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growlers

Ketttering Gas & Growler Stop

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In the last several years the craft beer movement has found a solid audience in the Miami Valley.  With 11 local breweries (soon to be 12, as Crooked Handle Brewing Co will open in Springboro anytime now) and over 40 local places to fill growlers in the area, beer lovers have grown a more sophisticated palate. The way they drink beer has changed.  No longer content to pick up a 6 pack of what’s on sale, consumers are becoming much more discerning about the beer they want to drink at home.FullSizeRender 2

Realizing that, Andy Elshire of the Town and Country Shell has just opened up a growler fill station located inside the recently remodeled gas station located at the corner of Stroop and Far Hills Avenue. The station underwent a huge renovation in order to stay on top of the trends in the gasoline, convenience store, and car wash industries These renovations make it unlike any gas station you will visit in the Miami Valley. The store now features a state of the art car wash tunnel, a large wine selection, and  Krispy Krunchy Chicken and 15 tap handles of craft beer.

Elshire says it took over a year to get their D1 permit, allowing them to sell carryout beer.  While he was waiting, he began researching other gas stations selling beer, visiting the “The Growler Stop” Cincinnati’s first growler pouring station outside of a grocery store or a brewery itself.  They’ve been just over 2 years and Elshire just knew Dayton was ready to support one as well.

Opened just last Friday,  Elshire shares he wants to feature many local beers.  He says he’ll always have some Rhingeist and Madtree beers, and he’s looking forward to adding some Dayton Beer Company and Yellow Springs Brewery selections.   He also encourages tasting, offering a flight of 4 beers for just $4, knowing that once you find the beer you like, you’ll likely take home a growler.  He’s happy to fill any growler, or pick up one of theirs for just $5 plus the fill cost.  Speaking of costs, looking over his price list, this might just be the cheapest place in town to fill your growler. A growler of  Warped Wing Ermals was just $11, cheaper than you can get at the downtown brewery. The most expensive tap today was $16, which would get you a Troegs Mad Elf, Founders Breakfast Stout or Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale

Elshire  even sprung for The Pegas Pressure filler, that eliminates oxygen which allows for a 30-45 day shelf life of your growler.  It pours with no foam, no mess and superior taste!  The Pegas system uses the same operating principle found in large beer bottling factories around the world, counter-pressure method. This method ensures the bottles are filled in the way that only automatic fillers can provide – without foam and at a rate two liters in sixty seconds. Pegas CrafTap gives the user the ability to use a wide variation of bottle sizes and shapes, so they can serve different sizes and bottle styles to fit the individual need of each establishment. The video below is representative of the Pegas system:

Another advantage for the Shell station, it will fill your growlers day or night, including Sunday’s whenever it is legal to sell beers.  For the full list of what’s on tap, check their website or Facebook page. And if you’d like to gift the beer lover in your life with a fill or two, the Shell gift card will cover gas, beer and even a chicken dinner.

 

Beer To Go From Fifth Street Brewpub

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10553348_581791191949146_77431318628932955_nOn Wed, Oct 21st the Fifth Street Brewpub will add growlers to their menu.  These 64 ounce refillable bottles allow you to take home your favorite brews from the brewpub.  Cure-All Cream Ale, Icebreaker IPA, 85 Shilling Scottish Ale, and Jo Jo’s Midnight Stout will be available to go.  Pick up your own growler for just $5 and then you can fill it with your favorite beer to enjoy at home.  According to FSB fills will run about $17-$18 and members will receive a dollar off each fill.

According to the Beer Advocate, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, fresh beer was carried from the local pub to one’s home by means of a small-galvanized pail. Rumor has it that when the beer sloshed around the pail, it created a rumbling sound as the CO2 escaped through the lid, thus the term “growler” was coined.
Before World War II, city kids used to bring covered buckets of draft beer from a local bar or brewery to workers at lunchtime or to their parents at dinnertime, a practice called “rushing the growler.”

For more information on Growlers, check out this article by Jeff Heater, GM of the soon to be open  The Barrel House:

Growlers, maybe you’ve heard of ‘em?

And if you want to know where you can fill a growler in town, check out our list of over 30 places around town that will happily pour you some beer to go! Just note that you must always refrigerate growlers. Doing so will give them a shelf-life of 7-10 days, or around 2-3 days once opened – if you’re lucky.

Growlers, maybe you’ve heard of ‘em?

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Seems like months ago I was sitting around chatting growler editabout ‘things’ with a friend. She says I should write a piece about growlers. I say it’s been done and it’s old news. DMM has a list of all the local places that offer fills and such, what is there to write about? Then I notice thread after thread of rants and various local observations based on the perceived State Laws. In the mean time I got sucked into a swirling vortex at work and I am only now able to sit down and try to sort out, what I believe, may be the heart of the issue.
So today I belly up to the computer, and one Google search later I am at this article:
http://www.ohio.com/blogs/the-beer-blog/the-beer-blog-1.273124/breweries-growler-stations-confused-on-state-law-1.461460

While I follow the Ohio Beer Blog, due to my busy-ness, I haven’t been keeping up. Clearly! (Now I wonder if the patron at the brewery in this article may have spawned one of those threads on the Beer Geek page…?!)

