Tired Hands Growler Policy

I think its going to come to not filling growlers anymore. What people don't get is this is a small brewpub, serving food and their beer. If they run out of their beer they cant just order more. I don't see the big deal about only getting one growler of each kind.

 

So you think they will require people to buy their growlers and the a top filling them? No chance that happens. Jean even stated that a majority of the limitations will go away soon so I don't foresee them stopping the practice of filling growlers.

 

once they open up a secondary production house i think some of these limitations will be lifted.

 

He even stated that there will be an announcement of some kind coming soon. Possible expansion?

 

TH growlers or not, I always replace the standard crappy growler cap with this type of cap:

http://www.amazon.com/38mm-Poly-Sea...FP88/ref=aag_m_pw_dp?ie=UTF8&m=A2KQZXNM4Q71FY

Maybe not as good as a swing-top, but for me it's worth doing.

 

No, they are trying to say they are not making enough profit per gallon on their beer.

 

Which is utter bullshit. Breweries and brewpubs are the first tier, but getting third tier (and then some)prices for beer made in the same room or the next room over. Selling growlers to go is the next best thing to printing their own money.

 

Quess I've been really lucky. Have had about half a dozen growlers filled at Tired Hands and not a flat one in the bunch. Most have been sour or wild ales, but I had a 64 oz screw top of Perfect Touchdown (DIPA) from about a year ago I kept for almost a month with no problem. And I actually just 2 days ago found a 1L flip top of Principle Eel I got filled on 1/5/14, that I forgot about in the beer fridge, that was perfectly carbonated and tasted as good as the day I got it. No problems with my experiences.

 

Perhaps you're right.

But perhaps, as someone closely involved recently with the economics of running a brewery, I could explain my reasoning for my opinion.

The more money you can make from every step of the way, while not skimping on the two most important things, time, and quality ingredients, had us looking to maximize profit per gallon anywhere we could find it, including growler sales with logo.

The advertising on the growlers is free, and the 2.00 per growler profit, before beer even goes in, is welcome to the bottom line. This was one of the key lessons I got from Sam Calagione's book, and others, look to make as much money per gallon as it is possible to make, because the margin is slim at best.

And if you read an earlier post of mine, I am in favor of their policy, and now I have a chance to explain why.

 

Out of probably 2 dozen growler fills from them, I only ever had 2 go flat. I guess that means I'm doing well, but they were both growlers of The Light That Spills Out Of The Hole In Your Head, and it was a huge bummer. I emailed Jean about it and he offered to buy me a new fill. Didn't take him up on it because I did keep them after the 48 hours, but I have done that with many other TH growlers without issue. I suspect it may be an issue with getting fills at busy times - i.e., the busier the place is when you get a fill, the more likely it is you'll get a flat growler. I usually go right when they open, and have kept some for a month and not had them go flat.

Complaining about having to buy a few TH growlers is cheapness, plain and simple. If they feel that running out of beers and massive quantities of substandard beer being shipped all over the place is hurting their brand, then good for them. There are thousands of breweries competing for our beer buying dollars. As a small brewery, your name and reputation is all you have. Taking a few simple steps to protect it ensures it will be around in the long run. Which, if you actually like Tired Hands for their beer, rather than trading cred or whatever other crap you tie into your hobby, you should be supportive of.

 

Completely understand where you are coming from. Same goes for any business really. Shake 'em down for every dollar you can while you have their attention, because once they go out the door, someone else gets a turn.

 

Regarding flat growlers in general, a little Teflon tape on the threads goes a long way guys, you'd be surprised how much it helps. Never mind the stinkeye you get from the bartender. Also, if possible, store your growlers on their side.

 

Where are you coming from? I live in W. Philly, and have come up with a route that avoids 30 altogether. I have done this for coming from the other direction as well.

 

Jumping in late to this, has anyone who has complained about the flat growlers said anything to Tired Hands, if so curious as to the reaction. I don't have a problem with this policy. If you run a tasting room, it's a huge problem to run out of beer for your on site customers, sure it's a good problem as you are selling out your beer, but it's bad business to consistently run out of product, and starts building a bad reputation. Priority 1 is satisfy customers drinking onsite, #2 is growler fills.

I've been a few times, my wife's grandmother lives 15 minutes away, love going for a couple of beers and a growler, I've never had a problem as i drink it within hours, but thinking of next time bring the growler home with me to VA to share with some friends a day or two later.

 

As I posted above, I emailed Jean (head brewer) through the email address provided on their website that I had opened a growler about a week after buying it, and it was flat. He reminded me that the growlers are supposed to be drank within 48 hours, and offered to buy me a fill next time I was in. I thought it was a very good response.

 

That is great to hear but as I stated before, you seem to be the exception and not the rule. There have been multiple threads over multiple years on both BA and RB talking about their growler carbonation problems, so it makes me think this is a widespread problem and not a one time or random thing. I would also say if they really are concerned about hurting their brand, find a way to fix the growler carbonation problem and/or stop filling them altogether until it is fixed.

I mentioned the carbonation issue to someone at TH once and was also reminded that it was supposed to be drank within 48 hours...wasn't in a mean or snooty way at all, but that seems to be their policy on growlers. While it is obvious that the fresher you drink the growler the better it will be, it would be nice if they lasted more than 24 hours and weren't the apparent crapshoot they seem to be. I've had a lot of different style growlers filled different ways at many breweries and bars that hold up fine.

 

I think this is the answer. They have some nifty reverse pressure system on the faucet of their dispenser system and when it is slow traffic in there they pour the beers slower and when it starts to fill up they crank up the pour speed for pints and growlers.

 

Montgomery Avenue. It runs parallel to Rt 30 for a stretch.

 

Say hello to Bruce! A good friend who works there and also the same guy that helped me get a lot of Italian beers when he worked at Wine Works in NJ!

 

Very interesting, I did not know that. I completely understand the logic behind it as they want to maximize the pouring and keep the lines down, but I again find it weird and surprising that they would talk so much about quality and whatnot, but then they would sacrifice the quality of their beers outside their brewpub and their reputation (if the beers are being traded or shared with people who have not visited in person) if it is something they can physically control. I'd certainly rather wait an extra few minutes for a slower pour that would last longer.

Random question I honestly do not know the answer to; is there a difference in the tap system upstairs vs. downstairs? I routinely go upstairs and sit at the bar or get a table and have found it much less crowded than downstairs, mostly because they people cannot get growlers filled up there. Do they not do growler fills upstairs because of the different pressure systems?