What is a Growler

Here are a few tips on some of the benefits and how you can promote and sell draft beer in Growlers to your customers, whether for consumption in-house, table service, takeaways, click & collect or home deliveries.

THE BENEFITS OF USING GROWLERS
First and foremost our Glass Growlers are sustainable, refillable and 100% recyclable, making them the Number 1 choice as a reusable container for dispensing and transporting take-away draft, keg & cask beers & lagers.
Unlike plastic packaging, glass is made entirely from natural materials and contains no chemical additives. Glass is arguably better for the environment and one of the most eco-friendly forms of packaging. Glass is also inert so there is no risk of migration from the container into your product.
Selling beer in cans or bottles or mini kegs, which are not refillable, will likely end up in the household recycling bin after use or even worse, on a landfill site and therefore not so friendly to the environment.
Using our screw top or swing top amber glass Growlers as a take-away container, rather than glass milk bottles or beer cartons will, in our opinion, help to better seal the beer to preserve the taste, freshness and aroma and to maintain any carbonation in the beer.

All our glass Growlers are fully tested pressurised containers and therefore suitable for filling with carbonated beers.

The Amber colour of the glass Growler will help protect the beer from what is often referred to as “Skunking,” a natural deterioration of the quality and flavour of the beer caused by excessive exposure to UV light.

Our range of Growlers are easy to pour and easy to carry. They variously come with glass side handles, metal side handles or metal carry handles on top. Once sealed, this makes them easy for your customers to carry home, a journey in the car or for you to make doorstep deliveries.

You can accessorise the Growler for takeaways or table service in-house by attaching, selling or hiring one of our re-usable “Craft & Draft” universal beer pumps. Designed in anodised alloy (no plastic, no aluminium), with a thermal sleeve to chill the beer from beginning to end, the pump generates moderate pressure inside the Growler, making the beer flow through a stainless steel pipe into a serving glass.

WHAT GROWLER SHOULD YOU CHOOSE
The first decision you need to make is the shape & volume of Growler that would best suit your business and your customers drinking experience.
The traditional 64 oz (1.89 litres/3.33 pints) and 32 oz (0.945 Litres/1.66 pints) are manufactured in the US. They both come with black plastic screw tops (black or white enamel options also available) and one or two finger glass side carry handles.

The remaining styles of Growler are manufactured in Europe and come with swing top closures with glass or metal side handles or carry handles on the top in volumes of 1, 2 & 3 Litres.

The 1 litre Classic Growler comes with removable swing-top closures and glass side handle. The 1 & 2 Litre Flask Growler comes with a removable swing-top and metal carry handle. The 2 litre Premium Tomahawk and 2 & 3 Litre Zeus Growlers come with swing-tops and handles ready assembled.

FILLING THE GROWLER
For general use and good results we suggest that once the Growler is cleaned and sanitised, you chill the Growler first in a fridge and slow down the normal flow speed. A Growler chilled and filled slowly will reduce foaming and therefore help keep the flavour and any carbonation in the beer.

For better results you can purge the Growler first with Co2 to remove any oxygen content inside which will again help preserve flavour in the beer.
You can also fill from the bottom up using a Growler filling tube or your own length of flexible plastic hose. Attach one end to the bar tap and the other down into the bottom of the Growler. Filling the Growler this way is more controlled, will reduce Co2 and help preserve flavour.

As a manual fill, you also have the option of pulling the beer first from your hand pump or beer tap into one of our 2, 3 & 4 pint measuring jugs and then pouring directly into the Growler or through a filling tube.

ALWAYS only fill the Growler to the embossed filling line, otherwise leave at least 5-10% headspace to the recommended maximum volume.
The concept of storing beer in a Growler is very much a take away and drink proposition. Once the Growler is filled and sealed, it is recommended the beer is consumed within 24 - 48 hours.

By incorporating a counter pressure filling line system like the ‘Silexa,’ will not only ensure the growler is filled in a protective cleansing environment but also help to extend the shelf life of the beer once the Growler has been sealed. If purged, cleansed and sealed properly, according to the suppliers, a Growler counter pressure filled should remain fresh as it would in any bottle for up to 2 weeks.

