I do it all the time. Because great beer used to be a hell of a lot cheaper, and we're not talking about overhead or inflation driving up the brewer's costs. Luckily most of the brewers that made great beer 5-10 years ago still do so, and it's still reasonably priced. It's just the new operations that have supported the price hike. And that's coming from someone who spends thousands on beer every year. Back on topic, I've never been to the tasting room. I usually get my fill at bars. Do they really charge $15 for a tasting flight, and how many beers does that come with (4 oz. pours?) I really haven't paid attention - anyone in the Bay Area getting their beers for Beer Week?
Societe is making some of the best IPA's and DIPA's coming out of the SD area right now. These guys know what is up.
I'm curious as to which other four breweries you thought were better than Societe in a trip around there.
definitely want to get over there tomorrow to try The Roustabout. Love everything they make pretty much. Also, think that they used to charge 15 for the belgian flight but you got to keep the glass, but they are a lot cheaper now.
Nope. My point is you're not going to beat CA law when it comes to the growler issue. Beer geeks spend an incredible amount on beer. All those growlers rattling around a 1 time purchase won't kill you or your bank account. Relax people.
More goes into this than just gouging. Stainless is a helluva lot more expensive and starting up a new brewery is also expensive as hell. Most of the other breweries have cheaper equipment or maybe better lease terms. There's a lot more that goes into the price point that "Bwa ha ha, we made an IPA, let's charge $25 for a growler fill". Go check out their tasting room, it's pretty sweet.
Your experience was the polar opposite of mine. It takes a lot for me too throw in a new San Diego stop when I'm in town, but their stuff they had (Pupil/Apprentice) at an old favorite haunt (Churchill's) in November made me question whether SD had another world class brewery on their hands. So I threw this thread up, wrote down the address, and fit in a quick visit to the tasting room between picking up bottles at Alesmith and hitting up the Brewbies event at Pizza Port in Carlsbad (Alpine started the day). I was amazed. Cheap tasters, world class quality beers and amazing service. Now matter what the abv of a beer is there, you can't taste it! Dangerous! Despite the place being full on a Saturday, the service was excellent: Every time someone was filling our glasses, another server would ask if I'd already been helped. Sure, I would have loved to roll out of there with a reasonably priced growler, but it just isn't a smart move with my $$ living 600 miles away. If you're a local, its a no brainer. Anyways, my friends here are going to be sick of hearing how great Societe's beers are the next few weeks. If you had a negative experience, I'd say it was the exception to the rule.
Yeah.... Doug said that's what he calls it. Roustabout is actually another name for a carnival worker/carnie.
Ah. I thought it referred to the word's more common usage of a person who works in an oil field. Good to know. Thanks.
I'm more familiar with the oil field reference as well. Either way, it's unskilled labor. Here's a hammer or a shovel, go dig/bang on whatever...
Going back to that growler conversation (and also the "I Hate Growler Laws" thread was locked") check out what Jacob from Modern Times just said during the ABC presentation: https://twitter.com/ModernTimesBeer/status/301446429522669568 https://twitter.com/ModernTimesBeer/status/301446824366051328 "Wow, head of CA ABC just assured that brewers can refill other brewer's growlers w/ a label that covers all other markings & convey nec info" "Also said a blank growler could theoretically be filled w/ no label but a cap that conveyed mandatory info. Opens up a lot of options"
Usually it's the surgeon general's warning, as well as brewery name and address. The only problem is growlers will get messed up with lots of stickers/scrubbings etc.. But...hell, my 2 SS growlers will get a lot more use. Screw glass.
Awesome, hopefully other brewers took note of that and we can begin to see some change on that front.
This will once and for all prove out any brewers who say " we don't sell them for profit, we're just following the law ".
As far as I know, each growler needs to have the brewery name, location, and name of the beer affixed to the growler. Or something like that.
Except it's not really based on tweets... This was from the head of the California ABC. http://www.westcoastersd.com/2013/01/30/attention-brewers-abc-workshop-february-12/ The California Craft Brewers Association (CCBA) will be holding an ABC(Alcoholic Beverage Control) workshop in San Diego on Tuesday, February 12.