It seems like the question of the year in the craft beer scene, especially with all the great local breweries popping up, Must i buy your growler to get your beer? The short answer is no. So here is my train of thought based on the question of where different interpretations of the law may be coming from.

[Full Disclaimer here: This is simply my opinion regarding what may be part of the miss-information.]
If you Google ‘growler law ohio’, you will find this:

Summary of House Bill 243
(Effective March 22, 2012)

Growlers For Carryout (D-8 permit) – Allows D-8 permit holders to fill and sell “growlers” of beer for carryout. A “growler” is a reusable glass container whose capacity does not exceed one gallon into which beer is dispensed.
• Products must be registered for sale in Ohio by the Division;
• The growler must be a glass container not to exceed one gallon;
• Containers must be cleaned and sanitized by the retailer immediately before it is filled;
• Containers must be sealed and transported according to Ohio’s open container laws.

This is the entire law…, in its entirety!
Nothing vague, nothing cleverly, obtusely worded.
Boom. Done.

Now, if you do a Google search for ‘refilling bottles ohio law’, one will find this:

4301:1-1-47 Ban on refilling bottles or selling brands not ordered.

(A) No retail permit holder authorized to sell alcoholic beverages by the glass or container for on-premises  consumption, or any agent or employee thereof, shall refill any bottle that formerly contained alcoholic beverages.  Manufacturers authorized to sell at retail for on-premises consumption may refill their own bottles in their  manufacturing process, in accordance with federal labeling requirements and local health department regulations.

(B) No permit holder, or any agent or employee thereof, shall sell or deliver to any consumer any brand or variety of alcoholic beverage other than that which was ordered or requested, without the consent or approval of the consumer.

(C) If a retail permit holder authorized to sell alcoholic beverages by the glass or container for on-premises consumption, or any agent or employee thereof, shall store or keep any premixed alcoholic beverage in any dispenser, must label the dispenser to show any brand of alcohol used in the premixed alcoholic beverage as well as the percentage of alcohol of each brand used in the premixed alcoholic beverage, except for containers of premixed alcoholic beverages sold by a manufacturer.

Effective: 01/24/2011
R.C. 119.032 review dates: 11/08/2010 and 01/01/2015
Promulgated Under: 119.03
Statutory Authority: 4301.03
Rule Amplifies: 4301.03 , 4301.68
Prior Effective Dates: 8/8/05

Clearly this is sooooo very much not the correct law. Right?! Considering this law has nothing whatsoever to do with growlers, or filling of such bottles, it makes me question if this could be part of the problem?
Maybe, just maybe, it’s a matter of who searched for what info…? If one simply grazes the verbiage here, they could walk away with the notion that their name has to be on the container. This is a large part of the entire argument. And frankly, one is in fact refilling a bottle.

Maybe it’s a huge stretch and I have no idea what I’m talking about…?
Yet, almost daily, there seems to be confusion over the laws and or restrictions of growler fills.
Sorry, check that. Law. Singular law.

Bottom line, any store can certainly establish their own policies. Such polices should be stated clearly and publicly. This will help avoid any issues of employees miss-communicating the facts and/or store policy (which is another recurring rant on a particular social media platform) Yes, it’s an additional sale for the store. No, it’s not a high profit item. An argument could be made by the retailer regarding sanitation. This is one of two things covered in the law! If you bring your bottle in, the store should, by law, clean it. Yellow Springs Brewery does this with a quick swirl of Star San, and boom, you’re in and out without question.

Personally, I look at as a marketing point. Getting your brand/logo out there is extremely important. I have a small collection of them. If I visit a brewery, I want one (hopefully with beer! although that isn’t always possible).
When I take a growler in to be filled I give it the ol’ sniff test before I even leave the house. I also typically do not take in the cap, to insure that I get a fresh new one. I keep a bottle in my truck, and one in my wife’s car at all times. You know, just in case.
I have seen stores that urge you to take pictures with their bottle out and about. Asking you to post your pictures, not only helps promote their brand, but it is relatively painless.
And let’s be honest, you were gonna do it anyway…, right?
I have jokingly said that at my store, if you are a tourist, you have to buy my bottle. If you are local, it’s not an issue. I say this in jest because what are the odds that someone is traveling with a bottle?

These days, those odds get less and less.
Which is a good thing! Good for the sake of craft beer lovers everywhere.

Here is a link to the DMM list of growler locations:                                                                                                      http://mostmetro.com/dmmcalendar2/events/index.php?com=venues&c=228

The Barrel House – Coming Soon To Third And Wayne

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BarrelHouse

The future home of The Barrel House

There’s been a bit of a buzz starting downtown about what’s going on behind the stark exterior wall at 417 E. Third Street. It’s a building you barely take note of, being attached to the long beige, stucco expanse of the KK building. A storefront that once existed, has been completely stucco’d over and painted gray, just sitting there waiting, right across the street from the old Wympee Diner on Third… another building that just a couple years ago, looked just as abandoned and neglected.

