Saturday, March 9, 2013

AleSmith Growler Policy

AleSmith Brewing Company announced a new growler policy in an email yesterday.  Here is the policy from the email:

Recently, the ABC (Alcohol Beverage Control) clarified to breweries in California their approved laws on filling growlers.  With the recent clarification, AleSmith has been hard at work on creating a tag that will satisfy the requirements and allow us to begin filling blank growlers in the AleSmith tasting room.  We have submitted a tag for approval and as soon as we receive the appropriate approval, we will be filling blank 32 & 64 oz growlers of our ten year round beers. 

For the time being, we will only be filling blank growlers (no other company markings) and it will only be with our ten year round beers.  Look for these changes to take effect within the next sixty days. 

We will post to both our Facebook and Twitter as soon as we're approved to start filling the blank growlers.  Additionally, we will still be selling AleSmith logo growlers and filling them with all of our beers that are available for growler fill. 
I appreciate the move, but who owns a blank growler?  I don't want to buy or store another growler.   A label covering sticker for any growler is a better idea.  Local breweries need to collaborate on a San Diego County-wide policy that covers all breweries.  This would benefit breweries and beer drinkers.  Trying to remember a brewery's sticker policy before you go fill a growler is insane. 

(I want to use Societe Brewing's steel growler at other breweries. It's a cool design that takes up less space than glass growlers.  But, I think I may have an old Ballast Point growler that just has a sticker label rather than an etched label.  I need to try and fit it, and remove the sticker.)