northwest trip - growler question

You will have no problems in Washington or Oregon, you can fill just about anything. Someone with better knowledge of the California law can fill you in on that. I know that for a long time, breweries only filled their own growler. But now, it's up to the brewery. A lot of breweries fill any growler, but the logos on the growler have to be covered up with tape.

 

Some bars / breweries won't fill opaque growlers like the hydro-flask. But I don't know of anyone in Oregon who cares about the branding on the growler.

 

The vast majority of places in WA and OR will fill just about any damn thing.

 

As a joke, and to prove something to myself, I had a empty and cleaned 2l bottle of coke filled. They did not bat an eye. Got a short fill and was charged full growler price. My impression was they have done it before.

 

Seeing Nalgene bottles filled as people head to free music in the park is not uncommon. Used to be a guy who got a 1 gallon milk jug filled every Friday. The same milk jug. For years.

 

I get my 2L soda bottles filled all the time. I have a carb cap for mine so I can purge w/ CO2 after pouring off a pint. Works great!

 

OP, you also have this option if you want...

http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/crowlers-in-the-nw.315735/unread

 

Barring a d-bag or an uninformed employee (years ago I got a non-labelled growler fill at the Steam Plant, and the bartender thought there had to be a "Surgeon General" type warning on all growlers). Some places charge more for not using their own growlers, though (Georgetown does this, though even then the fill was pretty cheap).

 

Saraveza in Portland will sell you a mason jar and fill it - which is about the same thing as a "to go" cup, if you think about it...

 

Probably figured it out, but I forgot to mention I was talking about WA

 

Warning, OT rant ahead. Fuck mason jars. I hate 'em. A few years a go a bar up here started using them. I told them to let me know when they could afford actual glassware, and I'd come back. About 3 weeks later, I ran into the owner at another bar, and he asked why I hadn't been in lately. Mason jars. next day I get a text, that he's got a few glasses behind the bar, and just ask for one. Once people saw me getting a glass, they all asked for them too. Bye-bye mason jars.

When I was growing up, family friends had a large family. While there was never a lack of food and clothing, there wasn't a lot of extra money, and so mason jar, jelly glasses, the free plates you used to get from gas stations, houseware from Green Stamps, and stuff like that was how they acquired stuff. Here we are, paying $5 and more for a single beer, and sometimes well over $10 for a cocktail, only to be served in a mason jar. That is a direct slap in the face of poor people everywhere. It's one of the few things that actually offend me. I will not spend my discretionary dollars to be served like that.

Rant over, carry on.

 

Saraveza only sells mason jars for beer to go. The beer served at the bar is poured in the appropriate glassware.

 

Still, unless one is actually preserving food in them......

 

Still dumb. Mason jars are terrible for pouring out of.

 

When I first saw a couple places serving beer in mason jars, I thought, "Huh, that's an intriguing twist." But then a lot of other people thought the same thing, but all seemed to thing they were being unique, so I wound up a bit underwhelmed about the whole thing. That, and it's just not a very good beer glass.

 

Like others have said, OR and WA are super relaxed for growler fills. CA...not so much.
They have some specific laws so make sure to check out the Pacific forum. You can also just google CA growler fill laws.
I think the big thing in CA is breweries won't or can't fill growlers if they have another breweries name. Also some rules about types of containers and lids.

 

I only found one bar in Portland (Sellwood) that only fills their own growlers. Definitely hit up Growler Guys, et al, for crowlers (linked above), as they have regional beer out of your itinerary. Portland has two & Bend has one. Imperial on SE Division caps bottles to go, as well.

Try Sunriver on the Bend leg.

 

Whatever you want filled, at least make sure it is clean. Respect. Because Beer Matters!

 

pFriem in Hood River should be a must...not about the others in town, personally. But Double Mtn. may just suit you.