North Carolina makes way for growlers, pending sanitation rules

In North Carolina, you can look, but not fill – not yet, at least. But soon!

As soon as North Carolina decides on regulations for sanitation, restaurants, bars, breweries and bottle shops finally will be able to fill and sell growlers.

What’s that about the cleaning? According to Charlotte Magazine, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory signed House Bill 829 last week, making the selling and filling of growlers legal — but before you rush out, order a shipment of growlers with your logo and start sending them out the door, the ABC Commission first must adopt a set of rules for dealing with growler sanitation. The deadline for those rules is Jan. 1. Hey, can’t rush things like this.

Charlotte Magazine clarifies:

Earlier this morning, I spoke with Agnes Stevens, the public affairs director for the N.C. ABC Commission, who confirmed that businesses must wait until the rules are in place before moving forward with filling and selling growlers.

Now that the bill has been signed into law, the ABC Commission can begin their process. Stevens said the commission would now start working on establishing both temporary and permanent rules for the sanitation of growlers. Stevens said creating a permanent rule is a process that takes between six to eight months.

For the gritty details of what happens within those six to eight months to finalize the rules, be sure to head to the Charlotte Magazine article and get your fill (Editor’s note: That pun DID NOT meet the sanitation guidelines).