20 replies to this topic

[neddles]

….or are breweries and brewpubs that will only fill their own growlers being shortsighted and douchey. I had not seen this for a while until I was in suburban Chicago over Thanksgiving. Myself, my dad, 3 of my brothers, and a sister in law all walked into to a relatively new (few years old I think) place called Solemn Oath. We walked in thirsty and carrying 6 growlers among us. When we learned of their policy to fill only their own growlers we had one beer each and left. None of us plan to go back.

 

I will not go anywhere they won't filI growlers other than their own. I don't need any more growlers. Especially if you are requiring me to buy one. Are you selling glassware or beer because that night you lost out on both?

[Big Nake]

I'll be honest... I'm not someone who goes to places to fill growlers, etc. That said, why in the hell would they not fill your growlers? Is it because they want their product to be dispensed into containers that they know are clean and sanitized so someone doesn't bad-mouth them and say, "THEIR BEER IS TERRIBLE!" when it came down to someone's dirty growler? That probably sounds weird but why else would they pass on the business? Could there be a legal reason why they would do that? If so, you would think they would say, "We would love to fill those but we cannot... by law". The last time I had growlers filled was in New Glarus and when I went into a tavern and asked for growlers of [this beer, that beer, etc.], they supplied the growlers.

[positiveContact]

I wouldn't stop going to a place but I'd make it known to them that while I would enjoy a growler of their beer I'm not interested in purchasing yet another growler to store at home. I wouldn't be dickish about our anything. I'd just let them know.

[neddles]

I'll be honest... I'm not someone who goes to places to fill growlers, etc. That said, why in the hell would they not fill your growlers? Is it because they want their product to be dispensed into containers that they know are clean and sanitized so someone doesn't bad-mouth them and say, "THEIR BEER IS TERRIBLE!" when it came down to someone's dirty growler? That probably sounds weird but why else would they pass on the business? Could there be a legal reason why they would do that? If so, you would think they would say, "We would love to fill those but we cannot... by law". The last time I had growlers filled was in New Glarus and when I went into a tavern and asked for growlers of [this beer, that beer, etc.], they supplied the growlers.

I've had many growlers filled in Illinois. This is the only place down there I have found that had this policy. A lot of places will tell you to drink them in a week or two. Great Waters in St. Paul even crayoned a "drink by" date on mine when I had it filled there.

I wouldn't stop going to a place but I'd make it known to them that while I would enjoy a growler of their beer I'm not interested in purchasing yet another growler to store at home. I wouldn't be dickish about our anything. I'd just let them know.

Hmm…and why would we be dickish? Not sure, but anyhow we simply told them we didn't like the policy and we weren't purchasing their growlers. Then we left, went home, and drank some of the scores of other well brewed beers available on any suburban Chicago shelf.

[HVB]

Sadly, in some states it is the law that they can only fill their own.  Mine is one of them so I have a collection of growlers.

[neddles]

Sadly, in some states it is the law that they can only fill their own.  Mine is one of them so I have a collection of growlers.

And whom does that law serve? Laws suck. Nevermind, I'll stop now.

[positiveContact]

I've had many growlers filled in Illinois. This is the only place down there I have found that had this policy. A lot of places will tell you to drink them in a week or two. Great Waters in St. Paul even crayoned a "drink by" date on mine when I had it filled there.Hmm…and why would we be dickish? Not sure, but anyhow we simply told them we didn't like the policy and we weren't purchasing their growlers. Then we left, went home, and drank some of the scores of other well brewed beers available on any suburban Chicago shelf.

I wasn't implying you would be dickish. I didn't even know you said anything to them. I was just making it clear I would politely let them know. Again I'm not saying anything about how you guys handled it. hopefully I've made it clear that your a good dude.

[Big Nake]

The thing is... if that's the law, you would think the guys there would say that and be on the customer's side... So sorry that we can't fill your growlers... it's a stupid law but we just can't do it, etc. Ettels, Illinois might be the most corrupt state on the planet and there are any number of laws that help keep the big boys big and help keep the small guys down. It might be easing up a bit now because there has been an explosion of craft breweries opening in Illinois. But I read an article maybe 12-18 months ago that said that all surrounding states were going bonkers with new breweries and that Illinois was WWWWAAAAAAYYYYY behind and some of these laws were a big part of that. I hope you had fun here either way.

[neddles]

I wasn't implying you would be dickish. I didn't even know you said anything to them. I was just making it clear I would politely let them know. Again I'm not saying anything about how you guys handled it. hopefully I've made it clear that your a good dude.

Got it. Yeah there was just no reason to be a dick about it. There was enough misguided testosterone floating around there already. Besides if 5 guys, a woman and 6 empty growlers walking out your door don't drive the point home, I'm not sure what we could have said that would.

The thing is... if that's the law, you would think the guys there would say that and be on the customer's side... So sorry that we can't fill your growlers... it's a stupid law but we just can't do it, etc. Ettels, Illinois might be the most corrupt state on the planet and there are any number of laws that help keep the big boys big and help keep the small guys down. It might be easing up a bit now because there has been an explosion of craft breweries opening in Illinois. But I read an article maybe 12-18 months ago that said that all surrounding states were going bonkers with new breweries and that Illinois was WWWWAAAAAAYYYYY behind and some of these laws were a big part of that. I hope you had fun here either way.