Kimberly Collett had a vision for what that old greasy, empty diner could be and we followed her through eight months of gutting and remodeling before she finally opened Olive, an urban dive, inside it, leaving the exterior exactly as it’s been since 1938. Olive is just over a year and a half into their stride and it just keeps getting better… from the quality of the dishes, to the size of their following. And one day, in a flash of inspiration, while standing in a shop in South Carolina, Kimberly had an idea for the building just across the street, that has stood empty, for the last ten years.  For the last seven months she’s been honing the concept, working with the city and the building’s owner, Mike Wenzler, to pave the way for The Barrel House.  But knowing she had her hands full with Olive and her construction company, Dayton Tradesource,  she had to bring in someone else to  partner and manage this new idea and asked her cousin, Jeff Heater, a craft beer enthusiast, to come home from Maine and lead the charge.

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Jeff signing the lease for the space.

They describe The Barrel House as, “a coffee shop for beer, no coffee… just beer”, though it’s really much more. Once complete, you’ll enter the new storefront and be immediately greeted by a ‘coffee shop feeling’ lounge, with deep couches and vintage furniture. As you move further in, the space transitions into a retail shop filled with shelves and custom displays of bottled beer and wine, there’s also space for local art, beer and wine related locally made gifts, party supplies, chips, salsas, and hot sauces. Then there’s the centerpiece on the back wall, 15-20 taps for popular and eclectic, craft micro-brews from around the world, that you can carry-out in growlers.

Originally, The Barrel House was just going to be a carry-out and community area, but with no carry-out beer licenses left downtown, The Barrel House will be applying for a full restaurant liquor license, marrying the two businesses together in a symbiotic relationship, where Olive will supply the food portion of light fare and desserts and The Barrel House will be an overflow and waiting space for Olive guests, as well as an old world style, community pub, where you can meet friends for a carry-out lunch from Olive, hold a client meeting over a pint of beer, or just sit in the sunbeams streaming through the windows with a good book and a glass of wine. There will be tastings, gathering events, and collaborations, with as many local vendors as possible

barrel house

Early demolition stage of the space

If all goes well, Heater hopes to open The Barrel House in sync with patio season, but having just been through this two years ago, Kimberly smiles as she looks at Jeff and says, ‘I’ve learned not to say when and Jeff watched everything I went through with Olive, so…” and Jeff finishes the sentence with, “we’ll see!”

In talking with Jeff, it’s easy to hear the enthusiasm in his voice.  He’s been working on site,  doing the demolition, tearing down drywall and plaster down to reveal brick.  He’s found three different electrical panels that reveal some of the history of the building, i.e. labels for a jukebox and bar in one and in another bar lights and a back bar.    While tearing out some old shelving he even found a phone number for Heidelberg Distributing written on the wall.  So while not the first bar that will inhabit this space, this rendition won’t be your average neighborhood bar either.  Heater is looking forward to sharing his love of craft beer and expand the palate of his guests.

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The most up-to-date picture of the building of The Barrel House

Jeff’s excitement when talking about Ohio beers is contagious.  His knowledge of the Ohio beer scene was honed while spending 9 years living in Columbus and  he is looking forward to being able to showcase some of the specialty brews from places like the Columbus Brewing Company  and even some Cleveland breweries.  There are still a lot of hoops to jump through, but soon enough, Jeff will be inviting us to grab a seat on the couch, dial up the wifi, sample a Saison (his favorite beer style) and become part of the casual, comfy community he and Kimberly hope to create on their little corner of Third and Wayne.

While you’re waiting for them to open be sure and like their Facebook page so you can watch the progress of the construction and be in the know for their opening plans.

Arrow Wine Centerville Adds Growlers

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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.

 

 

Introducing The Growler Co-Op!

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growlerBlind Bobʼs, South Park Tavern, Thai 9 and the Trolley Stop have joined forces to offer to-go growlers. All four locations are known as places to get great draft beers, now you can take home some of these draft beers.

How It Works:
Purchase an empty 1/2 gallon growler from any of the four locations for $10. Have it filled with draft beer at any of the four locations. Price for filling growlers will vary depending on the price of the beer itself. The cost will be anywhere from $12 to $30.  While youʼre there enjoy a pint or two of great beer. Take home the full growler, enjoy and repeat. Bring your empty growler back in for a refill at any of the four establishments.

The four members of the co-op try to not have the same beers pouring at the same time so you can get the best variety. All together there are 38 drafts in the co-op. Some beers will not be offered for carry-out because they are limited releases. As an example, Thai 9 has one of four 1/6 barrels of New Holland Brewingʼs Envious in the state, this will be sold at the restaurant only. Each member of the co-op has the choice of what is available for carry-out.