I'm about to enter Beer Geekdom w my first growler purchase

[JCBBQ]

2 months ago I didn't even know what a growler was. But my ignorance of the most amazing craft beer explosion happening in NJ has been removed with the opening of The Atlas Public House in Jersey City last November. They have 24 taps and ONLY sell NJ beer. I couldn't have named a single NJ beer a month ago, but i'm about to swear off any beer made outside of NJ because the beer is that good! Unfortunately most of them aren't sold in stores yet bc they are small operations - hence the need for a growler.

Is this kind of thing happening in your state? If it wasn't for The Atlas I'd never have know about this but I googled NJ breweries and came up with 68 names and another 40 that will be opening soon. Seriously, the beer is incredible. I recommend you google what's happening in your state and go seek out and support these fledgling operations. You won't regret it.

And for some strange reason if you're in Jersey City...

[DeusDingo]

this has been happening in WI for quite some time. it's so aggressive that some people think the brewery "bubble" will pop because we are so over saturated with breweries. in the meantime, i am enjoying my local brews and going to breweries.

enjoy it. you learn a lot about your palette and it's interesting to see how your palette changes over time.

[JCBBQ]

Bubble or not, i'm definitely enjoying it. There're so many types of beers that I really wasn't too familiar with. It's VERY interesting.

[tbob4]

Yes. I live in Chico and watched, with envy, the folks at the Sierra Nevada Brewery with their growlers. Costco sold a really nice one so I bought it and went happily around the corner to fill it up. Too bad. They only fill their own growlers. That made me a growler! They have a device there that cans the tap beers in 32oz cans.

[JCBBQ]

Yeah I've heard that some places only fill their own growlers. Fortunately for me the place i'll be filling up won't care AND I'll have 24 beers to choose from.

[Catmandu]

There are over 300 craft breweries in WA (and still growing), which I understand is the second most in the nation after CA. My wife and I are on a mission to go to every one of them. We've been to 272 so far. I probably have 30 growlers, and currently 7 of them are full in my garage fridge.

[JCBBQ]

Sweet! I might have to set some goals!

[RonB]

I think it is at least nation wide, if not world wide. There are a ton of small breweries in my area, and many more to come. There are two stores that sell and fill growlers within 10 min of our house, and they are next door to each other.

When we go on vacation, I like to sample the local beers. I found one in NC last year that was really great, but it's not available in VA.

[PJBowmaster]

I LOVE Craft Beer! And I can tell you that 64 oz Growlers and 32 oz Howlers are EVERYWHERE in the United States. They have been a Craft Beer staple since the beginning because in many States it was and is the only way to offer take-out beer. Here is a Pro Tip....trade in the cheap metal caps for plastic/silicone caps. You can buy them online at places like www.homebrewing.org for about $1.00 each. They usually come in a 4 pack. They seal much better allowing your beer to stay fresh and carbonated longer.

[PJBowmaster]

Or better yet purchase a nice insulated Stainless Steel Growler with a Stainless Steel screw top and silicone gasket.

[EdF]

I was living in Silicon Valley when the craft beer movement started in the early 80's in the us. Great! Then in MA, Mercury Brewing was a few hundred feet behind my place. Now, Carton Brewing is around the corner, and expanding to within a stone's throw of my back yard. Must be some kind of omen! Carton is great BTW! Been making jokes about personal tubing to the house for years.

[Brewmaster]

If your growler is about the same temp as the beer it will stay carbonated longer

[wrb752]

Been in the beer business for close to 25 years, and learned the business from my father who was in the beer industry for over 50. The growler business that sells other people's products is not going to be in the market for the long haul. First, every brewery wants to be in cans. Many a craft brewer starts with the purist attitude of draft only as it's the superior way to drink beer, but the economics of selling dictate being in cans and sold in a grocery store. Draft beer in resale is considerably more expensive than cans. The margins of selling someone else's draft beer in a growler just doesn't work.

Generally the markup in a growler shop is about 100%. This will always make the growler more expensive than package. No doubt that draft tastes better, but for 95% of beer drinkers, they can't tell the difference, or don't care enough to pay extra. A simple example is this. If you price a growler at the same markup as cans, you would price a growler at about $5.35 for 64 oz. At that price, the retailer would make about $50 bucks on a half barrel. The overhead in a growler shop doesn't work making $50 bucks on a half. And this is assuming you are getting really good pours from your draft system. Beers like IPA's (especially West Coast) tend to be highly carbonated, generating lots of waste. Some growler retailers try to turn down the CO2 to combat that, but that results in flat beer. Compare that to a typical draft environment, that sells draft by the glass. At a $3 dollar draft price, the retailer would make about almost $300 dollars on that same half barrel. Nearly 6 times more. Look at the price list above. $5 dollars for 16 oz of Bud Light. .31 cents an ounce. That would price your growler at almost 20 bucks for 64 ounces. Additionally, many people don't like growlers because you have to drink them. A consumer can buy a 6 pack and keep it in the fridge for a week, drinking a beer or two after work over that time frame. Once you pop the growler, you are in for the 64 oz.

The only way for growlers to work is selling your own product in them, or selling them in conjunction with your pints. The problem with that is it throws your pricing structure way off. You can't price at the same rate. The price list above is for pints not growlers so I would be curious to see what the growlers cost.

I'm not against the craft business at all, but there has also been a very negative effect on the beer space that nobody wants to talk about. The beer business was formed and developed based on loyalty. Many of us had father and grandfathers who were loyal to their brand. My grandfather drank Miller Light for 75 of his 90 years. The new beer consumer isn't like this at all. You can make a great product, but many consumers now always want to try something "new", even if he/she likes your product. The business is becoming more and more like the wine industry where people order by "style" rather than brand. This is evidenced by the 50 IPA fridge.

[Troutman]

I gotta agree, it will enjoy popularity then settle down. Too much product, too much competition, everyone wants in the act.

[barelfly]

For the next level of geekdom, check out uKeg by GrowlerWerks. It’s not cheap, but it is quite the conversation piece and keeps your beer perfect.

[allsid]

I tested the GrowlerWerks with a panel for a website I was working with a few years back. All 5 of us thought it did what it said it would do and it is a bit expensive for the amount of beer it holds. But people liked the idea of having a fresh beer now and again over the course of a week.

[barelfly]

allsid yes a bit pricey. I received mine as a gift from my very close friends. So have to take that into consideration. If you drink 2-3 beers a time, I don’t think growlers are the way to go if you can find cans. But some of the local breweries in my area don’t can so I do a decent job of savoring the 4 glasses I get out if 😁

[SmokeyGator]

Be careful, the growler rabbit hole eventually takes you here...

My favorite local brewery has a device that cans their draft beer.

https://www.growlerwerks.com/collections/growlers

[wrb752]

There are canning option available for retail growler shops too. The design was actually taken from coffee companies. Also it is basically what Oskar Blues has been doing since they opened, albeit on a big scale.

[Attjack]

I have this 128 oz model.

[PopsBBQ]

Wow! Now that's a cool looking growler. Is it pressurized?

[Donw]

Thanks for the photo. I had no idea what a growler is.

[Attjack]

Yes it is pressurized so beer keeps for weeks.

[PopsBBQ]

I need to add that to my short list of things to pick up. Puts my regular glass growlers to shame. Thanks for sharing.