Are Growlers Legal in Decatur?
Decatur Metro | January 7, 2011 | 1:37 pm
In case you missed it, a conversation surrounding a potential brewery in Decatur next year quickly turned to a conversation about the possible sale and legality of “growlers” in the State of Georgia. Scott pointed out a recent post on Atlanta Beer Master that noted a potential loophole in the State’s law that make growlers legal if permitted by local governments.
After perusing the city’s code for a bit, I asked City Manager Peggy Merriss what I thought was a relatively easy question: are growlers currently illegal in the City of Decatur. Of course, there’s nothing simple about liquor laws.
The short answer is maybe. We define package as a “bottle, can, keg, barrel or other original consumer container as labeled and provided by the manufacturer for single unit sale.” So to the extent the “growler” is not capped and closed before retail sale, then it would not be able to be sold in the City of Decatur.
However, we also have a provision that states, “No retailer shall purchase any alcoholic beverage from any person other than a wholesaler licensed under this chapter.”
So if a retailer for consumption off premises wanted to sell “growlers”, they might be able to do so as long as they purchase those through a wholesaler and not directly from a manufacturer and they are labeled as a unit for individual sale.
It is definitely something we would have to go over with the City Attorney should such a situation present itself.
This sounds like potentially good news and perhaps bad news.
Let’s recap FM Fats original comment that got this ball rolling: “I was just thinking how nice it would be if Ale Yeah! could sell growlers of Twain’s beers and Wild Heaven beers. Whole Foods is now selling growlers. Maybe soon.”
Assuming the Whole Foods growlers referenced above are sold through a wholesaler, it sounds like these growlers may already be allowed for sale in Decatur, though the city commission would have to verify this with the city attorney However, based on the City Manager’s explanation, selling Twain’s beer at Ale Yeah! would not be legal, unless it was sold to Ale Yeah! by a wholesaler.
But before we go asking the commission to do anything, I just want to confirm that there’s actual interest out there from both retailers and customers for wholesale growlers.
I would definitely purchase growlers.
I was wondering, what is a growler? (Is it my pet pouch?) Then I found the link to a interesting article from the NYT in your previous topic post, and now I know. I believe that would be popular in Decatur.
Interest? The ability to enjoy fresh draft beer at home? Are you kidding? Ale, yeah! However,I would be even more interested if this unambiguously included growlers filled at pubs.
I am not a COD resident, but I would definitely buy growlers on a regular basis from COD stores if they were sold.
These laws are ridiculous, by the way. You can’t get a growler that goes through a distributor. If it is not filled from a tap just before sale, it’s not really a growler. I would think the beer would have to be pasturized, like any other bottled beer, unless bottled at the source.
Thanks for confirming that. That’s basically what I thought. A growler bottled through a distributor is essentially just a giant bottle of bottled beer, no?
Well, don’t take it as 100% confirmation — I am not completely sure that it is impossible for a distributor to bottle real growlers, but it does seem awfully unlikely. Certainly it is not what I have ever experienced as a “growler.” I agree, it would just be a regular old bottle of beer.
The problem with the getting the growler from a distributor is that is does away with one of the best parts of getting a growler in that once you are finished, you wash it out and go get it filled up again.
Every place that I have been where growlers are common see them as positive for the envoronment (reuse the same growler over and over), cheaper for the consumer and better for everyone all around.
If I have to buy a new growler every time, it seems like a waste to me.
The need to sell it through a wholesaler will make it prohibitively expensive. The ridiculous 3-tier system of alcohol in Georgia was also responsible for keeping Yuengling out of the state for so long even after they opened the new brewery in Tampa.
Definitely! That would be very exciting news.
The wholesale requirement is one of the biggest reasons why so few microbreweries open in Georgia. Say you’re a local micro brewing operation, perhaps named Dogwood Brewery, and you sign a contract with a wholesale distributor who then ignores your brand in favor of larger national beers they can make more money off of. Well, you’re pretty much screwed at that point. There’s not that many wholesalers to begin with, and the restriction on selling your own product directly to a retailer can significantly hinders your sales. I don’t know of any other industry where the middle man has a state mandated monopoly like that. There were some good articles in Creative Loafing written a few years back detailing the issue.
Now I agree that the 3 tier system is ridiculous and needs to be eliminated, but the wholesale lobby in the state capitol is strong. Basically, without a groundswell of public support i.e, the 6% limit on beer, they control the legislature.
However, that said, as a retailer the issue with Dogwood Brewing was not the 3 tier system but a lack of quality control. Simply said, we had six packs being returned because their beer was foaming over upon uncapping the bottle. There are a whole lot of options out there for the beer consumer and once they have a bad experience with a product they aren’t going to go back. If anybody remembers Marthasville Brewing a similar thing happened with them, but in their case it was sour beer. Again, lack of quality control.
I liked Dogwood Brewing and the folks over there but for them to blame some of their problems on the 3 tier system is not valid.
“state mandated monopoly”. Funny how that works.
The alcohol laws here are nonsensical. But they are starting to loosen. BTW, who else believes, like I do, that Sunday sales are going to happen this year?
Alas, they are non-sensical in many states, and in some, far moreso than here. Pennsylvania, for example, has managed to make buying a 6 pack of beer a moderatly complex task, and all liquor stores there are state-owned. The wine selection in a PA liquor store is far worse than your average Kroger in Georgia.