I lived in Illinois most my life. I am way too familiar with it. I agree though, if its the law someone at the brewery might want to speak up about it.

[positiveContact]

Got it. Yeah there was just no reason to be a dick about it. There was enough misguided testosterone floating around there already. Besides if 5 guys, a woman and 6 empty growlers walking out your door don't drive the point home, I'm not sure what we could have said that would.

 

like watching money walk out the door!

[SchwanzBrewer]

I don't know what the law is in FL, but if I don't mind buying a growler from a place. I like to collect them so long as they are labeled. If I already had one though, I'd want to bring whatever I had on hand to fill.

 

If I was running a place and it was legal, I wouldn't care what you brought. You still pay for the beer inside it.

[JMcG]

On a recent trip through FL we stopped at Cigar City and wanted to take beer with us.  They said they could fill any brewery's (or personal) growler, but ours was a 2 L size and they are limited to 1 L.  Nice folks, the brewer came over to talk for a while and then they ended up giving us one of their growlers for the beer.  Left a fat tip.

[SchwanzBrewer]

On a recent trip through FL we stopped at Cigar City and wanted to take beer with us.  They said they could fill any brewery's (or personal) growler, but ours was a 2 L size and they are limited to 1 L.  Nice folks, the brewer came over to talk for a while and then they ended up giving us one of their growlers for the beer.  Left a fat tip.

 

Yeah, we have a dumb ass growler law. If it's over 32oz and under 128 it's verboten. Don't get me started on the least legislative session to get that changed...

[Genesee Ted]

I see both sides if the issue. We will fill your growler, but we are quite wary of doing so, one because it's in someone else's bottle labeled as not ours and toe because who knows how it was cleaned. I have had some sketchy growlers come through. We also have a machine which purges oxygen out, so we pre fill our own. We have a slightly different MO though in that we (the brewery I work at) put the glass on a $2 deposit system. People return them and we clean and refill. More control for us and a fresher product for the consumer. That being said I really don't like growlers. Terrible package for beer. It's like eating your favorite meal from your favorite restaurant reheated in the microwave the next day. Our machine avoids the oxidation issues, but growlers are cumbersome and huge.

[BlKtRe]

I love my microwave to heat leftovers.

[Genesee Ted]

Kind of aside from the point. It's not ruined, but it is not as good as it could be. As much as you love your nuke you would still rather eat it fresh at the restaurant, no?

[positiveContact]

I see both sides if the issue. We will fill your growler, but we are quite wary of doing so, one because it's in someone else's bottle labeled as not ours and toe because who knows how it was cleaned. I have had some sketchy growlers come through. We also have a machine which purges oxygen out, so we pre fill our own. We have a slightly different MO though in that we (the brewery I work at) put the glass on a $2 deposit system. People return them and we clean and refill. More control for us and a fresher product for the consumer. That being said I really don't like growlers. Terrible package for beer. It's like eating your favorite meal from your favorite restaurant reheated in the microwave the next day. Our machine avoids the oxidation issues, but growlers are cumbersome and huge.

How about a cleaning station for the growlers?The O2 issue doesn't seem like a big deal. Growlers should be consumed in the near term anyway. It sounds like you guys purge O2 more so you can prefill and store the growlers for a little while which is convenient.

[Genesee Ted]

How about a cleaning station for the growlers?The O2 issue doesn't seem like a big deal. Growlers should be consumed in the near term anyway. It sounds like you guys purge O2 more so you can prefill and store the growlers for a little while which is convenient.

We have a cleaning station, but it's not always available and def not for public use. We clean those suckers with 150 degree caustic. In fact, the ag and markets guy was telling me about how they won't let gas stations clean their own growlers because their methods weren't robust enough.

[positiveContact]

We have a cleaning station, but it's not always available and def not for public use. We clean those suckers with 150 degree caustic. In fact, the ag and markets guy was telling me about how they won't let gas stations clean their own growlers because their methods weren't robust enough.

 

some crazy hot water spraying in there at high velocity would do the job with all but the most crusty growlers.  i wouldn't let the public use it.  have the guy at the bar do it. 

Edited by TheGuv, 02 January 2014 - 04:03 PM.

[Genesee Ted]

some crazy hot water spraying in there at high velocity would do the job with all but the most crusty growlers.  i wouldn't let the public use it.  have the guy at the bar do it. 

You should see some of the growlers we get back.  Hot caustic is required on a lot of them.  In any case, this is so very rarely an issue.  Most people just swap them out.  It is pretty uncommon for people to bring in their own to fill actually, at least for us.  

 

Here is another thing we get from time to time though.  People bring in their own kegs to get filled.  That drives me nuts.  We won't do it anymore.  The last one I filled like this was a couple months ago and there was no way the guy cleaned it.  He swore up and down that he did but the smell coming out of it said otherwise.