BEER: Moosehead the latest brewer to phase out bottles

Growlers, howlers and bottles. Is it time to can them all?

Growlers were on the outs before the pandemic and many remaining nostalgic craft brewers finally put a stop to growler and the smaller howler fills during the pandemic and never brought them back, realizing the flaws those two litre lugs of beer presented. Cleaning them before refilling, the loss of carbonization unless the beer was consumed pronto were top of the list of issues.

Recommended Videos

Now, for different reasons, the growler’s glass cousin is facing the same fate. Bottles are exiting the scene.

Moosehead Breweries says only seven per cent of beer is sold in bottles in Canada as consumers prefer cans. Cans, say brewers, protect beer from light and oxygen better than capped bottles. Consumers like cans because they’r