The fresh taste of draft beer can now travel home with you, as several local breweries are offering to fill up 64-ounce growlers with their small-batch brews. Growlers, which date to the 19th century, are typically glass jugs that are topped off straight from the tap and can be used again and again.

     “Some of the beers we have on tap we don’t bottle, so it’s a good way for people to try all of our varieties,” says Matt Nucci, co-owner of Blue Mountain Brewery in Afton, which has a booming growler business. Due to the popularity of these containers, other breweries such as Devils Backbone Brewing Company in Roseland and Cally’s Restaurant and Brewing Company in Harrisonburg are also stocking (and blowing through) them. “We have sold pallets and pallets of growlers,” says Chris Trotter, general manager of Devils Backbone Brewing Company. “Our growler manufacturers are amazed.”

     The positive response is due in part to their eco-friendliness. The Natural Resources Defense Council, in fact, prefers them over cans and bottles simply because they’re reusable and won’t wind up in landfills. 

     Growlers in our area cost anywhere from $8 to $16; after the initial purchase of the container, it’s another $7.50 to $16 to refill it, averaging around $3 a pint. Compare that with the $5-and-up that you’d pay for a pint of a locally crafted brew at a bar. “The growlers are a great value,” Trotter says. “And who doesn’t want to watch their beer filled right in front of them?” —Jordan McConnel