STORAGE & CLEANING THE GROWLERS & EQUIPMENT
Cleaning & sterilisation of the Growlers, as well as your own equipment, is obviously of paramount importance.

The Growlers are factory clean, but we always recommend they are thoroughly rinsed including any cap in cold water and air dried before filling.

The best practice should be to clean the Growler and the cap before and after use with warm soapy water, rinse well and air dry before refilling.
Whether you sell the Growler to your customer or take a returnable deposit we ALWAYS recommend you take responsibility for sanitising the Growler.
You may consider it more prudent to exchange returned, empty Growlers with clean pre-filled ones. In that way you can ensure your own sanitising protocols are maintained for the health and safety of your customers and overall drinking experience.

If you expect your customer to be responsible for cleaning it before returning it for refilling, you should be careful to explain how and the importance of doing this not only for obvious health and safety reasons, as well as proper cleaning which will also affect the taste, aroma and freshness of the beer.
If you are using a counter pressure filling system you will certainly ALWAYS want to exchange the Growler for a fresh one, so as to ensure your equipment is not contaminated. You must also follow the suppliers instructions on the frequency and method for sanitising the machine and filling equipment.
If you are pre filling the Growler to order, you may want to store it chilled in a fridge, if you have the space, until you can deliver it to your customer. Otherwise, always store an empty Growler in a cool darkened protective space on a shelf or in a cupboard or back inside the box it came in, preferably with the lid removed or stopper open. For home deliveries, where you may be leaving the Growler on a doorstep, always ensure it is out of direct sunlight and not likely to warm up or freeze.

ALWAYS remember that excessive warming up or freezing will not only compromise the integrity of the beer BUT ALSO over pressurise the beer in the container and risk causing the glass to shatter.

HOW TO MARKET OR SELL GROWLERS TO YOUR OWN CUSTOMERS
There are a number of choices.
Some businesses choose to sell Growlers to their customers from the start filled with beer for a set price.

Others choose to hire the Growler and take a returnable deposit.

You can offer take away or home/doorstop exchange & deliveries.
Why not start a subscription based Club for your customers. This can be weekly, monthly or longer periods so they can take advantage of special offers for take aways or home delivery services of their favourite beers and feel part of a fun exclusive community.

You might also want to combine take away beer with cooked meals.
Whatever way you choose to offer the Growlers to your customers be sure to have clear proper cleaning and sanitising protocols in place.
HOW TO BRAND THE GROWLER FOR YOUR BUSINESS

The majority of our new customers will start with non-printed Growlers.

There may come a time when you may want to start branding them with your business logo. We can do that for you.
We offer a full bottle decoration service by traditional screen printing in ceramic inks to your own design. Ceramic inks are high temperature fired, making the inks more robust and durable enough for continuous use and to withstand multiple dishwasher cycles.

We can print on ALL our Screw top and Swing top Growlers EXCEPT the Premium Tomahawk or Zeus Growlers. These premium Growlers come with ceramic swing tops and rubbers already assembled, which makes them unsuitable for passing through high temperature curing ovens.
The cost of printing depends on the number of colours in the design and the quantity to be printed at one time. We offer a full bespoke service for large quantities, as well as an affordable flat rate charge for smaller print runs in 1 block colour of up to 500 units or less.

Having chosen the Growler for your business and having decided you want it branded, we will send you a print drawing for your designer to illustrate the required position of the logo design onto the label area of the bottle. We will also ask you to provide the artwork in Adobe illustrator vector file format. From the approved artwork we will be able to create the bespoke print screen(s) and schedule the print production.

AFFILIATED SERVICE
If you are a brewer or pub chain owner, speak to us about different options for you to have Growlers branded with your logo and advertised to your own customers for sale on our website.

OTHER HELP FOR YOUR BUSINESS
For our customers who do not have enough storage capacity at their own premises, we offer a print, storage and draw down service.
We are more than happy to discuss your requirements and how you might achieve your objectives using Growlers in the take-away side of your business.