Category: About the Search Party

Here is a rant that you may have seen on my other writing outlet, the wonderful FoodGPS. I brought it over here because it got the most comments of all of my posts.

I am growlin’ mad about growlers.

Let me backtrack a little and set the scene. I live in Southern California. I have ONE brewery near me and two or three that are drives to get too under the best freeway conditions. Secondly, I am what economists term as “underemployed”. Not complaining but not swimming in steady cash. Lastly, I do not have unlimited shelf space. I have a small and growing “beer cellar” but I am reaching overload in pint glasses and bottles.

Now I can return to my rant. I would like to have one growler. A growler that I can fill at my local (Eagle Rock Brewing) but that I can also fill at Ladyface in Agoura Hills or Hangar 24 in Redlands or at Nibble Bit Tabby downtown. I don’t A) have the space for separate growlers and B) can’t afford them anyway.

I know that current law is against this. They want growlers labeled in a similar fashion as to labels on beer sold conventionally in stores. It is a pure CYA choice. But why do we want something similar to the sometimes comical and irritating label laws in place? Can the state cover it’s … with a different approach?

Here is my idea to solve the problem and boost the economy:

Step 1 – a “Made in California” growler. It could be sold by Chambers of Commerce or by the California Brewers Association or other outlets. I would refrain from having the breweries themselves sell them so as not to impinge on their own growler sales.

Step 2 – Create a label / sticker that can be filled out on the premises at the time the growler is filled with a link to the beers information on the brewers website. (Maybe via a barcode?)

A California growler would be accepted by whichever brewery wanted to make a $10 sale vs. a sale of $0.00. At least from my standpoint. I couldn’t buy (though I was tempted) a growler from Hangar 24 to bring home some of their Polycot beer (which was great) but if I had a California growler at home, I could have and Hangar 24 would have received $15.00 from me. The same at Stone in Escondido or 50-50 in Truckee. And for those establishments that cannot afford to get approved growlers, this would be entree to a new customer set.

It would also be a great way to promote the great beer you can find in this state. You could do a a great promotion about a growler tour of California breweries. The beer community makes pilgrimages to Russian River and The Bruery. Why not incentivize them to stay a little. You can even promote a design contest for the growler (see my design below). So many possibilities.

That’s my two cents. Poke holes in it. Add to it. Let’s get a discussion going.