Beer

P49 braggott is interesting stuff (mead hybrid). No hops, honey forward. Not terribly complex for a big beer, but entertaining for the moment. Probably couldn't work my way through a bomber at one sitting though.

So happy that the winter beer season is upon us.

Yup…

^^ Nice!! That's on my Bruery ISO list for sure. And Chocolate Rain - recently missed a chance to try it and I heard it was magnificent.

Since a lot of folks here are growler-filling regulars, I pose the following question: Which local breweries fill opaque bottles? Against all better judgement financially, I find myself wanting to visit Portland Growler Company next time I make the hipster pilgrimage. The ability for local breweries to fill these ceramic growlers depends on equipment though, and I want to know what I'm limiting myself to.

33 Acres = yes
Brassneck = yes
Bridge Brewing = no?
Central City Brewing = no idea?
Deep Cove Brewing = no?
Four Winds = no?
Parallel 49 = no?
Powell Street Brewing = no?
Storm Brewing = yes

If you know either way on ones with question marks or ones left out, please feel free to improve my list!

I have no idea why they cant fill them? How are they different than the glass ones?
I have seen Brassneck fill ceramic and stainless.
Some places just wont fill growlers with out thier label on them, which is balls.

went to the Central City opening tonight.. free beer, cheap eats. then $5 full glasses of Thor's Hammer and the new Imperial Porter..

I stopped by for a quick visit today and, wow, the shop and tasting room are amazing. Picked up a couple bottles of the Imperial Porter to add to my holiday consumption collection.

Aside from the beer and associated paraphernalia on hand, I was also impressed by their cycling jerseys, which look pretty good.

The Trainwreck I'll be drinking later this evening, after the kids are in bed. I've never tried a barley wine before, so it'll be a new taste for me.

So, barley wine. Definitely a different taste experience. Sweeter than I generally like, and the 10%abv was definitely noticeable. I should try a few others for comparison before forming an opinion one way or the other on the style.

I have no idea why they cant fill them? How are they different than the glass ones?
I have seen Brassneck fill ceramic and stainless.

I think the problem is that you can't see the level of the beer in them when filling, and for the fill stations like P49, Bridge and Powell have, which seal the bottle while filling, the operator needs to know when to cut the flow to prevent a possible explosion. I assume that's why those fill stations have a Plexiglas shroud around the bottle. Brassneck's fill station looks like a BeerGun, which doesn't seal the bottle, so no risk of explosion.

Any place that has just a plain draft tap should be able to fill any container. I think that has been the standard way to fill growlers, but it's slow and results in a lot of foam, so better systems were invented.

Some places just wont fill growlers with out thier label on them, which is balls.

In some places, that's a legal restriction. There's a lot of crazy rules around booze.

In some places, that's a legal restriction. There's a lot of crazy rules around booze.

Definitely…

Until recently, breweries here in CA were only allowed to fill their own growlers. Or, that's what we were told. The ABC "clarified" the rules earlier this year so breweries could fill any growler that meets minimum labeling requirements - beer name, %ABV, and of course the CA "could cause cancer" warning (apparently everything here causes cancer, in case you didn't know!)

Seems a lot of breweries still only fill their own. Fine, their choice. But I get the impression they think they will miss out on growler sales. Hopefully they will figure out they are missing out on growler fills because lots of people already have a dozen or more growlers and won't buy more. I'd love to be able to buy a nice stainless growler and fill it anywhere.

Oregon has it figured out: fill anything - mason jar, milk jug, jerry can….

I have no idea why they cant fill them? How are they different than the glass ones?
I have seen Brassneck fill ceramic and stainless.
Some places just wont fill growlers with out thier label on them, which is balls.

I believe the issue is that if they are using auto-fillers (like P49) they need to be able to see when the growler is full. That's why you always see them looking at it with a flash light. It's the same reason Brassneck can fill anything they want. Off the top of my head, Brassneck, Deep Cove and Storm should be fine. P49 definitely wont. Not sure about the others.

Most places now will fill growlers without their labels. Only place I recall that wouldn't was Steamworks.

Yep I hit up Brassneck last night (responded within minutes at 11pm) and Storm and they're both happy to fill ceramic growlers. And yes my alluding to equipment was in reference to the sealing fillers. Storm and Brassneck make up about 90% of my growler filling needs so I'm happy with that.

Come to daddy.

Jesusss H. this is good.

And does any one know the correct pronunciation of HOYNE?

Yep I hit up Brassneck last night (responded within minutes at 11pm) and Storm and they're both happy to fill ceramic growlers. And yes my alluding to equipment was in reference to the sealing fillers. Storm and Brassneck make up about 90% of my growler filling needs so I'm happy with that.

Come to daddy.

nice. prime candidate for a 'growler of the day' tweetpic. potential fame awaits!

And does any one know the correct pronunciation of HOYNE?

h??yn is the phonetic transcription.

I say hoyn

Come to daddy.

Is that ceramic, or painted glass? I have a nice (looking) painted glass one I bought in China that's chipping paint around the neck hole. At least it's likely Chinese lead paint even though it claims to be imported from Germany.

(Nope, I'm not using it any longer)

The pictured one is ceramic. Hand made in Portland and correspondingly $130.

nice. prime candidate for a 'growler of the day' tweetpic. potential fame awaits!

You know my motives! At the end of the day, it's all about the growler of the day fame.