Beer growlers

[Action City]

Does a label have to be covered? The law in my state only mentions “containers” that can be sealed and any label of another company made not visible. Some people even scrape off the silk screened labels, although that will mean the brewery that sold it might not accept it for fills if they have a policy that they only fill their own.

I think a lot of breweries are just buying bulk medicine/chemical bottles like that one from Fieldwork.

No. The growler we have doesn't have a paper label.

 

[bcla]

Most other states we have filled growlers don't require any covering, they will fill pretty much any growler (some have size limits and will only fill smaller ones though), so we were just surprised that we would have that extra step to cover the label in CA, and obviously didn't have any tape with us that first time. Yes, we have been to a couple of the Fieldwork taprooms and really enjoy them, I think I have a couple cans left in my refrigerator from the last time we stopped!

I heard Fieldwork has some of the highest costs in the industry. Canning is also rather expensive unless it's done on a massive scale, but they do it because it's supposed to be the best at protecting the beer. I've heard they can only afford to operate with margins from direct and keg sales. One owner said that nobody would be interested in buying them out because their costs are just way too high to justify selling to resellers that will take a cut.

 

[tvguy]

I've a 32 oz swing-top long-neck growler from Sierra Nevada and have filled it several times. Under California law, any place licensed to fill growlers can do so as long as any label/logo of another brewery is covered up. I heard painters tape works the best, and I got a roll at Dollar Tree. There is no obligation though to fill a container from another brewery. Russian River Brewing in Santa Rosa, California will apparently fill a growler that's blank (some people scrape off the labels), but won't even fill one covered with tape. Mine is like this, but an older, plainer design:

I tried bringing my 32 oz growler to a local place (Fieldwork Brewing in Berkeley) and they looked at it for a while. After taking it to a tap I was handed it back saying that it didn't fit. They use a plastic tube attached to the tap and I guess they tried. I'm surprised they didn't say no right away since I can't be the first customer to bring one in. However, I was just given one of their glass growlers that look like a large medicine bottle (the one on the right in this photo). They also have a "crowler" which is a 32 oz can that's sealed on site using a special rig. I'm kind of surprised they didn't just give me one of those instead of the glass.

I asked for something that tastes "piney" since my wife likes Pliny the Elder from Russian River Brewing. They had something called "Tactical Hatchet" which is a kind of a heavy IPA (7.7% but not quite a double IPA) that is somewhat similar.

https://fieldworkbrewing.com/our-beer/tactical-hatchet-2/

My son is heavy into home brewing and craft beers. The law changed on January 1, 2014. You no longer have to cover up or scrape off another breweries label to have your growler filled at another brewery.

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140AB647

https://www.californiacraftbeer.com/growlers-qa/

 

[bcla]

No. The growler we have doesn't have a paper label.

Sorry about the confusion. None have paper labels; most are silk screened to the bottle. I was mentioning that to conform to California law requiring that any other brand/logo on a container be obscured, some people use paper taped over the label. It's kind of stupid, but it is what it is.

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=BPC&sectionNum=25201.
25201.
(a) A manufacturer, importer, or wholesaler of beer shall not use a container or carton as a package or container of a beer other than the beer as is manufactured by the manufacturer whose name or brand of beer appears upon the container or carton, or use as a package or container of a beer a container or carton which bears the name of a manufacturer of beer or the brand of any beer other than those of the manufacturer of the beer contained in the container or carton.

(b) A beer manufacturer that refills any container supplied by a consumer shall affix a label that complies with this section on the container prior to its resale to the consumer. Any information concerning any beer previously packaged in the container, including, but not limited to, information regarding the manufacturer and bottler of the beer, or any associated brands or trademarks, shall be removed or completely obscured in a manner not readily removable by the consumer prior to the resale of the container to the consumer. This subdivision does not authorize a beer manufacturer to refill a container supplied by a consumer with a capacity of five liquid gallons or more.
​

Bear Republic covers it with black cellophane.

 

[bcla]

My son is heavy into home brewing and craft beers. The law changed on January 1, 2014. You no longer have to cover up or scrape off another breweries label to have your growler filled at another brewery.

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140AB647

https://www.californiacraftbeer.com/growlers-qa/

I think it still needs to be covered, and AB 647 (from 2013) was superceded by AB 893 (from 2015).

