(Note: The following is part of our series we’re calling, “WTF is That?” in which we highlight some of the old, intriguing, and often strange features of our Brewery. This time, we’re talking about our brand new crowler.)
With a building as old as ours, most of the interesting pieces in it are often covered in rust. In this series so far, we’ve covered a 100+ year old slide, and a 40+ year old piece of brewing equipment. But not all of them are so tarnished – some are shiny and new. This week, we’re talking about the shiniest and newest. Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing our crowler sealer.
What’s a crowler, you ask? It’s our newest way to get beer into your hands. It’s a portmanteau of can, for what it’s made out of, and growler, for what it replaces.
And since we’re explaining things, why not explain what a growler is, for the uninitiated? It’s a (usually) 64oz glass container that you bring to the brewery, fill up with the latest batch of beer that you fell in love with, bring home, drink from, clean and bring back to the brewery.
Except, usually that growler gets forgotten about with about 4 oz of stale beer sitting at the back of the fridge. Or worse, it accumulates with 7 or 8 other growlers somewhere in your kitchen, about as useful as the canvas shopping bag you only remember when you’re standing in the checkout line at Ralph’s.
And why are they called growlers, anyway? Legend has it that back in the early 20th century, people used to get beer to-go from pubs by putting it in milk pails (gross) that would make growling noises as the carbonation sloshed around while being carried home.
But a milk pail isn’t the best place to store beer, and sometimes, a glass growler isn’t either. Sure, you can reuse them, but if you’re heading out to the beach or to the hiking trail, they’re not ideal. So we bought ourselves this fancy new toy which puts the final seal on these supersized aluminum cans. The lever presses the can into the lid, and the whole thing spins as everything is crimped together to ensure an airtight seal, which means no nasty oxygen can get in.
In fact, with this system oxygen can never get into the can, and that’s because of this gooseneck right here.
Before the cans are filled with beer, its filled with carbon dioxide from this pump to make sure that all of the oxygen is out. That means the beer you get in here is as fresh as if you got it straight from the tank.
So next time you’re in, make sure to stop by our retail store and check out our shiny new toy. And make sure to pick out your favorite beer to take it home in a crowler! Here’s what’s on tap right now.
