Poll question: Growler Buying Frequency

No change here, but that is mostly because I sedom buy growlers at all.

Most of the time I'm the only beer drinker in the house who likes flavorful beer and have no intention of drinking a full growler of beer over a day or two. (I'll leave that to those who think that it makes them more manly to finish off a large amount of beer in one sitting. )

 

Just in my personal experience, I've decreased growler purchases, even though many gas stations, liquor stores and grocery stores are getting into the growler game, the prices tend to be horrible. I'm seeing a lot of stores where the average growler (64 oz I have to drink in one or two days) being $12-$15 where the exact same beer on the shelf is $10.99/6 pack (72 oz I can drink at my leisure). Even when a lot of things are draft only, a good draft IPA isn't worth a $5 premium to a good $9.99/6 pack shelf IPA. If anything, growlers should be somewhat discounted compared to packaged beer....

 

I really dont like growlers. Never did and never will purchase them. My local brewery has no way of cleaning them properly and many times have seen the growler caps tainted with black mold...

 

I've only bought growler beer when its the only option to take home a really great beer to share with others.
Prices are horrible in DC/Baltimore area.

I'm sure there is a direct correlation with smaller breweries getting into canning beers and Crowlers on the increase making Growler fills becoming less desirable.

 

My purchases have increased over the past year due to more and more spots filling growlers in my local area and the ability to actually try a beer before I commit to buying it. I anticipate this will continue to increase over the next year as I am moving down to the DFW area where cost of living is more affordable and I've already found a place that has 50 taps with incredibly reasonable prices. Cheers!

 

This. Unless it's draft only, I'll never fill a growler and pay 50% more per ounce for the same beer I can get in bottles/cans.

 

I've beer spoiled by Ithaca and Horseheads, both of which sell sub-$10 growler fills. Hard to beat that and when I go to places and see $20+ growler fills, I just can't do it.

 

Mine stays the same, one fill every other week.

 

I bought growlers more when I first got into beer, because of the novelty, I think. Now, I don't buy them very frequently, mostly because my husband, friends and I all have pretty different beer tastes. My husband and I would usually rather share a mix 6 or buy our own bombers/sixers, and when friends come over, they usually bring something of their own. We'll share and swap, but I feel like everyone's trying to try so many new beers, that a growler isn't as appreciated. The exception is when I'm buying something from the brewery that's not available in bottles/cans to share with someone who hasn't had it, or when I'm traveling (within a couple hours) to visit someone. Another point against growlers is that they're just not as easy to travel with.

 

I only get growlers if it's somthing good I can't get in bottles or somthing...

 

I took liberty with the beer filled vessel description in your question and answered as if crowlers were assumed; with this in mind, I answered that my purchases have increased. The increase in my activity can be pinned down to one particular brewpub, which is The Answer. They don't distribute, can or bottle, so crowler / growler option is the only way to brign their stuff home. I choose crowlers over growlers because I am usually getting a high ABV item and I'll be the only one drinking it. 32 oz. just makes more sense. I guess I could bring one of my half howlers in for a fill, but the crowler thing just captivates me for some reason...

 

In some of the good Manhattan beer bars, growler prices for 64 ounce fills are close to $36-$44. Now granted those are for special or rare or barrel aged beers but mentally I can't bring myself to spend that much money filling up a growler.

 

+1 on this.
Also, I can't get over the fact that I'm bringing the container. So, if I go to a brewery and fill a growler for $13, I'm paying that for the beer itself. Add on the inconvenience of finishing the growler before it gets 'stale' and I'm sticking with prepackaged beer at a savings to the growler.

 

Two problems with growler fills- In most cases I'm seeing in my area, the growler fills turn out to be the same or even more money oz per oz. The second problem- you have to drink the whole thing after you open it, so if you're not sharing it's definitely not worth it. Like when I got a growler fill of Goose Island BCBS....

 

Agreed, I thought that was the whole point of growler fills in the first place, but they're typically priced higher now.

 

I just made my very first growler purchase outside of a brewery and it was for 2015 BCBS. 40 bucks and I absolutely plan on sharing it.

 

It's actually increased for me. But I find that I'm getting 32 oz fills rather than 64s. There are more options around to get fills these days, too.

 

Mine have reduced, simply because most places close to me aren't selling draft only options in growlers. I usually only get a growler fill of something that has a good price point. Last week I got the first one in 3 months to test out the UKeg that my kids gave me 1.5 years ago. It was a new place I was trying out that had really good prices, but they didn't use a fill hose, so it killed my soul watching the guy fill it, not only did it get loaded up with O2, but he poured probably 128oz to give me 64oz

 

I voted the same, but I have yet to even purchase a growler. I prefer cans or bottles, but if a growler was the only way, then I would buy it.