A prototype is a preliminary model of something. Projects that offer physical products need to show backers documentation of a working prototype. This gallery features photos, videos, and other visual documentation that will give backers a sense of what’s been accomplished so far and what’s left to do. Though the development process can vary for each project, these are the stages we typically see:

We believe craft beer lovers everywhere deserve to drink happy beer. Our mission is to ensure craft beer enthusiasts can get the most out of their own personal discovery and exploration of fresh, flavorful brews that taste just as the brewer intended. At the core of our vision is a commitment to supporting the craftsmanship of local breweries and the drink local movement by helping them sell more beer.

We do this by offering a product that is purposeful, simple to use, and beautifully crafted.

Our product is Growler Chill.

Growler Chill is a household countertap that keeps 3 growlers cold, fresh, and on tap right at home.

Over the last two years our design and engineering teams have worked hard to develop this patented, innovative appliance that holds standard glass growlers and extends your beer’s life for weeks after opening. By recreating keg conditions, Growler Chill keeps your beer happy.

So, just what makes beer happy? 4 things:

How does Growler Chill accomplish this?

COLD - Growler Chill is a refrigerated unit. You can adjust the inside temperate from 38° F - 54° F. The unit plugs into a standard 120 Volt outlet and due to the well insulated and compact chill chamber design, Growler Chill is highly energy efficient.

DARK - When light strikes beer, the beer can become skunked - affecting both flavor and aroma. Growler Chill's enclosed refrigeration unit is completely dark, protecting your beer from light at all times.

FREE FROM OXYGEN - Our patented Virginator purges the oxygen in the headspace of your growler with CO2 before you insert the growler inside the device. This prevents oxygen from creating off flavors in your beer before you have a chance to enjoy it.

CARBONATION - Growler Chill uses an internal 90 gram beverage grade CO2 cartridge to preserve and serve your growlers. The device also has an alternate port on the back for those who wish to use their own external CO2 source. This preserves the freshness of each pour for weeks after opening.

Well crafted, easy to use and solves a BIG problem.

The standard 64-ounce glass growler is inexpensive, reusable, recyclable, and legal in all 50 states. It is the most common way to bring home the 75,000+ varieties of craft beer available only on tap and not offered in bottles or cans.

But, until Growler Chill, beer in growlers had to be consumed within a day or so of opening or the effects of oxygen and loss of carbonation altered the product of the brewer’s art. And, if you couldn’t make beer last, then you couldn’t bring home a variety to enjoy on your schedule and not the beer’s schedule.

Growler Chill changes all of that by solving the growler perishability problem.

Our innovation extends the life of the beer in the growler (keeping it fresh for weeks) by keeping the beer cold, dark, under pressure, and protected from oxygen. And since perishability is no longer an issue it gives beer lovers the added benefit of having more than one selection of fresh craft beer on tap at home to enjoy. Now, instead of narrowing down take-home selection to just one growler, the craft beer lover can take home 3 growlers without the worry of them going to waste due to lost freshness in a short period of time.

Other products have attempted to solve parts of the problem. But only Growler Chill fixes them all.

Growler friendly. Growler Chill is compatible with both 64 ounce and 32 ounce standard, threaded cap, glass growlers - the ubiquitous, reusable, recyclable container found in almost every brewery. Forgot to take your growler with you to the brewery for a fill? No problem, most breweries stock this standard growler.

Easy for you, and easy for the brewer. Our device does not require any special filling equipment or instructions. No fuss, no mess and no transferring your delicious craft beer to a foreign container.

Craftsmanship counts. With clean lines and a compact design committed to function, Growler Chill was designed to easily fit under the standard 18” kitchen cabinet, in your home bar, or outdoor kitchen. Personalize your Growler Chill by sporting custom tap handles. Growler Chill's beer faucets have standard threads making it easy to customize with draft handles from your favorite breweries!

Beer is a terrible thing to waste. Bottles are placed inside Growler Chill inverted. Yep, that’s right - upside down! This reduces foam waste, and allows you to enjoy every drop of beer in your growler instead of relying on a tube that may or may not reach the bottom of your bottle. And if you’re a homebrewer, we have an optional cap for homebrewers who like to make unfiltered beer. This allows any sediment to fall to the neck of your growler, allowing you to enjoy every drop of your hard earned brew.

The user experience is simple and convenient.

When you bring the full growler home from the brewer, bar, or fill station, remove and replace the cap with our patent-pending quick connect “Magic Top Cap”. Insert into the Virginator, and in seconds any oxygen present in the headspace of the bottle is displaced by CO2. This prevents oxygen from causing off-flavors in your beer. Invert your growler and place in one of the three chill chambers. Once inserted, a regulated pressure of CO2 dispenses your beer through the tap faucet.

Growler Chill has been designed to connect to the Internet via WiFi so that users, if they choose, can download our free app that is currently under development.

Our app will allow users to control a selection of Growler Chill features by mobile phones or tablets. The app will include features such as remote temperature control, beer volume tracker, history of beers loaded and sanitizing cycle alerts. Want to know how much beer you have left on Tap 1? Weight sensors in each chill chamber give users a reading of the amount of beer remaining in each of the three growlers.

