Psstt... Growlers

In case you haven't noticed, growlers are blowing up. From your favorite craft beer bar, to Duane Reade, to the home-distributor down the street, virtually ever type of beer-selling-place has growlers to go. A growler can really be any size must commonly the 64oz container. It's filled with draft beer and has a limited lifespan. Growlers are great in that they are reusable, but the onus often lies on the customer to insure that cleanliness before refill. Growlers provide the customer with draft beer at home; Draft beer is fresh beer and those qualities are carried over when a growler is consumed in a timely fashion at home. Another benefit is that many beers are released as draft-only, thus the goal of enjoying them at home is worth the premium. And often, it is a premium. I do like growlers, and have acquired many over the years, but sometimes I think the novelty seems to overcome the benefits. This novelty often results in higher prices with a deadline for consumption. A full size growler (64 oz) which is either 5.3 beers (12 oz 6 pk bottle size) or 4.5 beers (14 oz traditional bar pint), should hypothetically be cheaper then a 6 pk or it should definitely be cheaper than 4.5 beers at the bar, but often it's not. To the retailer, draft (keg) beer is significantly cheaper by volume than packaged beer, so what are the financial considerations and factors weighing into the price? I don't know, but I do know save for the premium I'm willing to pay for draft-only releases, I'm drinking a lot less growlers lately. The other consideration is this whole landscape of both on and off premise accounts selling growlers. On premise needs higher margins, but why sell growlers? There are so many questions and this post is a bit lengthy, so we will leave it there for now. But I think this is one we will have to come back to.