Beer Guy

by Peter Bailey

“Rushing the growler” sounds like something for which a football ref might call a penalty. But no, it’s a good thing: bringing beer back from the bar in a largish container called a growler.

Back in the day (the 1800s through mid-1900s) when dad asked you to go get a beer, he didn’t mean the fridge. He meant grab a pail, head to the pub and don’t spill a drop on the way home. The hissing sound the beer made as it escaped the pail’s lid sounded like growling, apparently, hence the term growler. Prohibition put a stop to growlers, and later beer bottles and cans took their place.

The advent of brewpubs and craft breweries has meant a rebirth in growlers. Today’s growler is most commonly a 1.89 litre (half a U.S. gallon) or 1 litre brown glass bottle with screw top or stopper. One fills them at brewpubs, breweries or beer stores, and the beer lasts two days to a week or so, depending on the system used. The best system is a counter-pressure filling method that removes oxygen from the growler before the beer goes in. This most closely resembles actual bottling, allowing the beer to last for much longer in the growler versus the one or two days for a growler filled from the tap and capped.

Growlers are a boon for small breweries, especially start-ups. A bottling or canning line is a big expense, and growlers can ease a brewery’s way into the retail market. Hog’s Head, Edmonton’s newest brewery, started off with growlers before moving to standard size bottles. Brewmaster Bruce Sample told me he likes the flexibility of growlers, giving him an outlet for his out-there experiments like a rumoured triple imperial milk stout. Hog’s Head’s new tap room at the St. Albert brewery has 15 taps, all ready for growler filling.

In beery B.C., growlers are hot. On Vancouver’s hipsterific Main Street, former Albertan Conrad Gmoser is brewmaster at tiny Brassneck Brewery. No bottles, no kegs – just growlers. Brassneck says: “it’s not ‘cause we’re precious, or because we’re trying to be fuss pots. It’s so we can have as many options as possible for those who make the journey to Main & 6th.”

Not everyone is riding the growler bandwagon. Brooklyn Brewery’s brewmaster Garrett Oliver is not a fan, noting that growler beer can be the “equivalent of a fine restaurant meal scraped into a bag, refrigerated for days, and then heated up in a microwave.” He has a point. Once a growler is opened, the beer starts to degrade, since in contrast to wine, beer really, really doesn’t like to breathe. And even beer geeks don’t always have the people around willing to share a one-litre growler.

But growlers can be magical, allowing one to bring that perfect beer moment home. I rushed my first growler in 2002 at Gahan House, a brewpub in Charlottetown, P.E.I., just across the bay from a friend’s cottage in Rocky Point. Gahan House was a godsend, an escape from the tyranny of the no-booze-sales-on-Sunday provincial liquor store. I remember explaining cider to a puzzled store employee: “No call for that round here, b’y.” We drank the growler of Gahan amber ale with mussels dug from the shore and potatoes from the field. Heaven. That growler still sits on a shelf at my home. Someday I’ll return to those bucolic red shores for a refill.

From nothing much a few years ago, there is now a host of places in Edmonton and area to rush a growler or two. Even better, almost all the places encourage you to try before you buy.

Brewsters
Brewsters Brewing
Brewsters Brewing Edmonton
The launch of Brewster’s Beer Revolution pubs gave people a reason to give the venerable brewpub chain another look. Brewsters added growlers last year and will sell their beer in bottles at retail this fall. Try their Curly Horse IPA, an affably hopped English-American hybrid IPA.
Keg n Cork
Keg n Cork
Keg n Cork Liquor Edmonton
The first retailer with a growler system, the southside beer temple Keg n Cork Liquor, was the growler pioneer in Edmonton. Dave Scott notes that with eight taps they are able to service most tastes, from the geek entranced by the barrel-aged Mikkeller Man in the Moon imperial stout to the rookie looking for an easy-drinking pilsner for his BBQ.
Wine and Beyond
Wine and Beyond
Wine and Beyond Sherwood Park, Edmonton
These two ginormous local liquor shops from Liquor Depot do nothing on a small scale. The Windermere store has a large sampling bar with 32 taps, all available for takeout by growler. Recent hits have included Lost Coast Raspberry Brown and the ubiquitous Stiegl Radler.
Sherbrooke Liquor
Sherbrooke Liquor
Sherbrooke Liquor Edmonton
Beer Manager Stephen Bezan says Sherbrooke took some time to research and acquire the best growler system, the Pegas counter-pressure system. Sherbrooke has eight taps, ranging from their most popular, local favourite Yellowhead Lager, to draft exclusives from brewers like Dieu du Ciel or Anderson Valley.
Liquid Harvest
Liquid Harvest
Liquid Harvest St. Albert
When the Enjoy Centre was in the planning stages, Bill Hole told me he hoped to have a microbrewery on-site. Alas, this was not to be, but there is a nice little liquor store there with a top quality six-tap growler system from Canadian Growler. Exotics like North Coast Brother Thelonious Abbey Ale do well here.
Hog’s Head Brewing
Hog’s Head Brewing
Hog’s Head Brewing St. Albert
While there is no craft brewery in St. Albert’s Enjoy Centre, Hog’s Head is literally across the road. Their tap room launched in August with a full food menu and 15 taps which feature draft exclusives and one-offs. I’m partial to their session IPA, Boss Hog Oatmeal IPA.

Peter Bailey has been known to growl now and then. He tweets as @Libarbarian.