Growlers at TBS

[midlife crisis]

It's a complete joke, who on earth is going to get a growler of Shock Top or Coors Banquet?!

I was thinking the same thing. I'll bet you can't even get a growler of Coors in f#cking Colorado. I mean seriously, those two things (Coors, growler) just do not go together.

[Coronaeus]

Love the idea of a growler of Coors! That is, only if the growler has a coldness indicator. Otherwise, how will I know if it is cold enough?

[midlife crisis]

Very good -- i imagine TBS has equipped their logoed Growlers with coldness indicators. In all seriousness, I'll bet they do sell some growlers of "fake craft" Shock Top to those easily fooled. But Coors Banquet? The mind boggles.

[distr0]

Do the growlers have a tab you can punch out for shotgunning? 2 litres of beer should NOT take more than 4 seconds to drink, and I wouldn't want to accidentally taste anything.

[Masterplan]

The pricing is the most interesting part. If they had come out with $5 growlers, and tried to undercut actual craft Brewers. They might have been on to something.

If the regular Joe can get a growler of Coors for 5 bucks plus deposit, he's likely going to balk at paying triple that for craft.

[beerstodiscover]

The pricing is the most interesting part. If they had come out with $5 growlers, and tried to undercut actual craft Brewers. They might have been on to something.

Beer prices are regulated and $5 growlers would probably be below the minimum legal price.

[Masterplan]

The pricing is the most interesting part. If they had come out with $5 growlers, and tried to undercut actual craft Brewers. They might have been on to something.

Beer prices are regulated and $5 growlers would probably be below the minimum legal price.

Minimum price are set by O. Reg. 116. For draft they are $2.456/L times inflation from 2010. So maybe $7.50 a growler of Bud Lite would be the min.

But my point being if you plant a low price point in people's heads, they aren't as likely to pay more. Sure you might not make any money, but you can make life difficult on the craft sector while you still have control.

[cratez]

Hopefully the number of craft offerings expands, but given the ownership structure and purpose of TBS, I'm not holding my breath. I will say that being able to grab a growler of Block Three Saison for $14 deposit included (as I understand the pricing?) is pretty awesome. That's the only one listed that seems worthwhile, though.

Speaking of the beer lineup, the website states that "brands will change on a weekly basis and will be updated below," with the first round slated to end/rotate on July 18 (last Tuesday). Here we are on the 26th and still no update on this week's lineup. Off to a rough start.

[ErkLR]

Block Three Saison for $14 deposit included (as I understand the pricing?)

They don't really say whether the listed price includes deposit or not. I'm guessing they would say explicitly if the price included deposit. They're currently listing Beau's Buenos Dias for $11.00. If that includes deposit, it would be $6 for a growler of Beau's which seems insane. The prices listed are all over the map and make no real sense to me.

[cratez]

They don't really say whether the listed price includes deposit or not. I'm guessing they would say explicitly if the price included deposit. They're currently listing Beau's Buenos Dias for $11.00. If that includes deposit, it would be $6 for a growler of Beau's which seems insane. The prices listed are all over the map and make no real sense to me.

Yeah. They don't say and I'm not willing to find out, due to the quality of beers on offer. Regarding price, part of the idea with growlers is being able to get super fresh beer for relatively cheap, so $6 for a fill + a $5 deposit would not be "insane" in my mind. But given that this is Ontario, you're probably on to something about the deposit not being included in the price. In any case, if they keep offering up macros and so-so beers from crafters most of us probably won't bother to see if there's value to be had here.

[midlife crisis]

Six dollars for 1.9L would surely be below the Ontario minimum price mandated by law. EDIT: just noticed someone already did the math, above, and minimum price is approx. $7.50 for 1.9L.