Growler Fills of the Los Angeles Area

Please Note - No brewery is required to fill your growler so don't get bent out of shape if someone says no. This is all still flexible, new territory for everyone and folks are developing their policies. Also, remember that sometimes individual employees may get things wrong. Oh and don't forget - a clean growler is a happy growler! Keep some electrical tape on hand to obscure logos as well.

Why Don't All Breweries Fill "Foreign" Growlers? There are a few reasons, but a big one is branding. To many craft breweries, their growlers are a big (sometimes only) piece of marketing. They want to know that their beer is ultimately associated with their branding so that when you pour the beer for yourself or others, you're getting that association to them. The reason everyone wants to make sure the growlers aren't carrying other's marks is for that same reason - why would I want you to associate my beer with Brewery B because you put in Brewery B's growler? (The other less unspoken side - Suppose Brewery A sucks - why would brewery B want potentially sucky beer to come out of their branded growler?).

There's a labor issue as well - growler filling takes time away from serving on-prem customers. Most breweries have a system in place where the staff can jam out their growler in reasonable time. The staff has the process down cold. Introducing random spurious unusual growlers now means the staff has to adjust to each new growler that comes in, inspect it, make sure it meets the breweries policy, etc.

Foreign growler fills put the staff in a position of "judgement" with a lot of gray area that can piss customers off. Before the policy was simple and clearly understood - "not our growler - no fill". Now the staff has to decide does this meet our policy? Inevitably they'll end up pissing off the customer who comes in with a milk jug or some such. (They exist)

The Customer Argument: All of this is balanced against the one big reason that consumers want to fill foreign growlers. I don't want to store 20 growlers in my car whenever I think I might stop by a brewery. I'm absent minded to hell and won't remember to go grab Brewery A's growler before going to the brewery. Am I likely to buy another growler just so I can take away their beer? Probably not. I want my life to be simple - I have a good, clean, awesome growler. Please put your awesome beer into my awesome growler and I promise to sing your praises and branding to the pouring audience. Whenever I pour your beer into my glass I will say a silent prayer of thanks - "thank you Brewery A for your hard labor that brings us such magnifience".

Breweries - See something wrong or want to change/add your status? Email our web team at webmaster@maltosefalcons.com

Key: 

 - Happy to fill your growler

 - No foreign growler fills. 

 - Brewery will fill foreign growlers under certain conditions. (usually restricted growler types)

 - Status Uknown - How about a Helping Hand?

