Letters to politicians. In enough quantity and on a topic with no blowback can be powerful tools to get a law passed. And barring that, they can at the very least get politicians aware of the issue.
So with that in mind. Here is a sample letter about the California growler issue:
I am a proud and vocal consumer of craft beer that is brewed in our fine state of California and I would like to bring your attention to a small but important issue regarding how craft beer is legislated.
Brewers across the state sell growlers. A portable and recyclable glass container that can hold up to 1/2 gallon of beer. Right now, I cannot take a blank growler to a brewery and purchase their beer. I am forced (sometimes not unwillingly) to buy a specially branded growler from that brewery. But then I cannot take that growler anywhere else and use it.
So if I live in San Francisco and want to bring some beer back from Green Flash Brewing in San Diego. I have to hope they sell the beer I want in regular bottles or buy a growler that I can only use at Green Flash and not at Anchor Brewing.
There is a way to fix this inequity. A Brewed in California growler. A growler that can be taken anywhere in the state and filled at participating breweries. I would buy one (because we want to reuse and help the environment) and then I would buy more beer which will help business around the state. And who knows how many visitors to the state would buy them as keepsakes and for use on trips through the Golden State.
Please take this into consideration. Thank you for your time and service to California.
Sincerely,
YOU
Once you have copied or altered to your liking, go HERE to find your local representative.
Remember to keep things cordial and respectful. Foul language and attitude are only going to distance people from the cause.
Sean, Why even have that regulation? I just stopped at Aztec brewery in Vista CA with my custom made (personalized) growler that I got as a Christmas gift and they wouldn’t fill it. Now I know about this stupid law (let’s call it what it is, an unnecessary regulation) and to get their beer I had to buy their own growler (unnecessary expense) to take their beer home. I think that the growler restriction be removed all together, don’t you? They must be laughing (or soon will when I tell them) about this law in other states that let you bring your own growler and get it filled.
Stupid, stupid, stupid law!
Deano
From what I can gather, it is purely a labeling law. Designed to be similar to a beer label on a bomber or six-pack and nothing more. Thankfully it is not one of the stupidest laws on the books (see Texas or Mississippi for those) but because the breweries are allowed to sell growlers then there isn’t a big push to change it.