Growler Chill uses 90 gram beverage grade CO2 cartridges. These cartridges will serve approximately 9 growlers, including rinsing the lines between beer varieties. Replacement cartridges may be ordered through the Growler Chill website. We will also offer optional subscription plans for easy replenishment. If you are using our free app, you can track your usage and automated replenishment orders can be sent to you when your supply is running low.

Device Cleaning: Sanitization tablets and replacement beer lines (if needed) may be ordered at www.growlerchill.com. We recommend periodic cleaning for optimum performance. Simply use one of our sanitation tablets, and run a full growler of room temperature water through the device for cleaning.

Our idea was born on Sunday June 21, 2015, Father’s Day.

Since that time we have been working on Growler Chill's design and engineering with input from craft beer drinkers and brewers from all over the country. By conducting focus groups with these craft beer enthusiasts and asking head brewers for honest critiques, Growler Chill emerged as the innovative device that we’ve presented to you today. We have completed design and functioning prototypes and are ready to begin the final phase of production for mass manufacturing.

Help us bring Growler Chill to you! With your support, we can fast-track our way to final production and delivery. Your backing will help fund:

Mechanical tooling

Electronics Development

Final Production

Production Plan

Almost every beer product you come across is led by a team of beer enthusiasts. Don’t get me wrong, we do love beer, but there’s more to our story.

We are problem solvers, we are innovators, we are creative pioneers, we think different. We are entrepreneurs who have learned the most from our failures and appreciate how they led to our successes. We are community minded. We #drinklocal because it's the right thing to do. We are homebrewers, and outside of our day job we are friends. We believe in not just doing something, but doing it right.

Our Founder and creator, Randy Hollister is no stranger to the start up world. Having piloted two successful tech startups, Randy has taught us that at the core of every great innovation is a problem that needs solving, a need that must be met and an urgency to swiftly answer the demand. It is this philosophy that has fast-tracked our development and allowed our team to keep our eye on the prize.

Randy’s first successful start-up, LeadRouter which was sold to a Fortune 500 company, was awarded the prestigious Inman Innovator award for technological advancement in the real estate industry in 2005. He actually had to share his innovation award that year with a co-winner ..… Google Maps! The technology was also tapped for the CIO Magazine “Bold 100” award.

Prompted by a suggestion from his younger son, Randy conceptualized what may very well be his greatest career accomplishment yet. After some quick tooling and a modest sketch, his idea child, Growler Chill, became an innovative way to solve the growler perishability problem that is limiting sales and ultimately the enjoyment of craft beer.

Acting on his vision to disrupt the craft beer industry, Randy quickly assembled a team of professionals to bring Growler Chill to market. Today, he is joined by a talented group of creatives and engineers who, over the last 18 months have worked tirelessly challenging each iteration to perfection. Complemented by an in-house manufacturing and distribution expert, and a seasoned brand strategist, Growler Chill is now poised to drastically change the landscape of craft beer growler sales. Our office is located in downtown Myrtle Beach just 3 blocks from the Atlantic Ocean, and right around the corner from two of the best watering holes on the beach; New South Brewing and Atlas Tap House (where we frequently hold R&D meetings).

The Brewers Association estimates there are 41 million Americans who, at least occasionally, drink craft beer, accounting for over 10 million growler fills per year. And they all go bad within a day or two of opening. Our solution to the perishability problem dramatically disrupts the market for craft beer in take-home growlers, and ultimately the volume of craft beer sales for brewers and retailers alike. Our device will change the landscape for local breweries by making it more convenient and sensible for their customers to buy and take home more beer. Join us and support the drink local movement, help us bring Growler Chill to market and help our local brewers sell more beer.

In addition to our family & friends who have supported us and cheered us on, we also want to thank:

Brandipity Advertising, for piloting our brand development and identity and most importantly for creating the inspiring design that brought Growler Chill to life.

New South Brewing, for opening up their brewery and allowing us to learn and gain invaluable insight from their brewers and loyal customers

Atlas Tap House, for hosting our weekly staff meetings and educating us on their unmatched selection of craft beers. And a special thank you to Arlette for being our biggest cheerleader and always taking such good care of us; and Britt "talent scout extraordinaire"!

CRG Homes, for making us at home by opening up two of their exquisitely designed oceanfront houses for the filming of our Kickstarter video shoot.

Scott Smallin Photography, for taking our very first product shots and making us look like a million dollars (on short notice, too)

HedHi Media, for crafting our Kickstarter video and enduring the demands of our chief perfectionist.

SiMT-South Eastern Institute Manufacturing Technology, for assisting with our early engineering, 3D printing and prototype development.

To the THOUSANDS of craft beer enthusiasts across the country who have followed us on social media, sent us emails of encouragement, called to ask how it’s going and have helped us spread the word. This is for you! (and a special shout out to Russel in Cape Canveral and Lt. Dan in CT)

To our loyal Santa IOU purchasers, thank you for being our earliest of early birds!

Our faithful family and friends for their unconditional understanding when we failed to make it home for dinner, didn’t return calls and emails, and missed events in the interest of making our dream a reality.

And especially to Ella, for spending her weekends at breweries playing cards and board games, for napping under her mom's desk while we worked around the clock the last few days leading up to launch, and for cheering us along every step of the way.

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