The Growler Stop

Beer comes in a variety of forms, such as domestic, imported, craft, light, dark, wheat, hoppy, bottled, tap, and – recently growing in popularity – the growler.

A growler is a glass or ceramic jug used to transport draft beer, commonly sold at breweries and brewpubs as a means to sell take-out craft beer. With the recent resurgence of craft breweries nationwide, the popularity of growlers is also seeing a significant uptick.

That’s why, in early November, The Growler Stop opened inside the Newtown-based WagsPark Shell Filling Station. There, you can fill your growler with a variety of fresh beers from a number of breweries around Cincinnati. Blank Slate, Fifty West, and Matree are just some of the breweries found among the tap handles at The Growler Stop. Most of the local Cincinnati breweries create products that cannot be found canned or bottled on the shelves of just any store.

“Smaller breweries don’t usually bottle their product, so this is an exciting time for local beer connoisseurs,” says Bobby Slattery, Co-Owner of Fifty West Brewing Company. “Local beer is definitely an in-demand product. Craft breweries that churn out innovative and unique-tasting suds have doubled their market share in the last ten years. More and more people are buying local and The Growler Stop is just making it easier for them to do so.”

The Growler Stop is Cincinnati’s first growler pouring station outside of a grocery store or a brewery itself. So then, why should you select a Shell Filling Station for The Growler Stop? “Fuel is a necessity item that we typically stop for multiple times a week, this provides a convenient opportunity to grab a local craft beer. In less time than it takes to fill your tank, we can fill a growler too,” says Blaine Bacher, General Manager of The Growler Stop and WagsPark Shell Station.

The new beer pouring station is equipped with a state-of-the-art growler-filling machine that retains carbonation. “This particular filling process fills growlers the same way brewers fill kegs, using counter-pressure to prevent foaming and keep out oxygen, making this superior to your standard growler fill up,” says Max Fram, Assistant Brewer at Fifty West Brewing Company.

With 10 taps from various local breweries, The Growler Stop anticipates to change how and where Cincinnatians drink their hometown beer.

“It gives customers the opportunity to drink our beer on their terms—in the glass they want, with who they want, and where they want,” says Jason Brewer, Taproom Manager and Social Media Director at Listermann Brewing.

The Growler Stop is located at 3804 Church Street in Newtown. For more information, visit TheGrowlerStop.com.