Most small craft brewers distribute their beer on draft only, because bottling is expensive and the off-premise is difficult to crack. Frequently, those draft sales are made in growlers?64-ounce containers that are filled at breweries and taken away. But now the growler is being embraced by mainstream retailers, including grocery stores, c-stores, gas stations and drug stores.
Sunoco launched its Craft Beer Exchange Program in July 2011, dispensing beer in growlers at over 40 of its gas stations in the Buffalo, New York market in partnership with A-Plus convenience stores. Each location offers nine to 12 taps and includes brews from Allagash, Dogfish Head and Victory Brewing, along with larger craft brewers like New Belgium Brewing Co. Sunoco has since expanded the program to offer growler fills at 17 locations in Charleston, South Carolina. Sunoco, which operates over 600 gas stations and c-stores nationwide, is considering the program in other states.
The growler phenomenon is generating buzz in other retail channels. At the Filling Station Beer Store in Chelsea Market in New York City, Stephanie Hirsch has been selling 16- and 64-ounce growlers for two years. ?We have a small, open-air space,? Hirsch says. ?People can also take a seat and drink the beer here.? The Filling Station has six taps and sells growler containers for $2 (pints) and $5 (half-gallon jugs). Prices on larger growler fills range from $11-$15, with a 10% discount for refills. Craft beers include local brews from Kelso, Captain Lawrence and Brooklyn Brewery.
In beer-savvy Seattle, Chuck?s 85th Street market is a hot spot for beer to go. The small grocery store carries over 1,000 beers and maintains 30 taps. ?We started as a market with a great beer selection and added taps last July,? says owner Chuck Shin. ?Now we?ve become a neighborhood pub.?
Chuck?s sells 64-ounce growlers for $6 and a 32-ounce size for $5. Fills on larger growlers average $12-13. Shin buys 84 cases of the larger growlers at a time and also rinses returns for customers. ?The (growler) clientele is different from regular beer buyers,? he says. ?They have more discipline and know what they want.?
Not all retailers are content with standard growler jugs. ?We carry half-gallon Mason jars instead,? says Chris Ormond, beer buyer for Belmont Station, a bottle shop and ?bier caf?? in Portland, Oregon. ?You can waste a pint of foam trying to fill those narrow mouth growlers.? In addition to over 1,000 bottled beers, Belmont station offers 16 draft beers. The caf? charges $3 for growler jars and $11-$12 to fill them, depending on the beer.
At 99 Bottles beer store in Federal Way, Washington, owners Craig and Tiffany Hereth Adomowski sell hundreds of bottled beers but last summer added eight taps to fill growlers. They use standard 64-ounce jugs as well as 32-ounce swing-top bottles. The store charges $5-$15 for smaller growler fills and $10-$30 for the larger ones, depending on the beer. Top sellers include Mack & Jack?s African Amber and Manny?s Lucile IPA, both beers from local breweries that don?t normally bottle their products. These beers are always on tap at the store, while the selection from the other taps varies.
Supermarkets are now also offering beer to go. Heinen?s, a Cleveland, Ohio-area chain, has added draft lines in 15 of its 17 stores. ?We?re exceeding expectations?it?s the top-selling SKU in our stores,? says Heinen corporate wine and beer buyer Ed Thomkins. Each Heinen?s store has its own four-handle dispense unit and offers a mix of local, national and imported beers. Two taps are the same for all stores while two rotate.
At New York City?s Grand Central Terminal, Justin Philips opened the Beer Table Pantry in August 2011?a tiny (150-square-foot) store selling bottled beer and filling 64-ounce growlers from six taps. ?My customers are mostly regular commuters, as well as tourists,? says Philips, who also owns the Beer Table restaurant in New York. He pours only beer from small brewers and stocks 80-100 bottled brands. ?I have only a grocery license, so you can?t drink beer here,? he adds. Sales volume varies, but he fills as many as 100 growlers on a busy Friday. The Beer Table Pantry charges a $5 deposit on growlers and fills them for $10-$15.
Some U.S. drugstores are also selling draft beer. New York-based Duane Reade (purchased by Walgreens in 2009) now has Brew York City Growler Bars in two stores?one in Brooklyn and one in Manhattan. All growler fills cost $7.99 and include beers from craft breweries such as Bear Republic,?Dogfish Head, Green Flash and Shmaltz Brewing.
In most states where growler sales are now permitted, beer laws had to be amended. (Florida still bans it, permitting breweries and pubs to sell draft beer only in quart or gallon sizes.) Washington state only legalized it last July. In Arizona, a new law permitting growler fills went into effect on August 2. The Arizona Department of Liquor License and Control, on behalf of Walgreens, asked for the wording to be added to a broad legislative liquor bill. At this point, Walgreens hasn?t indicated whether it plans any growler sales points in the state.
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