Beverage Dynamics

Beverage Dynamics Mar-Apr 2016

Beverage Dynamics is the largest national business magazine devoted exclusively to the needs of off-premise beverage alcohol retailers, from single liquor stores to big box chains, through coverage of the latest trends in wine, beer and spirits.

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Growler Sales 58 Beverage Dynamics • March/April 2016 the most affordable, allowing retailers to fi ll growlers, and also pour pints or samples for customers (where the law allows) from the same system. Shortly after he helped change Delaware's laws to permit growler sales, Ed Mulvilhill of Peco's Liquor Store in Wilming- ton had a growler system installed. "We have a 16-tap direct draw system, keg box on the bottom with two towers with eight taps on each tower, and we use the gravity feed growler tubes to fi ll them," he explains. "Our two eight-tap systems were $3,500 each - delivered, installed and ready to go. We had them bought and paid for within a month from increased sales." He's confi dent that growler stations will proliferate, espe- cially with the cost of entry so low. But, he adds, "You could buy a kegerator system for a couple hundred bucks and have just two draft offerings. It's not necessary to have a ton of taps. We wanted to do that, but a lot of other retailers have three or four taps and they're having a lot of success, too." LIMITED SHELF LIFE The biggest disadvantage to this conventional manner of fi lling is that the beer is exposed to oxygen, which means that even an unopened growler of beer can lose its freshness within a few days of purchase. Generally that works fi ne for customers, provided they know to drink it in days, not weeks. However, retailers can prolong freshness. Technique mat- ters: topping off the growler minimizes the amount of oxygen in the neck of the container, and a tight-sealing cap helps. At Half Time Beverage, the two stores have been stock- ing a line of growlers that Daniels believes signifi cantly ex- tend the beer's freshness. "There are a lot of companies out there doing growlers in glass, stainless, aluminum, plastic, pottery, you name it," he says. "What we have found to be the best is a company called DrinkTanks." Based in Bend, Oregon, DrinkTanks produces dou- ble-walled, vacuum-insulated stainless steel growlers that promise to keep beer fresh for a week or more. Daniels adds that an optional DrinkTranks cap solves another problem with growlers. "Most of the time, you take home a half-gallon growler, and you really should drink the whole thing at once because once you pour out half of the beer, the other half of the growler is air. Air is what hurts the beer." The "Keg Cap" has an injection valve where a carbon dioxide cartridge can attach to pressurize the growler and drive out oxygen, even after opening, and a hose that serves as a tapping system. The company calls it a "mini-keg." DrinkTanks growlers and accessories aren't cheap. Half Time orders them with the store's logo, but also offers more modest growlers for sale. And they will fi ll any growler a cus- tomer brings in. UNDER PRESSURE Other retailers have taken a different approach in the battle for beer freshness, installing a counter-pressure system that mimics the conditions under which kegs and bottles are fi lled at a brew- ery. The Glass Jug has made this space-age-looking system a feature of its young business. "From a marketing standpoint it's been great, because a lot of people will come in and see these funny looking ma- chines and it starts a conversation," Creech says. "They end up understanding more about the growler-fi lling process and what makes a counter-pressure growler fi ll better. Lots of folks come back and tell us they don't buy growlers anywhere un- less they're using these machines." Creech is talking about the Pegas system, produced in Novosi- birsk, Russia, and imported into the U.S. by The Growler Station. Company founder John O'Connell explains the counter-pressure system, which encloses the growler in an air-tight chamber. "We create a seal, then we pump carbon dioxide into the vessel. It Chris and Katy Creech, co-owners of The Glass Jug. is that the beer is exposed to oxygen, which means that even an unopened growler of beer can lose its freshness within a few days of purchase. Generally that works fi ne for customers, provided However, retailers can prolong freshness. Technique mat- ters: topping off the growler minimizes the amount of oxygen At Half Time Beverage, the two stores have been stock- ing a line of growlers that Daniels believes signifi cantly ex- Half Time Beverages in New York sells growlers in dozens of sizes and styles. PHOTO COURTESY OF RICHARD MITCHELL www.beveragedynamics.com

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