growler fills in NC

only at breweries, not at shops or bars.

 

Some stores sell pre-filled growlers, but caveat emptor... That's not really any different than buying a 64oz bottle of beer. I've had some badly skunked growlers from a certain brewery that distributes pre-filled clear glass growlers. Not getting fooled by that again.

 

You can get growlers filled at bars...I have a growler from Tyler's Speakeasy...there is one in Durham, Carrboro, Apex and Raleigh. I get my growler filler there. Now I will say I think they stopped selling them, but if you have one they will fill it, which means its legal. They do however, put a cap on the alcohol for growlers...

 

no, its not legal at all. There are places that do it sure, but that doesn't make it legal

 

Beat me to it.

 

You can get them in South Carolina though... if you are close enough.

 

Yeah you are right, after looking into this a little further...read this link for good info.

http://www.afamilyfarafield.com/201...growler-laws-across-the-us/traveling-growler/

 

Basically the wording of the law here is that the container the beer will be consumed from has to be filled and labeled at the brewery whether its a bottle, keg, can, or growler. So if a bar is taking beer from a keg and putting it in a growler to be consumed somewhere else they would be in violation of said law

 

Some places tried to challenge the law based on wording, technicalities, etc. They lost. We need someone with political connections to "pop the (growler) cap"!

 

Is the law still that a brewery can only fill a growler with their own logo on it? Growler fills can be haphazard. I think Fullsteam does it right. They don't fill growlers. You can bring in an empty Fullsteam growler and exchange it for a full growler. That growler will be cleaned, sanitized and counter-pressure fillled, not filled off the tap. That makes for a better experience.

Also, they date stamp their caps, because freshness is key.

 

Breweries have the right to fill any growler now. A temporary label may or may not be required, but some places use them.

 

Read the link I gave on post #9 that dude knows the law for every state in the US. He took a growler road trip...pretty cool...

 

the temporary sticker is required and has to be waterproof, some places don't know that though

 

From what we have heard from the ALE and the NC ABC, the temporary sticker needs to be an TTB-approved label. A brewery slapping their bumper sticker over another growler doesn't cut it, at least not according to state law. I'm not sure how the rule applies to retailers.

To echo Sayson's comments (thanks for the kind words, TV)...we don't like filling from the tap for the reasons he outlined. We have a good filler, and we like our beer to stay fresh. That said, I generally support freedom of choice in the marketplace, and I don't think retail fills should be illegal. Choice in the marketplace results in informed consumers, and places that don't treat growlers well will ultimately suffer from bad word of month. (I have faith in customers that they won't blame the brewery for a bad retail fill, but opinions on this topic vary wildly in the brewing community.)

The range of opinions (among both brewers and craft beer enthusiasts) can be seen here in an interesting two-part thread on Bon Appetit:

http://www.bonappetit.com/blogsandforums/blogs/bafoodist/2011/11/garrett-oliver-thinks-growlers.html
http://www.bonappetit.com/blogsandforums/blogs/bafoodist/2011/11/growlers-part-two.html

 

Does anyone know how the local Charlotte (or other NC) breweries feel about filling up other brewery's growlers?

Just curious because I was at Foothills over the weekend and they said they didn't mind filling up random labeled growlers. But i feel like a couple months ago i remember hearding/reading that NoDa would only fill up their own branded growlers.

I have a few that will probably not get filled up again at the original brewery and they are starting to take up space.

 

I know if you go to Aviator in Fuquay they actually take it, put it up on a "shelf of growlers" and then give you one of theirs in trade. At least they used to....They just redesigned the brewery "bar" area, so not sure anymore.

 

As far as I know all Charlotte breweries only fill their own growlers. Hence my closet full of growlers.

 

In NC legally breweries can only fill their own. Foothills doesn't seem to abide by this but it is the law. All of the Charlotte breweries as far as I know will only fill their own.