Parker's Testing Craft Beer Program

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- The Parker Cos. is adding the beer growler into the mix at one of its local stores. If all goes well, the program will be rolled out across the company's portfolio.

The Parker Cos. launched the beer growler pilot program at Parker's Market Urban Gourmet on Drayton Street in Savannah on Friday morning, the Savannah Morning News reported. Customers in the historic district can buy 64-ounce glass containers for $3.99, and also have the option of buying reusable containers for an additional $10.99, according to Brandon Hofmann, the company's director of marketing and beer maestro.

"It's a way to get higher-end beers and get them in draft form," CEO Greg Parker explained. "We cap it in the store and you take them out."

Hoffman added that the program is not self-service, explaining that the customer buys the growler and a store employee fills it, caps it and puts a security seal on it.

"If it's in a vehicle and you're driving down the road … it acts just like a 40-ounce beer you'd buy out of the cooler," he said.

On tap at the Parker's Market Urban Gourmet are eight different brews: Moon River Apparition (Savannah); Savannah Brown Ale (Richmond Hill, Ga.); Terrapin Rye Pale Ale (Athens, Ga.); RJ Rockers' First Snow (Spartanburg, S.C.); Avery IPA (Boulder, Colo.); New Belgium Dig (Fort Collins, Colo.); Phin & Matt's Extraordinary Ale, Southern Tier (Lakewood, N.Y.), and Crispin Cider (Minneapolis).

"We're going to rotate them," Hofmann told the news outlet. "We've got a list currently of 18 different varieties that we're going to rotate ... based on request and seasonality."

Added Parker: "We're still playing with it to see what works. For people who love beer, it's a great opportunity."

The pilot program comes less than a month after Philadelphia-based Sunoco Inc. brought its Craft Beer Exchange south to 13 APlus convenience stores in coastal South Carolina. Until now, the retailer's growler program has only been available at locations in upstate New York, as CSNews Online previously reported.