I am not sure where this petition originated, but I imagine most of you would agree with the cause. In California, a weird law requires a brewery to only fill a growler that they sold. That means that you can’t get Stone beer in a Sierra Nevada growler or your own unmarked growler. It is annoying and weird to have to have the specific growler, and this petition wants to create a statewide growler that would work everywhere in California.
I’d buy a Carowler just for the novelty.
Or would that be a Califrowler?
In Colorado it’s due to the labelling of the container. They just slap a sticker over the other brewery’s name.
NJ is just as bad. The ABC here can’t get it’s story straight as it tells some bars/restaurants that they can’t fill growlers at all while telling others that it’s quite OK. One guy I talked to had a lawyer look into it and his findings seem to state that any place that sells beer on tap can fill any growler. It’s maddening.
interesting idea, but making a “Califrowler” causes marketing problems for the breweries, doesn’t it? Not being able to display their own label on their own product could be an issue the breweries will have. I’m all for being able to use X growler at Y brewery, but mandating a statewide growler be used is kind of odd.
I would not want to have someone else beer in my growler.
For me as a brewer it is marketing advantage.
I ask for deposit on growler and I refund the returns.
That sounds like an awesome way to do things. If the breweries I’ve visited did that, I wouldn’t have half a dozen growlers kicking around (well, maybe).
I just put hooks on the ceiling of my brewery, and hang them all up. I’ve got about 40. (so far) And even the first of the modern day growlers. From Otto Brothers. At least the claim to be the first on their website.
Why does it have to have a proprietary label on there. Let’s say I buy one of those fancy SS growlers that showed up
Like these: Zythos Project
If I spend the money for a nice and shiney SS Brauler, I don’t want any stickers on there gumming up the works.
Some laws don’t make sense to me… :-\
most laws dont make sense
It is especially odd because this is a state where you can buy hard liquor from any grocery store or convenience store (sometimes the ones attached to gas stations), 7 days a week, from 6 am to 2 am. But you can’t take your Rogue growler to get filled at Green Flash. While a couple of breweries up here in the bay area will slap a sticker on the cap, many of the breweries I hav visited would only fill their own growlers because “it’s California State Law.” I hate stuff like this.
That doesn’t make it especially odd. It’s exactly as stated, a labeling thing. Buy/sell laws of hard liquor are totally different. Having grown up in California, I’ll still getting used to having to go to a liquor store to get spirits. But at least when you do, the label on the bottle reflects the contents of it - and that’s what the law is enforcing.
While I agree it’s dumb to not be able to fill blank, unmarked growlers, I do understand not being able to fill other brewery’s growlers, and if I was a brewer, I would probably support that. I wouldn’t want to put my beer into another brewer’s growler. And as I’m sure you’re realizing, it’s not strictly a California thing. Most states’ ABC has a similar law.
As long as someone was actually paying my cold hard cash for my beer, I wouldn’t care what they put it in. I would be greateful for the $10.
I think that is key. Something along the lines of, “Please share your good thoughts on our beer with others…”
Hell, I’d be ok with shrink wrap plastic on the growler. Much easier to get off…
I’m not sure what they’re hoping to accomplish with this petition, given that it’s a federal law: http://www.ttb.gov/beer/beer-faqs.shtml#b9
My hope would beto make California’s laws work out however NY does it. NY liquor stores are actually allowed to fill from a draft keg a growler to go - http://www.mybeersoftheworld.com/hentap.html
Even then they seem to have special growlers of their own.
not sure what you are seeing there. There are federal labeling laws for SEALED containers but it says that a growler filled to order is treated like a large glass thus no labeling requirements
Right, so this would work for breweries if they fill growlers exclusively at the time or purchase, but it still wouldn’t allow anyone to fill another brewery’s growler.
I fill growlers in advance and then distribute them to the stores.
I will not fill someone else growler.
This would be like Sam Adams filling Sierra Nevada’s bottles.
This might be a different story in the brewpub where they fill on demand.
I was just in California on vacation and heard about this law while I was visiting Stone. Not only can you only fill up a growler with beer from the brewery on the label, you can only fill up the growler with the style listed on the growler. So a growler that says Stone IPA can’t be filled up with Stone Arrogant Bastard, etc.