Canning beer… everyone has their own way of coping.
Ask the Brewer
Why the heck is half a gallon of beer called a growler?
Back in the late 1800’s, beer was often carried home from local brewers in a small, galvanized pail with a lid. Rumor has it that the term “growler” comes from the sound that the CO2 made escaping through the lid of the pail, as the beer sloshed in time to the steps of the person walking home with it. During the 1930s, young people would carry buckets of beer to workers on their lunch breaks, and home to their parents for dinner, and that practice brought the term “rushing the growler” into use. By the 1950s, waxed cardboard containers were used, switching over to plastic in the 60’s. Soon after that, the use of growlers died out.
The renaissance for growlers came about in 1989 when Charlie Otto and his father wanted to offer their local customers beer in “to go” containers, yet were not in a position to begin bottling their brew. Charlie’s father remembered “growlers” from his youth, so they updated that packaging, started silk-screening their logo onto the bottles and the modern day growler was born.
Taproom Tidings
The taproom has its regular hours, with growler fills available all of the days we are open. Highlights include:
- Thirsty Thursdays is your chance for $1 off pints and $2 off growler fills
- Food on Fridays (FoF) brings us Rusty Taco, with their perfect pairing of taco(ee) goodness to go with your favorite beer
- Our featured cupcake from Groundswell is their Espresso Turtle. Chocolate espresso cake with chocolate mousse, whipped cream, toasted pecans and an espresso caramel sauce.
- Tap selection includes Pyro APA, Roasted Coffee Ale, Fused Orange Blossom Honey, Parched Lime Shandy and our ever popular Blackstrap IPA. Growler and grumbler fills on everything.
This would typically be the spot where we wax eloquently about the Snelling Ave. bridge STILL being closed. But wait! Rumor has it that our favorite exit off of I-94 will once again be usable no later than midnight this Friday. A whole week ahead of schedule!
If you are coming this Thursday or Friday, access to the brewery from the I-94/Snelling ramps is difficult to non-existent, depending on which direction you are coming from. We recommend using the Cretin/Vandalia exit. Starting Saturday, you should be able to take the more direct route from the Snelling Ave. exit. Cheers to that!
Final Thoughts
The 7th annual Summer Beer Dabbler kicks off this Saturday from 5-9pm at the St. Paul Saints new home of CHS Field. We’ll be there along with over 100 other craft breweries sampling beer, enjoying live music and just generally having a good time. Join us for one final hurrah to the summer beer season.
As always, if you have questions, drop us a note via Email, Facebook, Ouija, Twitter or Google+.
Cheers!