The fact that these state monopolies — including the distributors here in GA — still exist is a disgrace. They serve no useful purpose and would be out of business in no time without their current legal protection.
“Alas, they are non-sensical in many states, and in some, far moreso than here. ”
Agreed. My nephew works at a liquor store in Alabama and is considered a state employee.
While I agree most blue law are silly, I must say that the ABC stores in Alabama are really well run and have pretty good prices. It’s kind of freaky.
Yes! Burning incense, lighting candles and saying prayers about it as we speak!
I wonder if Decatur could get behind forming some kind of wholesale cooperative to help distribute micro-brewery product locally – if that sort of thing is legal/possible in Georgia?
I for one would be super excited about growler sales in Decatur.
Somebody should get in touch with the guy from Athens for advice. A local in California told me you could only buy Stone beers in a Stone growler at the brewery (which is a great place to visit and dine, even if you’re not a beer person). You couldn’t have an all-purpose growler that you could use at different stores, pubs, or breweries.
It is definitely something that Decatur needs to allow in some form, especially if the city continues to advertise in Beer Connoisseur magazine.
15 years ago we were regular purchasers of growlers from the brewery around the corner in Baltimore. I still have the jugs ready and waiting.
I am very much in favor of making this happen! It’s a shame that so many ridiculous rules have to be followed, but if the guys in Athens made it happen, then I so no reason why it can’t be done here. If growler sales are not specifically allowed in the current city code, then surely City of Decatur can craft similar regulations as Athens did to allow it. It’s definitely worth checking out the Athens growler ordinance (if there is such a thing) and maybe talking to the owners of the growler store there to see how they got the right regulations in place. Heck, if Ale Yeah! isn’t interested in this, then maybe we could talk the Athens guys into opening a 2nd store here. That store sounds pretty awesome, and it truly would be a great fit for Decatur.
In Tennessee you can walk into a brew pub and get a growler filled off the tap. Isn’t that the way it should be? Also I wonder if you can get a bottle of wine recorcked, why can’t you get a growler of beer recorcked?
I agree with you sug, but I think the difference between wine and beer is that the Georgia law states that a brewer can’t sell you alcohol to be consumed off-premises.
I re-read Ms. Merriss’ comments in DM’s post, and, based on what she said, I think growlers are legal right now. There may be other legal considerations I am not aware of that play into this, but, she wrote:
However, we also have a provision that states, “No retailer shall purchase any alcoholic beverage from any person other than a wholesaler licensed under this chapter.”
The beverage is the beer, in this case in a keg. If a retailer buys the keg from a distributor, it has complied with this provision. This provision, as stated here, isn’t violated if the retailer fills a bottle from that keg and sells it.
Ms. Merriss continues:
So if a retailer for consumption off premises wanted to sell “growlers”, they might be able to do so as long as they purchase those through a wholesaler and not directly from a manufacturer and they are labeled as a unit for individual sale.
If she means the growlers have to be purchased from the distributor, I don’t agree. The “beverage” has to be purchased from the distributor, not necessarily the vessel in which it is contained. Again, in the case of a retailer, the keg would be purchased from a distributor (as opposed to Twain’s selling its own beer in a growler, which maybe is a grey area).
The only issue left would appear to be packaging. There, Ms. Merriss writes:
We define package as a “bottle, can, keg, barrel or other original consumer container as labeled and provided by the manufacturer for single unit sale.” So to the extent the “growler” is not capped and closed before retail sale, then it would not be able to be sold in the City of Decatur.
Certainly a growler can be capped and closed by a retailer before it is sold — a screw-on cap should suffice, since that is how many beers are presently sold anway. The issues are “original consumer container provided by the manufacturer for single unit sale.” So it would seem that Ale Yeah can’t manufacture the growler — it would have to be provided and labeled by the beer manufacturer.
If any manufacturers make growlers, then I think there is a very good argument that a retailer could (a) purchase the growler, (b) fll them from kegs purchased from distributors, (c) screw on a cap before sale, and (d) sell the growler to you or me. I’d even add that if you have a growler manufactured by Sweetwater, for instance, the reatiler couldd fill it with ANY beer purchased from a distributor and then sell it at retail, so long as it screws on a cap before handing it across the counter.
Maybe I am wrong about this — again, there may be more to the analysis that this. But if the City takees the position that this is illegal, I would love to know why, and whether they are stretching current law to prohibit it. It would seem to me that the distributors’ lobby should have no opposition to this. They just want to sell beer, and if the kegs have to be purchased from them, they’re stillmaking a sale. How the beer is sold to the end user should be of no concern to them.
I was just in Colorado and the local brew pub sells growlers out of a refrigerator at the end of the bar. They don’t refill your bottle on the spot. They take your bottle in exchange for the bottle you purchase, wash it, refill it, cap it and put it in the refrigerator for the next customer.
That seems to fit into the “capped and closed before retail sale” rule. Seems like retailers could just facilitate the bottle exchange with the brewery, even if it is stupid, inefficient and expensive to add a wholesaler in the middle and prevent the brewery from selling them themselves.
This would seem to be a reasonable interpretation of the law that works for everyone.