Success stories

From Russia, with love – growlers full of local beer

PEGAS CrafTap for growler fills are coming to 99 Bottles. Thanks to the legislative action of House Bill 1465, Specialty Beer and/or Wine Stores in Washington State, like 99 Bottles, can expand their offerings to include growlers of craft from draft.

Growlers are containers that are filled at the business location from beer kegs, capped and sealed for at-home serving. Growlers allow retail stores to represent breweries that don’t have bottling capabilities.

"There are nearly 150 breweries in Washington State and less than 30 of those breweries bottle," says Tiffany Adamowski, co-owner of 99 Bottles. “With only 20% of local beer available in bottles means drinking out to enjoy favorites. But with the ability to offer growler fills favorite local beers, such as Mac & Jack’s African Amber and Georgetown Manny’s Pale Ale, are now available for at-home enjoyment."

"With thanks to our state legislature," Adamowski says, "we're finally able to reach our original dream for 99 Bottles! That is, a beer store surrounded by a community of wonderful beer lovers, supporting breweries by carrying their complete product families whenever possible, and offering beers to-go in bottles, cans and growlers."

Beginning Tuesday, August 23, 99 Bottles will be allowing you to explore craft on draft, offering up to eight different beers for growler fills. The beers available for growler fills will change after each keg is emptied.

The quality-conscious bottle shop will focus on fresh beer. 99 Bottles will use the PEGAS CrafTap system to preserve beer life. "Our fillers saturate the inside of the growler with CO2, preventing loss of carbonation, so sealed growlers are viable for three weeks or longer,” says Adamowski. Her husband and partner, Craig Adamowski, adds, “The system reduces the amount of foam, allowing us to focus on beer fills, rather than product waste. It’s quite cost efficient for us and the customer."

To get fresh craft from tap at 99 Bottles, containers must be clean, dry 32- or 64-ounce glass growler of standard size. Should yours not meet these sanitary requirements, you can buy a growler at the store.

"We look out for our customers. In compliance with the "No Open Containers" law, we're taking things a step further," says Ms. Adamowski, "99 Bottles seals every filled growler so there's no need to worry about transporting the beer home. With the safety seal, you're all ready for at-home enjoyment."

About 99 Bottles

99 Bottles is a family owned and operated specialty beer store in Federal Way, Wash. The store offers over 1,000 different brews — ale, lager, hard cider, and mead. At 99 Bottles customers can mix their six-packs or choose all the same of their favorite brew. The store also offers a hundreds of kegs via advance order, and regularly stocks specialty beer glasses, brewery t-shirts, and other brewerania. 99 Bottles was voted "#1 Beer Store" in KING 5's Best of Western Washington in 2009 and 2010, and was featured on Evening Magazine in fall of 2010. Learn more at http://99bottles.net.

About PEGAS beer filling systems

There are about 16,000 draught beer retail outlets all over Russia, each selling on average 10 beer types. 80% of draught beer dispensers installed at these retail outlets are the PEGAS systems. The newest beer dispenser in the PEGAS line is the CrafTap. The PEGAS CrafTap is successfully working in Germany, Austria, Czech, Israel, Finland, Switzerland, USA, and is gaining popularity in Russia.

Resembling a futuristic soda fountain, the cylindrical-shaped CrafTap is a beer dispensing system that enables fast and foam-free filling of draught beer from kegs into glass bottles. Since it’s unveiling at the 2011 Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America, CrafTap has attracted the attention of microbreweries throughout the U.S., since it lets them fill beer fast, hygienically, and with no foam. CrafTap virtually eliminates beer waste, increasing keg yield, lowering operational costs and optimizing business efficiency. Further, the CrafTap is a counterfill system, encompassing the inside of the growler in carbon dioxide (CO2), which prolongs the life of the beer. Learn more.

About HB 1465 – 2011-12

Sen. Steve Hobbs, (D-Lake Stevens) first introduced SB 5711 — 2011-12 concerning the sale of beer by beer and/or wine specialty shop licensees to the legislature on February 8, 2011. The bill reached its second reading, only to be placed in the Senate Rules “X” file on March 7. Realizing HB 1465 for modifying the conditions and restriction for liquor licenses was on-track for reading, public hearing, and executive action, Sen. Hobbs worked to get the growler action added. On April 29, Governor Gregoire signed HB 1465 into law, with an effective date of July 22, 2011. The new law authorizes a beer and/or wine specialty shop licensee, upon approval by the liquor control board, to receive an endorsement that permits the sale of beer to a purchaser in a sanitary container brought to the premises by the purchaser, or provided by the licensee, and filled at the tap by the licensee at the time of sale.

Sources: http://www.99bottles.net/
http://www.washingtonbeerblog.com/