Historically, “Growlers” were galvanized “pails” in which folks could bring beer home from pre-prohibition small town local breweries. They called them growlers because they supposedly made a growling noise as the CO2 escaped from the lid while they were bringing it home. Today, they are typically glass bottles with screw top caps (to keep all that carbonation where it belongs) and is still a convenient way to get good beer right from the tap, “to-go” Typically they are 64oz but there are also 1qt “growler-ettes” out there as well and some are double-walled stainless steel containers that do a pretty good job keeping the beer cold for quite a while.
Most, brewpubs offer growler fills for 10-15$ depending on the brew, plus another 5 or 10$ for the empty one if you didn’t bring yours in. Some places are even specializing in growler fills. Dedicated growler “fill-stations” they are calling themselves. I think it is a great idea. There is one opening up here is Boise called “PreFunk”.
They are even planning on offering a call ahead and online check-in service with your order so you can drive up and they have it ready for you. This is sounding better and better all the time. Not to mention that is in a perfect location. Every 9-5’er leaving downtown west bound drives right by this place just as Front street funnels into the west bound “connector”. Their website is not quite ready yet, nor could I find a Facebook page for them after a quick search.
It will be interesting to see what beers they are able to get. With 20 taps, they plan to have half of them representing local Brewpubs, according to a recent Statesman article. I’ll be checking the place out this week
