cool with the homebrew, but not commercial beer. But they said they'd donate a pitcher each of any two commercial beers on their tap last for our style presentation. I.e. they supported us well but still refused to allow us to bring in commercial beer from outside.

One thing to always tell members is that they need to be tipping the wait staff based on what they would have drank. I've had bills where I've tipped 60-100% to take good care of the server because she took care of us on a total bill that was much smaller than she normally sees. And it helps to let the venue know this is your policy too, because they don't want to piss off their wait staff by making them work for peanuts.

 

[Califonia]

Our Governor here in California just signed a bill into law in '13 that makes it legal for any brewery to fill any growler as long as the growler doesn't have any permanent labels on it. Most people I know now own Hydro flask growlers that keep liquid cold for like 3 days and has no markings (except a small hydro flask logo on it) makes it super simple and easy now.