You want to support local businesses, be environmentally friendly and enjoy the best craft beer your town has to offer in the comfort of your own home?
The growler is the way to go.
The 64-ounce glass jug is used to take fresh beer home from the local brewpub or beer bar. The growler phenomenon even has a cool, kind-of-Idaho connection, as the modern version was invented by Charlie Otto, who founded Grand Teton Brewing in Victor in 1998.
Back in 1988, the brewery was known as Otto Brothers Brewing and was in Wilson, Wyo. They didn’t have a brewpub yet, and Charlie Otto wanted people who got a pint of GT in a bar to be able to enjoy one at home. The story goes that Charlie’s dad told him about the small metal pails full of beer people used to take home from the tavern way back in the day, called growlers. The metal lids used to “growl” as carbon dioxide escaped from inside.
So Charlie got the idea to swap the metal pail for a half-gallon glass cider jug, and the modern growler was born.
Now they are so popular, Grand Teton folks estimate that the use of growlers nationwide keeps millions of bottles and cans out of the trash every year, as they drastically reduce waste, production and packaging costs.
There are limitations to the growler. Once you open one, you need to drink it in about two days. Otherwise, the beer will start to go flat. If filled correctly (translation: all the way to the top, to keep air out), you have about a week to 10 days to open it up. Once that happens, drink up.
A 64-ounce growler has four pints. That’s a good size to share with someone over a meal or drink over a few days. You want to be the hero of the next party you go to? Stroll in with a growler of Sockeye’s Dagger Falls or Highlands Hollow Fiegwild. That’s how to win friends and influence people.
I love growlers, as I tend to drink my beer at home. They allow me to drink local, which is a big deal in our town, which has no hometown brew in a bottle. There is no better Friday treat for me than getting a growler of Payette Brewing Outlaw IPA to imbibe over the weekend.
The Ram, TableRock Brewpub, Highlands Hollow, Sockeye and Payette Brewing all do growlers. The glass growler jugs cost around $5, and fill-ups are usually around $10 to $15, depending on the beer
It’s not just local, either. With the rise of kick-ass beer stores like Brewforia in Meridian, Brewers Haven on Vista Avenue and Bier: Thirty in Bown Crossing, you can get fresh growler fills of all kinds of interesting craft beers from all over the United States that you can’t get any other way.
Your favorite beer bar might also fill growlers. For instance, Bittercreek Alehouse will do some, depending on the brew and how much they have.
The beer might not be local, but the business is. Those stores almost always have something totally local on tap, along with a selection of other cool stuff.
Rick Boyd, the owner of Brewforia, has just introduced 32-ounce growlers into the market. This is a really cool idea, as it can be hard to drink an entire 64-ounce growler over a few days once they are opened.
For instance, Brewforia recently had the Stone 15th Anniversary beer on tap, an imperial black ale that was predictably fantastic but also super strong. It might be hard to drink a full growler of that beer (or something like the Deschutes’ Abyss) in one or two sittings. A 32-ounce growler, however, is perfect.
Boyd got 300 of the smaller growlers in December, and they are already sold out. He expects to get a new batch this month.
“Growlers are huge right now, especially with our local breweries not bottling,” Boyd said.
“We knew the smaller growlers would be popular, but I was shocked how fast they went,” he said. “They are also very popular with homebrewers, because they are a good size for sharing.”
Patrick Orr: 377-6219
Patrick Orr’s beer column runs the first Friday of the month.
