Hey folks, I'm in the process of a project involving growler fills. I've hit a dead end and was stuck for info. then the thought of asking the beer community came to me. I need information on how growler fills/ sales work in the provinces across canada. is it only available to breweries/liquor stores/ restaurants, sizing requirements, cleaning requirements, etc. The more info the better. Your help is greatly appreciative.
Well here on Vancouver Island in the capital city of BC , we've got 5 breweries , 5 brewpubs to take our growlers to to get filled , http://victoriabeers.com/growlers/ , link is helpful especially when the '4 Mile Brewpub' get the beeers/website going I don't know of any restaurants that fill growlers or liquor stores , butt I've seen the PEGAS that will be filling the growlers at 4Mile https://www.facebook.com/pages/Four-Mile-Bar-Grill-and-Liquor-Store/201998693162305
Matt, Here in Manitoba, restaurants and bars cannot fill growlers. Brewpubs could, if we had one. Breweries could, but you can't legally have taps in the same room you're licensed to sell beer for offsale, so they don't. We'll see what happens with some of the liquor laws here changing in April.
I know maybe 1 or 2 breweries might refill their growlers but there are no such thing as growler bars or even buying a growler fill at any bar.
Growler fills are allowed in Ontario. There are rules around them. Specifically you have to buy (pay a deposit) the growler from the brewery of fill, and maybe only exchange to refill at that brewery, but honestly that really depends on the brewery. This is due to laws governing brand logoing, and sanitation. I have had some breweries/brew pubs fill up any growler you walk in with as long as they are clean. You are allowed to get them from breweries, as well as brewpubs. Unfortunately no Beer Stores or LCBO's in Ontario fill. In the USA most everywhere fills up growlers (beer stores, supermarkets, breweries, brewpubs, even gas stations). The smartest setup I have seen is from the Niagara's Best Brewing/The Syndicate in Niagara Falls. They have generic brown growlers, and to get around labeling they have stickers with there logo, fill them straight from the tap, and write what they are. This makes thing a lot easier to get them filled at other breweries without them kicking up a fuss.
Growler fills at the moment are only allowed at breweries here in BC, but I think there was some new recommendation in our recent liquor policy review to allow bars and/or restaurants to fill growlers. There's a whole range of sizes available. 2L seems to be the max, smallest I've had is 475ml. Everyone recommends you wash them out with water (no soap), and some breweries give them a clean rinse before filling.
In Saskatchewan, the breweries and brewpubs can fill growlers, but bars cannot. We can fill any type of growler, or any other brewery's.
Breweries can also fill and sell growlers at Farmer's Markets. But not Brewpubs. And bars can kinda/maybe do growler fills - bars can now sell take home beer with a meal purchase, the only rule is that it has to be a beer that came through the special order desk. I asked SLGA how that applies to special order kegs and growler fills... they didn't have an answer. No idea if any bar has bothered to pursue this further.
Thats part to do with my research, We are aggressively trying to get the legislation in SK change to allow bars with the "special order" beer off sale license to extend it to growler fills. We want to prove to them it's working in other markets but need proof to back that.
Right on Matt, been meaning to talk to you about this, as it seemed like I stumped them when I asked several months ago. I am in Texas right now; got my growler filled at a grocery store, a pub, and a little store called the Growler Room that does nothing but growler fills. I'd also like to see growler filling options in private stores or even SLGA stores. It could potentially be possible, but the problem is that most of their regulations are written for pre-filled packaging. They told me, "you guys are thinking up things we never thought possible." Kind of a deflating comment, shows that the people in charge of liquor in this province are not anticipating the future, or paying attention to what is happening elsewhere... but on the positive side, they are willing to be educated.
