Lefty's seems to be coming on strong with the number of growlers available in shops and even supermarkets in Western MA, especially since it looks like Berkshire is stepping back or pulling out of the format. Most of the reviews for their year-round beers are years old. I haven't tried one in a while myself. If you drink them regularly, suggest one you think they have dialed in.
Side question I'm curious about - how often do you all buy growlers from a store and not the brewery? Regardless of the brewer - would you? I never do because it's a mental block, but it may be unwarranted. To me, growler beer should be consumed extremely soon. So freshness in the store is suspect. I don't recall seeing freshness dates on store growlers but I don't look hard. And I know it all depends on how the growler is filled. Have no idea if Berkshire, Opa Opa, etc use counter pressure methods or if it's just a basic CO2 purge... anyone know?
I noticed this week that Aeronaut has started distributing pre-filled crowlers hand labeled w the fill date. Saw them in the cooler at Downtown Wine & Spirits yesterday. All less than 5 days old.
Bought a Cold Harbor 32 oz growler at Julio's. They have tags that say what day they were filled. Mine was same day. On the topic of Lefty's. I had a sample of Bean's Brew at the Worcester Craft Brew race over the weekend and thought it was really tasty.
I bought tons of Berkshire growlers back when they were cheaper than bombers. Never had a freshness issue, but they were pros at filling them (it was a major format for them before they went to 12 oz cans). leftovers were fine the next day, never had a problem drinking the equivalent of 5 low alcohol beers in a day or two. I'm sure it was, but that's a specialty 10+ ABV release unlikely to be in growlers. Still waiting on everyday Lefty recommendations, if anybody drinks them.
lefty's stuff is decent, but in the beneficent beer climate of MA, I wouldn't go out of my way for it. Furthermore, while I love supporting local beers, (lefty's isn't too far from me), my wallet weighs in on my decision. A lot of the local stuff I can buy is much more expensive than larger distro stuff. Will I pay extra for Trillium or Tree House? Yes. Lefty's?? no
That's really the issue with a lot of the Western Mass breweries. I love Element, but at $11-12/bomber, I don't buy them. I would pay that much for an occasional 4-pack though. I often talk about Abandoned Building, and I'm in their tap room a few times a month, but I'll never buy one of their bombers (part of that is due to the fact that it's just as easy to go get a growler or have a few pints). Lefty's is OK, but the bombers make the price higher than it should be. Fort Hill made a smart decision by going with 12oz cans. Easy-drinking traditional lagers in super basic packaging. Bldg 8 cans too, but has closer to TH pricing. Then when you have Jack's Abby, Wormtown, Wachussett, Trillium, Clown Shoes, CBC and Lord Hobo with (more or less) statewide footprints, competitive pricing and top-notch quality, bomber sales have really got to be hurting.
But that's the point, I don't have to go out of my way for it - it's everywhere around here in 2L growlers priced like a six-pack. I went out of the way to drive an hour each way and stand in line and pay .25 an oz. for TH, I'm not looking for that experience from Lefty's. Just wondering if I might change up the workaday rotation and try one of their growlers like I would any other $10 six-pack, to try something different because variety is the spice of life. Appears no one here buys them on the regular though.