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB893

Confusing as heck. I don't think AB 893 did that much other than rearrange the order. This was in the link you provided:

Just like a bottle of beer, all growlers must have an affixed label that has been approved by the ABC and meets all of the state’s labeling requirements. The container must also be sealable (screw top, cork, flip top, etc.) to distinguish it from a glass of beer or other open container. And most notably, any and all information pertaining to another beer manufacturer other than the one filling and selling the container must be removed or obscured. This last requirement is sometimes difficult to accomplish. When a consumer brings an empty growler that was previously filled and labeled by Brewery A into Brewery B to be refilled, Brewery B must completely remove or obscure any and all information from Brewery A. No easy task. This can be time-consuming for a bartender at a busy tasting room. It can also be very difficult to obscure etched or painted labels. Thus, brewers may not be able to comply with label requirements of refilling certain growlers.​

 

[tvguy]

I think it still needs to be covered, and AB 647 (from 2013) was superceded by AB 893 (from 2015).

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB893

Confusing as heck. I don't think AB 893 did that much other than rearrange the order. This was in the link you provided:

Just like a bottle of beer, all growlers must have an affixed label that has been approved by the ABC and meets all of the state’s labeling requirements. The container must also be sealable (screw top, cork, flip top, etc.) to distinguish it from a glass of beer or other open container. And most notably, any and all information pertaining to another beer manufacturer other than the one filling and selling the container must be removed or obscured. This last requirement is sometimes difficult to accomplish. When a consumer brings an empty growler that was previously filled and labeled by Brewery A into Brewery B to be refilled, Brewery B must completely remove or obscure any and all information from Brewery A. No easy task. This can be time-consuming for a bartender at a busy tasting room. It can also be very difficult to obscure etched or painted labels. Thus, brewers may not be able to comply with label requirements of refilling certain growlers.​

My son says that is not how the Sacramento area brewers are doing it. So I guess they could be breaking the law.

 

[bcla]

My son says that is not how the Sacramento area brewers are doing it. So I guess they could be breaking the law.

Wouldn't surprise me. However, the places I've been to are completely freaked out about the possibility of getting in trouble with the Alcoholic Beverage Commission.

 

[gillep]

My son says that is not how the Sacramento area brewers are doing it. So I guess they could be breaking the law.

None of the breweries that I have been to in CA will fill another establishment's growler without going through the steps outlined by @bcla above, although I admit I have never been as far North as Sacramento, all the breweries we have been to are somewhere between Big Sur and Napa.

 

[bcla]

None of the breweries that I have been to in CA will fill another establishment's growler without going through the steps outlined by @bcla above, although I admit I have never been as far North as Sacramento, all the breweries we have been to are somewhere between Big Sur and Napa.

I just went to the Sierra Nevada Torpedo Room yesterday and apparently they changed their policy on filling other growlers. I wouldn't have noticed since I always brought one I got there. However, yesterday it was taped up for use somewhere else. However, if it's not a Palla 32/64 oz growler with a swing-top, I don't think they'll use their special filling machine like this one.

Before they would only use this type of machine with their 64 oz. 32 oz would be filled from the regular tap. Later I was told they calibrated it to fill their 32 oz growlers. I think anything different still needs to be filled from the regular tap.

And of course if they don't do it by the book (make sure the label is covered) they risk getting in trouble with California ABC.

 

[KarenB]

Oh I love Fieldwork!

 

[bcla]

Oh I love Fieldwork!

I didn't know that much about it, although I'd driven by many times. There was a local soccer field where my kid was at a camp.

The one thing I heard was that they got in trouble for calling one of their beers a "Vermont farmstead ale" because it was made in that style.

https://www.sfgate.com/test-5-5-201...ermont-Farmhouse-Ale-sparks-feud-11017758.php
https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com...play-vermont-beer-pops-up-out-state/99252424/

 

[spacemountainmom]

Minnesota is way uptight about growlers. You can only fill where you bought. They’d never allow the tape over thing.

I wish I’d researched before I bought a nice, expensive growler at a brewery three hours from home. I was so ticked off that no one explained this when I made the purchase.

I later discovered that our neighbor to the east is much looser with growlers. Lucky for me, I live about 10 minutes from the border and a great liquor store that is more than happy to fill my growler.