Trend for US gas station beer taps grows

More than 30 US states now allow gas stations and convenience stores to serve beer on tap, allowing customers to fill up 64-ounce growlers while on the road.

Several states, including Florida, Iowa and Missouri, are currently considering laws to allow the practice with 35 having already passed laws, according to the US Brewers Association, which reported that craft beer sales had grown 22% in 2014 to $19.6 billion.

As reported by USA Today Paul Gatza, director of the Brewers Association, said of the trend: “It’s definitely becoming more popular. The American public wants to be able to control their experience. They want to be able to take their beer home and pour as much or little as they want.”

Sunoco was one of the first gas stations to introduce growlers, tapping into the popularity of craft beer by opening its first “Craft Beer Exchange” in 2011 at a gas station in Buffalo, New York.

Today, Sunoco fills growlers in 65 convenience stores in New York and South Carolina with six to 12 beers on tap ranging from $8 to $20 per half-gallon.

Customers can bring in an empty growler or buy one for about $4. Employees trained to work the taps fill and seal the growlers. In the Pacific Northwest, The Growler Guys has opened 10 franchises with the company’s original location in a Shell gas station in Bend, Oregon, boasting more than 30 beers on tap.