Growler Law Update

I find the site a bit confusing, the below is copied from the top of their page, it implied to me (and I might be wrong) that they are some how related. The link on the second line (as well as the top post) focuses on a new law - AB647 that was just past - this is what I was referring to. Perhaps I was rushing to judgement, as they also have 1 post on how to make a blank growler and 2 ones on breweries fill policies.

Maybe I am reading the new law too fast, but there was nothing I saw in that as a consumer to be excited about.


Stop purchasing branded growlers. Generic draught beer growlers are the future for California.

http://www.californiacraftbeer.com/advocacy/

 

Please expand. You think that not having to keep a few dozen growlers on hand doesn't benefit the consumer?

I don't have a horse in this race since I'm well beyond my growler days, but I thought some people here might be interested.

 

I agree with universal growlers, but I don't see how celebrating this law helps? Maybe I am missing something.

 

Then perhaps you could ask on their Facebook page. I just saw it pop up in my feed today, and thought some of the people in this thread might be interested/amused, or maybe it was set up by some of the people that post here.

 

The law technically did not change a thing.
It did however generate some awareness among consumers, as well as some give some peace of mind for breweries who may have been considering filling blanks.

 

It's almost the end of the year and judging by the lack of movement by most breweries on this clarification, would it be safe to assume we've seen the most we're going to see in the near future? A lot of folks were critical of Miketen but he pretty much called it from the get go.

Personally, I expected more breweries to be excited about this since it has the potential of increasing the sale of their beer. However, whenever I've posed the question to folks at the breweries I've visited, they've mostly been ambivalent about the matter.

 

I don't get how the greed to brand your label on a glass jar or make $5-10 profit on a one time purchase of a growler out weighs the ability to increase your growler fill sales into a much wider market.

It would be a no brainer to me if I was running a brewer. I get to move more of my product and don't have to shell out the product cost of a growler, and simply have to focus on making proper tags?

 

I was randomly reading through this and all I noticed was that someone posted Sage's spreadsheet.

I don't know if this has been said or not: it all boils down to brewery choice. Stone will only fill swing tops. I'm sure Hess will follow suit, Mike despises screw tops. I'm not entirely sure why, as rubber deteriorates over time and I'm sure seals just as well as a screw top. Anyway, that's beside the point. This whole thing is going to take some time, but what every needs to do is start asking breweries if they're filling blank or generic growlers yet. Keep asking and breweries will slowly start allowing fills. It'll take a while, but won't it be nice to not have 20 growlers in your closet?

 

From what I've heard glass is a black hole for breweries and most are only breaking even on the cost of selling a growler.

 

That's too much of a generalization. Those selling for $10 a 64oz screw top are making $$$ off of it.

 

swing tops only means that a brewery that uses swing tops doesn't have to maintain a stock of screw caps. As far as which seals better, I've seen an individual go through 3-4 caps trying to get a solid seal on a screw top growler. The rubber or silicone seal on a swing top growler should last for years.

 

Bump.

I found this thread linked from here: http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/california-growler-fill-law.166601/

So I am moving and I want to minimize my growler collection. I have about 50. Does anyone know if Russian River has started filling generic growlers yet? When I was there a long time ago, the owner told me she was thinking about it. What other places in the Bay Area will do this?

I'm glad things have finally changed and people are accepting blank growlers! Come out of the "Stone" age CA!! (See what I did there? )

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aix5XJHmGehfdDIxU1FrNkhWdnRYbWJVeEVLV1ZUY2c#gid=0

Russian River changed course and I doubt they'll ever embrace blank growlers.

 

Thank you for the link.

And WHAT on Russian River! That is a huge shock to me. I thought the law changed over a year ago. I was looking forward to throwing those out. I guess I have to keep them now. BUMMER.

 

The law did change, but brewers are free to only fill their own labeled growlers if that's what they choose.

Throw them out anyways and refuse to get fills at places that don't fill blank growlers. I have done this.

 

BTW, I’ve bought the domain http://californiagrowlerfills.com/ and it auto-forwards to the Gdocs spreadsheet. Makes it much easier to share!

 

Damn cant go to the site from my work computer. Blocked because its a parked domain.

 

That is a good idea. But I love me some Pliny!! Lol,

 

That's not very green of you.

 

This was just on Bottle Logic's Facebook page. . . . .good news! So why cant some of our other "better" brewery's do this? Monkish is another one that I know that does this.

Now that we've covered the care and maintenance of growler bottles, let's talk about our fill options!

• We're happy to fill not just our own growlers, but any 32oz, 40oz or 64oz growler that's blank or has any other brewery name or logo properly obscured in accordance with California ABC laws. (Think duct tape or electrical tape. Paper coverings or bags, while resourceful, won't do the trick.)

• Why don't we offer all our beers as growler fills? Oh friends, how we would love for you to take all of our beer out into the world! We want you to have the perfect drinking experience each and every time you choose a Bottle Logic brew -- and that means sticking to our ray-guns about our beer's presentation. In particular, we feel that the magic of a nitro beer is that tight, creamy carbonation and that gorgeous texture just doesn't remain intact when released into a growler.

• In a similar vein, we're so excited to have our pilot system online so we can start launching some small-batch flavor explorations. Small batch is small batch though, and we generally will not offer these limited run beers as growler fills simply because we want everyone to be able to have a shot at a pint!

Alright, here are the goods for the upcoming weekend!

• 32oz Plastic PET Growler: $3
• 40oz Metal Fifty/Fifty Thermal Growler: $40
• 64oz Glass Growler: $6

We'll be offering growler fills of the following beer, for your off-premise pleasure:

• Toasted in Tahiti: $10 - 32oz /$13 - 40 oz /$18 - 64oz
• Recursion 3.0: $10 - 32oz /$13 - 40 oz /$18 - 64oz
• Prequel: Alpha: $10 - 32oz /$13 - 40 oz /$18 - 64oz
• Tattered Prince: $10 - 32oz /$13 - 40 oz /$18 - 64oz
• Clockweisse: $9 - 32oz /$12 - 40oz
• Counter Clockweisse: $15 - 32oz /$18 - 40oz
• Leche Molé on CO₂: $15 - 32oz /$18 - 40oz