Brewery "Foreign" Growler Policy Table

Brewery	Fill	City Area	Notes	Last Update	Reporter
8 one 8 Brewing		Canoga Park
Absolution Brewing		Torrance
Alosta Brewing		Covina
Angel City		Downtown LA (Arts District)	Only fills screwtop growlers	9/22/2014	Dave Lustig
Arrow Lodge		Covina
Arts District		DTLA
Barrel House Brewing		Ventura	Won't fill unless you've affixed the Surgeon General's Warning sticker to the growler (and even then?)	12/18/2014	JJ Couts
Beachwood BBQ		Long Beach		7/19/2014	Tom Sisolak
Boomtown Brewing		DTLA
Bottle Logic Brewing		Anaheim		7/31/2014	Tom Sisolak
Bravey Brewing		Lancaster/Palmdale	They don't currently fill foreign growlers, but anticipate changing policy soon.	7/21/2014	Brian Avery
Brewyard Brewing Company		Glendale	Will fill once their tag is approved and offers an AHA Discount	11/11/2015	Ed Kochanowski
Brewery at Abigaile		Hermosa Beach
Brouwerij West		San Pedro
Bruery		Placentia	Will only fill Bruery or blank Palla (aka Onion Style) 2L growlers. Policy	7/23/2014	Drew Beechum
Captain Fatty's		Goleta	Generic Growlers Only	10/31/2015	Tom Sisolak/Ed Kochanowski
Claremont Craft Ales		Claremont		7/19/2014	Ed Kochanowski
Congregation Ale House		Azusa		7/12/2014	Israel Arrieta
Dry River Brewing		DTLA
Dudes Brewing		Torrance/TO
Eagle Rock Brewery		Glassel Park	Fills any 1liter or 2liter (or 1/2 gallon growler). Will black out other brewery marks	8/14/2014	Drew Beechum
El Segundo Brewing		El Segundo		12/3/2015	Sean Sabat
Enegren Brewing Company		Moorpark	Fills non-screwtop growlers	1/6/2017	JJ Coutts
Figueroa Mountain		Santa Barbara Valley Area / Westlake Village	Westlake Village will fill growlers as well	1/7/2016	Jason Byl
Five Threads Brewing		Westlake Village	Clean growlers! (per facebook)	2/6/2016	Tim Kazules
Frogtown Brewing		Atwater Village
Golden Road Brewing		Atwater Village		8/5/2014	Dana Cordes
Hamilton Family Brewery		Rancho Cucamonga		8/14/2015	Riley McIntire
Hand Brewed Beer		Northridge
Hangar 24		Redlands	Only their own growlers	10/2/2016	James Dunham
Highland Park Brewery		Highland Park		7/12/2014	Drew Beechum
Homage Brewing		Pomona		12/31/2016	Drew Beechum
Hop Saint		Torrance
Indie Brewing		DTLA	Will fill unmarked growlers (according to website)	1/6/2017	Drew Beechum
Innovation Brew Works		Pomona	No foreign fills	7/6/2018	Mercy
Institution Ale Company		Camariilo		7/12/2014	Tom Sisolak
Iron Triangle		DTLA	Clean and unmarked	12/02/2016	Drew Beechum
Island Brewing		Carpinteria		10/20/2015	Tom Sisolak/Ed Kochanowski
Kinetic Brewing		Lancaster	Fills any clean glass or stainless growler that are 32oz, 64 oz, 1L or 2L. Must be devoid of another breweries branding.	7/21/2014	Sven "Mr. Kinetic" Kinsey
King Harbor		Redondo
LA Ale Works		Hawthorne	Fills any clean growler without markings (or covered)	1/5/2017	Drew Beechum
LAB Brewing		Agoura Hills	(aka Twisted Oak Tavern)	9/3/2014	Sean Sabat
Ladyface Ale Companie		Agoura Hills		7/12/2014	Tom Sisolak
Lincoln Brewing		Burbank
Lucky Luke		Palmdale	AHA / CHA Discount	3/24/206	Tom Sisolak
M. Special Brewing		Goleta		10/30/2015	Tom Sisolak/Ed Kochanowski
MacLeod Ale Brewing Co		Van Nuys		7/19/2014	Dave Richard
Monkish Brewing		Torrance	$2 fee for foreign growlers	7/19/2014	Tom Sisolak
Mumford Brewing		Downtown LA	Will fill Falcons growlers (or other unbranded growlers)	1/16/2016	Riley McIntire
No Clue Brew		Rancho Cucamonga	Working on label for blank growlers, No on Falcons Growlers.	7/30/2015	Dave Sherfy
Noble Ale Works		Anaheim		11/15/2014	JJ Coutts
Ohana Brewing		Alhambra/DTLA	At their Alhambra tap room	8/20/2014	Chris Rodkey
Pacific Plate Brewing		Monorvia	Will cover other brewery artwork	6/20/2015	Roberto Hernandez
Phantom Ales		Anaheim	fills blank growlers and said they would fill a Falcon's growler as well. They also give a discount to AHA members	7/19/2015	James Dunham
Phantom Carriage		Carson	32 oz growlers only (clean and blank)	6/20/2015	Matt Meyerhoff
Pocock Brewing		Santa Clarita	Fill any clean 2L Onion/Palla style growler with markings obscured	3/11/2016	Geoff Pocock
Poisedon Brewing		Ventura	Fills all growlers - will put sticker on the  blank side of MF growler	11/2/2014	Kent Fletcher
Progress Brewing		South El Monte
Rev Brewing		Covina	Fills all growlers	06/20/2015	Drew Beechum
Rincon Brewing		Carpinteria		10/30/2015	Tom Sisolak/Ed Kochanowski
Ritual Brewing		Redlands		4/22/2017	Matthew Postel
Rubens Distilling & Brewing		El Segundo
San Fernando Brewing		San Fernando
Sanctum Brewing		Pomona	Fills any growler - will block another breweries artwork	6/20/2015	Natalie DeNicholas
Santa Barbara Brewing Company		Santa Barbara	Fills blank growlers.	9/5/2014	Mike Resar
Santa Monica Brew Works		Santa Monica
Schlob Premium Ales		Torrance
Skyland Ale Works		Corona	Fills pre-cleaned growlers and will block artwork	2/19/2015	Tom Sisolak
Smog City Brewing		Torrance	Waiting on approval from the ABC	12/3/2015	Sean Sabat
State Brewing Company		Gardena
Stone Brewing (Pasadena)		Pasadena	Policy on website says growlers must be clean, obscured and be swingtop 1-3 liters.	10/26/2015	Chris Jordan
Strand Brewing		Torrance		12/3/2015	Sean Sabat
Sundowner (Wade's Wines)		Thousand Oaks		7/19/2014	Alisha Gordon
Surf Brewery		Ventura		7/19/2014	Riley McIntire
Three Weavers		Inglewood		12/3/2015	Sean Sabat
Timeless Pints		Lakewood	Blank Growlers or Non-Brewery Branded Growlers only.	9/2/2015	Rusty Reece
Topa Topa Brewing Company		Ventura		7/18/2015	Tom Sisolak
Transplants Brewing		Palmdale	AHA / CHA Discount	3/24/2016	Tom Sisolak
Verdugo West		Burbank
Wolf Creek		Santa Clarita/Calabasas		7/28/2014	Craig Frump

Totals: 44 out of 56 breweries fill foreign growlers (79%)