Growlers Burst onto Eugene’s Beverage Scene

Growler Guys’ manager, Dolly Haney, discusses beers with customer, Dennis Pickett. With a vast variety of beers offered, Haney says she’s used to answering questions all day about the beverages on draft.

Early in 2012, Growler Guys burst onto the craft beer scene as the first growler fill station of its kind in Oregon. Not only was the business the first draft beer dispensary to operate out of a small gas station in Bend, it was also the first non-brewery to sell and fill growlers in the whole Northwest, according to Growler Guys manager, Dolly Haney.

Haney has been with the company for two years and has seen business expand from its humble beginning as a solo storefront, into a popular beer business chain with four locations in the Northwest. She says working for certified Beer Stewards, Kent and Kizer Couch, has been one of the best experiences of her life. The company fills a niche that was missing from the region until several years ago. At Growler Guys, customers are able- and encouraged- to sample craft beers, ciders, sangria, and kombucha. The Eugene location alone offers carbonated beverages on draft from 60 different taps.

    “It’s not bottled; it’s fresh craft beer. I dare you to grab a Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar in a bottle, then drink off the draft– [it’s a] completely different taste,” said Haney.

With mass distributed, bottled beer, the customer gets three times the carbonation compared to buying beer on draft and taking it home in a growler, according to Haney.

    “For a long time I drank Hop Stoopid from a bottle, then I tried it on draft [at Growler Guys], and hands down, it was three times better on tap,” said customer, Garrett Chunn.

Do to the rising popularity of purchasing growlers, the number of locations offering to fill the beer containers has skyrocketed. Six new businesses in the Eugene area specifically listed as growler stations have opened in the last year. Breweries have long sold growlers of craft beer, but now many restaurants are catching on to this manner of dispensing beer and are doing the same.

The beer menu at The Tap and Growler.

The Tap and Growler is another new growler business, located across from the Fifth St. Market in Eugene, and according to Colby Phillips, part owner, the growler trend first made its appearance on the East coast. Haney also said that her bosses first heard about selling growlers several years ago while at a convention for convenience store owners located on the East coast, which prompted them to conceive the idea for the Growler Guys business. While Phillips has just recently started his growler station, about two and a half months ago, he said his inspiration came from the increasingly popular trend along with his passion for beer, wine, and home brewing.

    “People in Eugene are very concerned with sustainability and sourcing food locally, so that’s where the idea came from to start a taproom offering growlers. You can reuse them, which cuts down on packaging waste, and we also try to keep our food menu as sustainable as possible,” Phillips said.

The Tap and Growler offers an assortment of menu items, using local meats and cheeses, but Phillips says that his main focus is the 70 rotating taps that the restaurant offers. The Tap has 40 beers on draft, 20 different wines, and 10 taps that are undetermined and will vary.

Growler Guys also offers food, however that is not what the business has built its reputation on.

    “People come in here specifically to buy growlers,” Haney said, “whether they’re taking them home, to a party, or to tailgate with- we offer food, but that’s not what they’re coming in for.”

    “I never even noticed they served food here. I had some homework to do so I stopped in to grab some beer, and I’ve been coming here ever since,” added Chunn.

According to Haney, the owners initially considered opening up a business in Eugene because of the large college student population, however, Haney says that the majority of customers are women ages 35-55. Growler Guys hasn’t initially been quite as popular amongst the younger male audience, but that hasn’t stopped a wide variety of people from all different backgrounds and ages from walking in to purchase a growler to go.

Many more restaurants in the area offering to fill growlers for their diners, but Haney doesn’t believe that the sales of growlers at local eateries and breweries will threaten business. Breweries have offered growlers to customers long before there were growler stations; they work in conjunction with growler-centric businesses because keg sales increase with alcohol distribution to fill stations, like Growler Guys. Haney adds that the rising number of restaurants selling growlers shouldn’t heavily impact business because it’s an entirely different concept.

    “If people want to have a gourmet dinner and fill up their growler, [then] more power to them,” said Haney, “but you come to a growler fill station for sampling beer and making sure you take the right one home with you.”

Growler businesses intend to bring a palate pleasing experience to the taste buds of beer and wine enthusiasts from coast to coast. Growlers have not only helped cultivate an appreciation for craft beverages, but they do it with an environmentally friendly emphasis, which have found a comfortable niche in the Northwest, and especially in Eugene.

Deschutes 64 oz flip-top growlers with brewery glasses on display at Growler Guys.

Collegiate stainless steel growlers, or flasks, on display at Growler Guys

What is a Growler?

Growlers are portable containers used to transport beverages from breweries, or taphouses, to the homes of patrons. Although the majority of locations with growler fill services mostly offer varieties of craft beer, it’s also common to have kombucha, mead, cider, sangria, and/or sometimes wine available on tap. The refillable jugs are typically glass with a dark amber color, or are sometimes clear, but other glowler materials include: plastic PET, stainless steel, and ceramic. Most glass growlers are equipped with a small handle next to the opening at the top of the container just large enough to hook a finger through. The bottles are usually sealed with a twist cap, though some have a flip-top closure tightened with a metal lever, however, in terms of retaining the beverage’s carbonation, either cap will do the job. Most vendors offer the growler bottles in a 64 oz size, along with the 32 oz “mini” size, and in some cases, they have the hefty one gallon growler option. The bottles range in price, but the typical 64 oz amber glass growler retails for about $6.

Many breweries that sell growlers have their business’s logo or artwork screenprinted onto the bottles. Customers can purchase a jug specific to their liking and keep it at home until they are ready to fill it with their beverage of choice. Although breweries often make custom bottles, businesses will fill growlers for customers regardless of the bottle’s label so that patrons aren’t limited to purchasing beer from that specific brewery. Growlers keep drinks fresh for up to about a week, and once opened, thirsty customers can enjoy their carbonated beverages for 2-3 days before the quality begins to diminish. The price for craft beers, wines, and kombucha varies greatly, though in the Eugene area, the price to fill a 64 oz growler (excluding the initial cost of the bottle) is normally in the $8-20 range.