though I didn't notice the price of those.

In 2012, I wrote a short session article about growlers in Ireland. At the time, they were only starting to make an appearance. Things have changed as you might imagine. Many pubs around the country now have a growler service.What's a growler though? I'm sure some people reading might be a little unsure so let me explain.A growler is basically a large bottle to store draught beer in. The idea is to take your growler to the bar, have it filled and bring it home to drink it. They are usually large glass bottles of varying volumes but even a 1 or 2 litre PET bottle can be used. They tend to either have a screw cap or even better, a swing top.The best ones are the large 2 litre swing top growlers such as my Hopus bottle. The best thing about that one is that it came filled with Hopus!So, why do people use growlers? It tends to involve going to a bar in the first place so why fill a growler? Growlers have always been a US/Canadian thing and to some degree Australian. These are large countries with very poor public transport outside of the major cities so driving is almost essential. It's often the case that people bring their growlers direct to the brewery to be filled and taken home. They are being responsible by not drinking and driving.How relevant are they in Ireland as we approach 2015? Increasingly so it would seem. The problem with a growler in a city like Dublin is that driving to a pub doesn't make sense as there will not be any convenient parking. Taking a growler with you on public transport doesn't make much sense either as they are bulky and heavy, especially once filled and since you are already on public transport, there is little stopping you from having a drink in the pub. This doesn't stop many people from getting growlers filled. Often, it will be a beer that isn't available outside of pubs or a special one off beer. J.W. Sweetman, Dublin's only brewpub has been filling growlers for over a year now and since you can only get their beer on tap at the bar or a few select bars around the city, it makes perfect sense.Galway Bay bars in Dublin and Galway also fill growlers. I have a growler of their Goodbye Blue Monday in my fridge at home. My lovely wife brought it home on Sunday as it's one of her favourite beers and she knows I like it too.Recently, a new type of growler location appeared. The Carryout off-licence in Tyrellstown is the first in Ireland to provide growler fills using the Pegas CraftTap system supplied by Craft Beer Growlers . It's an impressive setup with multiple filling stations and a rotating keg menu to choose from. I brought my Hopus growler along last week to get Black's Rocketship IPA filled. The price was right at €14 for a 2 litre fill. I hadn't even had it on tap in a pub yet.I should point out that ordinarily they would only fill their own growlers. That's because the Pegas system is filled under pressure so they need to be sure the growler can handle it. Since mine was identical to theirs, there was no issue but that might not always be the case.They also sell their own growlers and the price is a very reasonable €7 for a two litre swingtop that's identical to my Hopus bottle. There are also 1 litre swingtop bottles, the same sort that Franciscan Well use in their specials. I have a large number of those at home ready to be filled. Unfortunately a 1 litre fill isn't half the price of a 2 litre fill for some reason so a €14 2 litre fill will cost €7.50 for a 1 litre fill. I don't get the logic myself, unless it's to dissuade people coming in with multiple 1 litre growlers as that would take more time than a single 2 litre fill.If you don't want a proper growler, they provide PET bottlesThese are free of charge, just be sure to cover them to prevent light getting in to them.This format is ideal for me because I work a few minutes away and can drive down at lunch time, get a growler fill and bring it home with me. I should also note that the off license has one of the most impressive ranges of Irish and world craft beer in Dublin. The Blanchardstown/Dublin 15 area might be sorely lacking in pubs serving Irish Craft Beer but there are two outstanding bottle shops with an unbelievable range. The other one is the massive Molloy's on the Clonsilla road.Unfortunately, one of the biggest missed opportunities in growlers is when it comes to breweries. Ireland still uses archaic licensing laws left over from our days under British rule. They essentially mean that a brewery may not sell beer to the public unless it exceeds about 19 litres. I say about because the actual number is an old unused one that equates to about 19 litres. That means that the only way a brewery could sell me beer would be if I rocked up with a corny keg to be filled. I think it would be a great revenue stream for breweries to be able to sell their beer to the public as well as a revenue stream for the government too lazy to update our licensing laws.For a little more reading on Growlers, The Irish Beer Snob wrote a piece on TheTaste.ie about them a few days ago. You can read his article here