Growlers Take Manhattan

When I saw this article about beer growlers in the New York Times, my first instinct was to mock. Isn't that cute?--the Times just discovered them. But after actually reading the article, I see that it touches on some issues I hadn't thought about--like how useful a simple (and old) technology is in a densely-populated area like New York. And how this may be a huge boon to consumption.

“In the beginning we tried to figure out, ‘Who’s going to be our market?’ ” said Ben Granger, 32, an owner of Bierkraft, which began filling growlers in spring 2006. “We thought, mullet-heads and beer-bellied dudes. But the first run was ladies with strollers. They will tell you they’re buying them for their husbands. Three weeks later, they’ve got two. One’s his and one’s hers. The next one that caught me by surprise was dads coming in with their kids. Then there’s the beer crowd who’ll rush in to get on this or that before it’s gone. There’s no age limit.”

For all-draft breweries, this allows them to reach a totally new market of consumers who want good beer but can't regularly go out for a pint. More interesting info:

“Rushing the growler,” connoting children hustling pails of beer for adults from bar to table, was a common expression. The curious name is thought to be inspired by the rumbling noise escaping carbon dioxide made as the beer sloshed about in the pail

I enjoyed the whole article; you might too. Go have a look.

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PHOTO: John Marshall Mantel/NYT
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