ALBANY, Calif.—For some California residents, filling a growler no longer requires leaving the house.
Hopsy—a startup based in the San Francisco Bay Area—recently started delivering growlers (reusable container filled with draft beer) in select zip codes of the East Bay region. While there are other services delivering alcohol (including Drizly, Minibar, Saucey, The Rare Beer Club, and Thirstie), Hopsy bills itself as the nation’s first growler-only delivery service (at least one brewery in the U.S.—Riip Beer Co. in Huntington Beach, California—also delivers growlers). And while some of those services only connect consumers with retailers, Hopsy serves as distributor and retailer. “We’re like the milkman, but for beer,” says Sebastien Tron, who co-founded Hopsy with Andrew Perroy and Bodie Paden.
Hopsy currently offers 20 beers from 10 breweries, including Magnolia Brewing Co. in San Francisco and Moylan’s Brewery in Novato. Customers can buy 32-ounce, glass growlers to go at Hopsy’s retail store in Albany (tasting in the store isn’t allowed) or place delivery orders on its website. Growlers range from $11.99 to $15.99 with free delivery on orders of four or more growlers. A $4.99 fee is charged for orders of three growlers or less.
To ensure that beer reaches its customers in the optimal state, Hopsy requires breweries to use a counter-pressure filler to limit the amount of oxygen that contacts the beer. And Hopsy keeps growlers below 40 degrees throughout its delivery process.
Tron says Hopsy sold out of growlers in each of its first four weeks in business. In the near future, Hopsy plans to add more breweries and expand delivery to San Francisco. Goals for the distant future include offering same-day delivery and additional expansion. “This is the first one,” Tron says. “We want to test it and expand to other markets.”
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story did not include a mention of Riip Beer Co.
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