Do you know what a Growler is? Well, I thought I did – and it was embarrassing for this ‘modest conservative lady’ to think about.

Growler 😀

In Australia, colloquially a ‘Growler’ is a very hairy bush. And if you still don’t know what I’m talking about – a very hairy bush on a lady! Got it now? No? Hmmm – lady parts, that are very hairy! I will go no further ….

A friend of ours has dreamed big and made his dream come true by opening his own Brewery in Esperance, Western Australia – Lucky Bay Brewery. You have to be impressed with this fellow – one day it was a dream and (seemingly) the next it was reality – simple beer from local barley. And it seems to be really ticking along – and is well supported by the locals.

Anyway, there are many types of beers (says I, ‘guru’ that I am not!) and different ways of drinking and carrying it – glass, bottle, keg and growlers.

I heard about these ‘beer’ growlers from my lovely husband who has taken to buying these 2L steel canisters to give as gifts – particularly to clients that he is saying goodbye to, as we have recently moved from Esperance, WA to NSW.

Anyway, one day he’s talking on the phone to me and suddenly he keeps saying ‘growlers’! I’m sure that I’m mishearing him. And I’m giggling … like a girl! Like, hee hee! What are you saying? 😀

Eventually, I get it, but I’m not comfortable. I’m home alone (as he’s in WA) but I’m blushing anyway. And in all future conversations, I can only refer to them as ’growlies’ 😛

As I said, modest! And clearly, adolescent. It’s okay; I can take it!

Where did the name ‘Growler’ come from?
Well, I’ve stolen the following words from the article The Growler: Beer-to-Go! on the website The Beer Advocate, for some background. (See: http://www.beeradvocate.com).

• In the late 1800s and early 1900s, fresh beer was carried from the local pub to one’s home by means of a small-galvanized pail. Rumor has it that when the beer sloshed around the pail, it created a rumbling sound as the CO2 escaped through the lid, thus the term “growler” was coined.
• OR
• George Bulvas III, brewmaster at Water Street Lake County Brewery, WI, suggests that growlers are named for the buckets of beer once given to factory workers before their stomachs began to “growl” from hunger.

So, I guess my husband will continue to buy Lucky Bay Brewery growlers – and eventually one might find its way home. They do seem a great idea and look very spick. And how does the beer taste? Well, next time you’re Esperance way – go and try for yourself.