Growlers, growlers, and growlers, oh my!

With approval of our growler labels by the California Department of Alcohol and Beverage Control this week, we can finally start filling growlers. There are, of course, a few stipulations:

• The Good Beer Company does not have any growlers in stock for purchase at this time. We will get a shipment of growlers in November and begin to sell blank growlers consistent with the following requirements. Until we start carrying blank growlers, you are welcome to bring in your own blank or growler with adequately obscured labels (please use tape). We also don't stock caps or lids - your growler should have a lid or flip top when you bring it into the tasting room.
• Blank growlers - we fill only blank growlers. Your growler can be covered in tape such that any other labels are adequately obscured. If we see any evidence of any other brewery, we will not fill the growler. Use thick opaque tape that is water resistant so that any labels are properly obscured after a water rinse and condensation.
• Glass growlers - this should go without saying. Everyone uses glass. Don't bring us a plastic or wood growlers. We will accept stainless steel or ceramic growlers as long as they meet the other requirements on this list.
• 2 Liters - at this time we are only authorized by the ABC to fill growlers that are 2 Liters in volume. 
• Clean - last, but certainly not least, bring us a clean growler to fill. We aren't going to scrub the grime out of the bottom of your growler. In order to avoid gnarly growlers, you should rinse your growler with hot water immediately after you drain it. We will sanitize your growler before filling, but we will not scrub it clean.

That's it. That's all you have to do to get a growler fill at The Good Beer Company. We will list growler fills on our tap list in the brewery (and occasionally via social media) and the beers will rotate frequently based on what's available. You can contact us via social media or email at any time with questions about what growler fills are available.

For additional information, the California Craft Brewers Association released this statement regarding the recent growler law clarification, allowing the filling of blank or properly obscured growlers.

Bring in your blank, clean, 2-liter, glass (or stainless steel) growler for a fill of Good Beer! Don't forget it's our Grand Opening Weekend Extravaganza!!!

Grand Opening November 1

We have been in "soft opening" mode for a couple weeks now as we release new beers and iron out the kinks in our tasting room. And we can finally announce that we are going to have a Grand Opening! Here are the details:

THE GOOD BEER COMPANY GRAND OPENING!

Twelve different craft beers brewed in Downtown Santa Ana

Open to the public

Thursday, October 30 through Sunday, November 2, 2014

Regular Hours:
Wed/Thu 5 to 9pm
Fri 5 to 10pm
Sat 12 noon to 10pm
Sun 12 noon to 8pm

309 West Fourth Street, Santa Ana, California

We expect to have 12 different craft beers on tap for our Grand Opening. This will include the beers we've released so far, including Saison Uno, Pale Wheat, Beer Salvaje, and DTSA IPA (to be released this upcoming weekend) and at least two of the beers we are currently fermenting! We'll also have several unique brewery-only variations on these beers, too. Last weekend, for example, we released a mouthwatering version of Saison Uno dry hopped with Citra hops. With our amazing base beers and some fun variations, we'll have all twelve of our taps flowing!

The festivities begin on Thursday and Friday, so that our supporters, friends and family that work Monday-Friday in Downtown can share in the fun. You can wear your Halloween costume on Friday October 31 for bonus points.

Saturday is one of Downtown's biggest events of the year - Day of the Dead, an event that takes place right outside our front door on 4th Street. They are expecting enormous crowds on Saturday November 1, so plan accordingly. Plan on parking in a nearby parking structure on 3rd or 5th street. And don't forget the parking structures usually have special event parking during events like Day of the Dead.

While we know that it will be a blast to celebrate Dia de los Muertos on November 1, we want our supporters to also have the opportunity to come in on Sunday and try our unique variations. We can't promise that all the variations will last through the weekend but we can promise that at least 6 of our base beers will be on tap, and we'll do everything we can to make sure there are some cool variations to try. I would also add that there is generally free parking on Sundays in Downtown Santa Ana.