Arrow Wine & Spirits Centerville store has always hosted a Friday night beer tasting, but now they’ve taken it one step further by adding a Growler Station, with 6 rotating taps for draft beer. For $5 you can buy the actual reusable 64 ounce Growler, then get it filled up straight from the tap with your choice of brew, then it gets sealed with a twist on cap. With proper refrigeration, your beer will last about a week. Cost of a fill up will depend on your beer choice, but run about $14-$18. Your growler is a little more than a 6 pack of beer, if you’re trying to compare prices.
According to wikapedia, the modern day growler states was introduced in 1989, Charlie Otto and his father were discussing the dilemma facing the Otto Brothers Brewery. They wanted to offer “beer-to-go” for their local customers, but they were not yet in a position to bottle. Father Otto suggested the use of “growlers,” which were used in his younger days, but Charlie recognized the need for an updated package type. He purchased a small silkscreen machine, and set it up on his patio. Soon he was silk-screening his logo on half-gallon glass bottles that resembled moonshine jugs. The modern-day “growler” was introduced.
The Growler menu at Arrow this week
George Bulvas III, brewmaster at Water Street Lake County Brewery, WI, suggests that growlers are named for the buckets of beer once given to factory workers before their stomachs began to “growl” from hunger. Regardless of its true origin, the growler is a great way to take home some fresh brew from a local bar or restaurant.
Locally you can pick up growlers at several bars downtown that are part of the Growler C0-0p, which we wrote about in 2010, and was started by Blind Bobʼs, South Park Tavern, Thai 9 and the Trolley Stop. The South Dayton Growler programs was created by Doubleday’s, The Culinary Company, Buffalo Wings & Rings and Archer’s Tavern in the summer of 2011.
Dayton Beer Company, Boston’s Bistro and The Liquor & Wine Warehouse on York Commons all have Growler programs as well.
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