Quick question: Is it rude to go to one brewery with a growler from another brewery and ask to have it filled? Are you supposed to buy a growler from each brewery. What do you expect to pay for a growler fill if it's nothing rare/special perhaps a the flagship beer of your local brewery?
atleast one brewery here in ABQ will only 'honor' their own growlers (Il Vicino). For about a year that was the only place i had a growler from, and i took it to get filled at 3 or 4 other breweries around town, I never got so much as a dirty look about it. They just filled it and charged me the fill price. I remember once at Marble, the guy filling my growler for me even mentioned how much he likes Il Vic's Panini Casino... Most places are pretty laissez faire about it. You're paying them for the beer they put into the growler so why should they care whose logo is on it?
and as for price it's really hard to say... it all varies so much. I've seen fills for as low as $6 and as much as $25.
I'm pretty sure in Cali you can legally only fill growlers at the brewery they were bought at. I know stone will only fill the 3 liter growlers that are labeled with a specific beer, with that beer.
In NY any growler at any bar, brewery, brewpub, beverage store, or beer location that does fills. Hard to believe NY is more progressive about growlers than most other states, when we aren't in almost every other way one can think. As far as if it is bad manners to bring a growler to fill that sports another name, in NY'ese lemme just say, "Naaaaahhh."
If it's legal in your state - hell no it isn't rude. You are buying their beer. They can get bent if they need an extra $2 profit selling you a growler. Low abv mainline fills : $11 Badass IPA: $15 Big monster stout: $20 That's what I think is fair.
I have learned from traveling around that Colorado, New York, and some places in Maine will fill any growler. They just put an adhesive sticker on the growler to denote what beer is inside so you can get cashed out. In Massachusetts, you can only get growlers filled at each specific brewery that you have a growler from.
Or $10 if you want buy an Alpine growler. I loved going to Alpine and enjoyed their beers but there's no way I was going to pay $10 for an empty growler.
It shouldn't be a problem anywhere other than in CA. Just make sure it's clean. Although I wash my growlers regularly, my regular growler fill place always gives mine a quick rinse if I ask.
It's not rude at all, IMO. It is illegal in some states, such as CA. What I really hate is when a bartender claims it is illegal when it isn't. This happens occasionally here in Missouri. It is completely legal to fill any container over 32 ounces here in Missouri. If the bar would sell it, you could legally get a 5 gallon Home Depot bucket filled with beer to take home. However, some people report bartenders at various brewpubs telling them that it is illegal to fill other brewery's growlers. Ignorance and/or lying gets under my skin on this issue more than anything. If they just say, "Hey, we only fill our growlers, that's our policy." I'm fine with that. I don't really like it much but it's their business to operate as they see fit. But don't lie or make some bullshit up. That makes me avoid the establishment.
