Are Growlers Good for Georgia?

Short Answer: Yes and No.

Long Answer: Well here goes nothing....

I was first introduced to the idea of a growler of beer while traveling around for work to other states that allow breweries to sell beer directly to the consumer. The growler allows a small brewery to sell beer to go without having to invest in a bottling line.  It allows their customers to take the beer they can get at the tap-room or local bar home and then return the growler to have it re-filled.  See here in Georgia we have a set of laws that require any brewery to have to go through a distributor in order to sell there product. No beer to go at the brewery, no on site tap room where the brewery could sell pints and thus no growlers filled on site. Wineries in the state do not have the same problem, they are more than welcome to sell their wine direct to anyone that shows up, they can also sell their wine by the glass. Hmmm. 

So, say I want to start a brewery (actually I really do want to start one sometime), in which state is it going to be easier for me to get started?

State 1: A state where I can find a small space to build the brew-house, put in a small bar area up front, sell pints/growlers/kegs direct to customers who stop by off the street (and thus be able to experiment with very small batch brews and allow my loyal customers to try them before going large production) and be able to self distribute my beer to several local bars/grocery stores/liquor stores.

State 2: Find a small space to build a brew-house, beg and plead with beer wholesalers to pick up my product and sell it to a bar or liquor store.

Ok, so the situation in Georgia may not be that dire. More and more craft breweries are starting to pop up. Red Hare, Monday Night, Wild Heaven and Jailhouse are a few of the brave companies that have decided to give the craft brewing thing a try here in the peach state. But this 3 tier system (Brewer ---> Wholesaler ---> Retailer) does have something to do with the stunted growth of breweries here. Heck, there are about 10 breweries in Asheville, NC. Population of Asheville? 83,393. Breweries (Just counting Breweries and not Brew Pubs) in Atlanta: 6, population: 5 Million +. Gee wonder why that is?

So what does this have to do with the new growler fad in Atlanta?  Well I think some local businesses realized that with the booming craft beer market the idea of beer in a growler was some how cooler or better than beer in a bottle.  Well it is neat to be able to use some of the old growlers I have sitting in my basement but for the most part it just doesn't make much sense here in Georgia.  A certain store that just sells growlers just popped up near where I live, looking at their "Menu" shows they have 40 beers on "tap".  Of these there are only three that I could not otherwise get in a 6 pack.  So I can pay roughly $12 for a growler of Sweetwater IPA or about $8 for a 6 pack.  Huh?  Why buy the growler for more when it has less beer!!  Now, I would understand buying a growler of one of the local brews that you can't get other wise but why buy any of the other ones?  It's not like the keg that growler is filled from is brewery fresh.  I think some of the craft beer heads here in Georgia are getting a bit taken advantage of by these new Growler Filler Stores.  Heck I bought a growler of Great Divide Smoked Baltic Porter at the brewery for $8, and that included the growler!

I don't know what my readers opinions may be, and yes it is good that more and more people may get exposed by buying a growler of a new microbrew that they have not heard of.  Even so, I hope that those same people will some day find themselves in another more brewery friendly state and learn what the real advantage of buying beer by the growler really is!

As always, Happy Drinking!!