CT Growler Fills

Plus the glass... the first time at least.

 

Thanks for the pricing. As it seems with everything else in this state, CT has missed the boat.

How do you charge as much for me to drink in my house? Ridiculous.

 

totally fine with it. if i want value, i'll buy world class beer at a bottle shop (e.g. NEBCO cans). if i want novelty, i'll buy a premium priced growler of a draft only beer from a place like this. i'll pay the premium, i don't care. like i said, if i weren't willing to, i know where package stores are.

 

Pahn - I agree with your statement about if it is a premium thing I might do it, but the pricing is way out of whack.

Black Hog Ginga' Ninja as an example. This is a $6.50 beer for a 16 oz pour. This follows the above numbers: $23 at Cask and $26 at Coalhouse. But at DiCicco's in Brewster, this is on tap for $14.99. (Full Disclosure, the Ginga' is $6 for 14 oz in Brewster). So it costs $8 to $11 more for a beer from CT that is sold in CT to be sold at a bar. I have not been to Black Hog, but I can't imagine they are charging more than $15 for a fill.

As an aside, I was a real big wine guy before I got into beer and I once worked with a distributor to bring a new wine to the state. They both the distributor and the winery owner made it very clear that the price of the wine could not be sold for more in the state than it could be at the winery. I don't know how much Black Hog, in the example above would appreciate someone selling their beer for $11 more per growler. As much as dirty lines can give a brew a bad name, couldn't gouging?

I know...I can speak so much louder with my wallet. I hope other bars don't pull this pricing crap.

Cheers!

 

Lmao....nice job.

 

No discounts at craft 260 in Fairfield. They had Sip Of Sunshine available for fills, but it was $17 for a 32 oz fill.
That's 8.50 a pint or the same as paying $34 for a 4 pack?! And they are saying you need to buy the growler from them. Haha, Gotta be kidding me. Count me out.......

 

Having to buy the glass from them really sucks. The pricing, especially the Coalhouse version is just stupid. No one is going to pay 30 plus dollars for anything other than whales. CT misses the boat here.

 

having to buy the glass sucks, but isn't that part of the law?

and to be fair, it's not like it's $30/growler just because you buy the glass; the idea is to bring the growler back and reuse it.

 

CT law allows breweries to fill any clean growler, does that mean the law is different for bars?

 

It may be the law, but it is a stupid law. Massachusetts is ridiculous like this too. I figured this would not be the case, given that breweries can fill any growler. The pricing is a whole other level of ridiculous. Growlers at bars/restaurants in NY tend to be overpriced but nothing like what has been talked about here.

 

I am pretty sure SOS is typically $8 for 12oz at Craft 260. That may be a little higher than some other bars, but no one that I'm aware is pouring 16oz of SOS. So I think $17 for 32oz is actually a 20% discount.

Honestly, I'm surprised at the reaction to prices, especially for beers like Sip of Sunshine. If it was my bar, and I had a beer that I could get a log of once in awhile that typically kicks in a day or two, I wouldnt discount it at all. It makes no business sense whatsoever.

 

Technically per statute, with every fill the glass should be branded (i.e. establishment glass, stickered, etc.) by the filling establishment so as not to mislead the individual who eventually consumes the contents.

 

Well I went to Beer'd the other day with a Hooker growler and they said they fill anything. So does this law only apply to restaurants/bars?

 

Yes.

§§ 78-82 — ALCOHOLIC LIQUOR POLICIES, under Subsection Beer Growlers (§§ 78-80),

The bill allows restaurant, café, and tavern alcohol permittees to sell at retail permittee-provided and sealed containers with draught beer for off-premises consumption. In the case of a restaurant permittee, the bill (1) additionally requires that the containers be filled by the permittee and (2) prohibits manufacturer, out-of-state shipper, and wholesale permittees from supplying the restaurant permittee with the authorized containers or any draught system component, other than tapping accessories.

These retail sales are limited to (1) four liters of beer per day to any individual and (2) the authorized hours for off-premises alcohol consumption sales (see below).

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2015

 

If the state wants to control the growlers being filled, why not have a state sold universal growler? The state could potentially make some money from the actual sale of the growlers and the consumers win because they don't have to buy a growler from every restaurant and bar.

 

CT loves convoluted regulation especially when it turns cash toward a now necessary middle-man.

That being said, rereading Chapter 545 what I thought was the precedent (hence labels at Two Roads and other breweries just saying they're supposed to label but don't) only seems to pertain to "package stores, grocery stores and state universities" not manufacturers.

CT didn't have growler in any verbiage previously, I'd like to actually read what passed to go in to effect on the first.

 

KCs pub in guilford is selling fills + 64oz growler for $22 and $18 refills. Great price, just wish their taplist was better! They occasionally get some good nebco stuff and SOS. it would actually be cheaper for me to get nebco fills there if I factor in the $2 difference for gas. Pretty stoked on their pricing! And they make some pretty good wings.

 

Makes me sad with the pricing. At Harpoon's VT brewery growlers are $8.95

 

The pricing makes complete sense. Bars don't want to lose their profit per ounce on their beer. They have zero incentive to sell the beer at a discount, unless it's a keg that isn't moving. The only beer we all want to take home in growlers is something limited or sought after.

I wish CT didn't screw up this law and force bars to purchase branded growlers. I wonder if someone involved in creating the legislation owns a growler supplying company