NightShift Taproom open for business

Night Shift will take it back for $5.

 

Agreed. Unfortunately I have heard that advertising 6 but only delivering 4 is pretty common for Bowdoin guys.

 

There was a long thread or two back on the old site about this where people did do some research, and the general conclusion reached was something along the lines of what you are saying. Basically, breweries cannot fill other breweries growlers, but they could fill blank ones if they wanted to with appropriate labeling. Out of that discussion came a couple of very reasonable suggestions, such as breweries just slapping a sticker on the blank glass that could easily be removed for the next fill somewhere else.

I think a lot of breweries just figure it's so common that it is the law, plus they have no real incentive to change as long as everyone else is doing it. They make a few bucks on glassware, plus get the free marketing of having their logo out on growlers.

It would be nice to see somebody with a legal background seriously investigate this for a brewery though and challenge the preconceived notions.

 

Second the call to change to advertising the pour size, not the glass size.

If you can return the growler and get the $5 back, call it a deposit (make it clear). If it's clear it's a deposit, I'm much more likely to buy more beer or swing by a grab a few growlers for a party.

Also, don't call it a session ale if you have to charge $5.50/11oz. Call is a Modern American Gose if you want, but don't call it a session beer if people will go broke sessioning it.

 

I'd think consumers would be more likely to buy growler fills if it didn't involve the need to dedicate a section of your house to storing the empties. If brewers are smart, they'd forgo the "free" advertising (that the consumer pays several dollars for) and do anything in their power to help consumers buy their beer and visit the brewery.

The MA Brewers Guild, who seemed to spearhead the campaign during the Farmer-Brewer license brouhaha, would be the perfect entity to lobby the ABCC to change or clarify this supposed rule. But I get the sense that the MA Brewers Guild is mostly an on-paper organization, and that brewers are (foolishly) more than happy to ask the customer to fork over $5 for the sake of pride.

Fwiw, I'd be satisfied if everyone just did deposits for growlers. It sounds like many do, but they sure as hell don't make it obvious.

 

Yeah - I've returned about as many growlers for the deposits as I have returned bottles/cans back to a store for the nickel. (zero for both) If I'm going to go back to the brewery to return the growler, I'd just assume get another fill and enjoy more beer. Thus, they collect and multiply in the basement like rabbits.

 

Let's keep this thread on track please ... if you want to discuss growlers laws in MA go here:

http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/growler-laws-in-ma.77569/

 

We are changing that today. Thanks for the constructive feedback.

Our growlers are deposits, we will gladly give you $5 back for the glass. Along those lines we allow people to switch between the 32oz and 64oz growlers.

Love this idea! We really don't have the setup to do this now but we are working on some plans that would allow it. We have been saving kegs of all Barrel Society beers for the end of year party but maybe we should consider saving more for draft pours over the course of the year. Thanks for the feedback.

The reason for the markup is it costs us space and money to have people stay and drink on premise vs buying a bottle and leaving. We need to provide glassware, a bartender, etc. The bottles are marked up 30% from their to go price to cover that cost. The other option is to not offer the bottles for on premise enjoyment and only sell whats on draft.

Thanks all for the feedback. Hopefully I clarified things a bit more.

 

Understood - and of course, you have to keep them refrigerated too, which requires space, etc. I don't doubt that it does actually cost you more money (although 30% seems a bit high- but still, $16 to drink an Ever Weisse bottle is still a damn good deal if you're comparing it to bar pricing - my issue is not with the COST - it's that there's a markup at all).

I hope you can just see my issue with the fact that you're selling the exact same bottle of beer for two different prices - I think this is just confusing and off-putting to the customer, especially a customer unfamiliar with the reasoning. IMO - I would sell only what's on draft in order to avoid this confusion. But then you're limiting customer options- so it's a lose either way.

Maybe in the future the ideal would be to have everything available on tap, and "cellared" bottles or something of the ilk available for purchase - so that you're distinguishing between products a little better.

Anyway, looking forward to making it out soon and having a Seaglass on draft. Cheers!

 

Great point. Selling them to go and for here does make it confusing. The idea of selling it for only one price and only for here or to go makes perfect sense. We will totally consider that. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

Wait, what?! Trillium takes them back? When I asked if they would take one of mine back, they told me no and that I owned the growler now.

 

I'm afraid this is incorrect actually, at least for Trillium. I inquired and they said they sell them and will _not_ buy them back. They did say they would accommodate swapping a 32 for a 64 and vice versa though

 

Agreed. Glad to see Nightshift offers to return the deposit, I really appreciate it and think it's the right thing for a brewery to do.

 

Just wanted to thank Night Shift for listening to customer feedback. I know us Beer Advocates can be fickle mavens with steep expectations that don't always represent the greater customer base, but hopefully our (sometimes extensive) feedback can be used to improve everyone's experience.

 

It is always an adventure posting replies on these threads. But we are always up for constructive feedback. We are still a young business and learning new things everyday. Please don't hesitate to call the brewery (617-294-4233) or email us ([email protected] goes to all 3 founders) or email me directly ([email protected]) with both positive and negative feedback. We are always looking to improve both our visitor's experience and our beers.

Cheers and hope to see all of you in the taproom soon.
-Rob

 

Isn't it pretty common for bars that allow take-out to have different prices for in house vs. take out?

 

I don't think bars can legally have take-out in Mass.