Poll question: Growler Buying Frequency

California is a growler fill state, but probably not in the way you meant. Here in CA, you can only fill at a brewery and you can only fill with that brewery's beer.

For this reason, I almost never get growler fills. In the last year, I have done zero. The previous year, I did one. So, I marked "decreased".

 

My growler filling has decreased a little bit over the years, but this has more to do with location, options, and convenience than anything else. Regardless, it's always been my least favorite way of getting beer.

My consumption habits are probably as such in terms of volume from highest to lowest:

- bottles at home, cans at home, keg at bar, cask at bar, pint jar filled for at home consumption, growler/crowler

Growlers and crowlers are easily last on my list. They are the least appealing option. Crowler fills have recently eaten into any growler fills.

 

My growler fill are down a lot since I retired. This is because I can get to the local Brew Pub or breweries more often and see no need to bring the beer home.

 

I only get a growler fill when I'm at a brewery and they have something I want to take home and I can't get it in bottles.

So frequency wise, its a handful of times per year. Which has held fairly steady over time.

 

The most irritating thing is when places will only fill THEIR growlers (which will oddly cost $5+ each) (blah blah blah, states with that legal requirement exempted). I know at least Ohio and Kentucky you can fill anything you want. If you won't fill my growler, you should be forced to drink nothing but malt liquor till the end of your miserable life.

 

Increased.
Denver has seen a recent influx of breweries that don't package but are putting out phenomenal beers.
Comrade, Spangalang, Call to Arms, Hogshead, Cannonball Creek, etc.

 

I will usually get 32 oz if I see something reasonably priced that they don't have in bottles, which is pretty often. I've also had fills of Backwoods Bastard and BCBS that were not all that reasonably priced, but they beers are awesome and worth it to me.

 

I rarely if ever buy a growler. I usually don't want to commit to 64 ounces on my own, and one of my favorite local breweries unfortunately doesn't really discount growlers much (typically just $0.50 per beer) so I'd rather just have 2-3 at the taproom. I've been hitting up Noon Whistle in Lombard, IL frequently and I may start doing their crowler cans at $6-8 for 32 ounces though.

 

I don't do growlers.

 

I've moved to using my smaller 32oz ones more often. I get a couple different beers for the price of one full growler (or pretty darn close) and they fit in the fridge easier.

 

When I first got into craft beer I thought that growlers were the coolest thing ever. However, when you sit and think about the price increase (per ounce) that typically comes with a growler as opposed to a can/bottle I just couldn't justify it anymore. I haven't filled a growler in months. Of course if growler is the only option for a particular beer I will make do.

I also don't like feeling pressured to drink all of the growler quickly as they don't last long after opening and I typically drink alone.

 

Man if your local brewery can't clean a growler I don't think I would trust them to clean ANYTHING... much less the vessels they make your beer in!

 

Increased but for a few reasons like local places doing "steal the vessel" so the growler/grunt was free or loving a few new local brews that I can't get otherwise.

I've basically stopped getting growlers of national releases unless they're limited/not available in bottle and reasonably priced. Otherwise I'm basically local growler fills only.

 

I moved from Utah where I had plenty of friends to split a growler with, to Missouri where I am pretty much on my own for beer consumption. My growler consumption has gone down a lot. I did however just buy new Smoky Mountain Growler Company 64 and 32oz stainless steel growlers and plan on heading down to Cinder Block occasionally to fill them though.

 

I'm way down on growler fills, I'll do a 32 oz. on occasion. Maybe it's just me but I feel once you crack the cap that is the best that beer is going to taste. If you don't finish it all it never tastes the same the next day.

 

Used to buy more. Now try to buy 4- and 6-pks. for my more regular drinking, since it means I can drink the same amount of that beer, but can spread it over a week or two, meaning I don't have to drink a beer to the exclusion of others until I finish the perishable growler stock.

I still buy growlers, just not nearly as often.

 

Decreased over the last year. Primary driver is time; between job and family combined with 30+ min roundtrip for only breweries that are of interest, just doesn't happen that often. Hoping to increase as one of those breweries has new hours. Also switching to 750s; the 64 oz growlers just don't work for solo consumption.

 

Decreased the growler intake, work too much and when I get off I just wanna sleep.

 

My frequency has stayed the same, and I didn't buy many growlers to begin with. I prefer the brewery/taproom experience to drinking at home most of the time. So I'm more likely to have two to four beers (depending on ABV and time) at a place than I am to take a growler home.

 

No change - which is to say almost never. Hate the format.