Why is it called a Growler?

[Batz]

I visited friends today and as usual I took one of my growlers, most people around here are quite familiar with a me and a growler in tow. Now today I was asked why is it called a growler? Had me stumped, after a bit of goggling I see it has many stumped.

This was interesting but,

http://www.bottless.net/The_History_of_The_Beer_Growler_s/605.htm

Anyone know more on the name history?

Batz

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Maybe the early ones were a bit "ruff"

 

[DU99]

The term likely dates back to the late 19th century when fresh beer was carried from the local pub to one's home by means of a small galvanized pail. It is claimed the sound that the CO2 made when it escaped from the lid as the beer sloshed around sounded like a growl

 

[Batz]

The term likely dates back to the late 19th century when fresh beer was carried from the local pub to one's home by means of a small galvanized pail. It is claimed the sound that the CO2 made when it escaped from the lid as the beer sloshed around sounded like a growl

You don't go for that one surely, I don't imagine beer was that carbonated.

Sorry fail.....I read that one too. BS.
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Next?

 

[NealK]

The earliest use of “growler” in print found so far (by etymologist Barry Popik, who has an entire page devoted to “growler” at barrypopik.com) comes from 1883, and there has been considerable debate as to the origin of the term. The explanation most frequently offered is that “growler” originally referred either to the sound the full pail made being shoved down the bar or, less plausibly, to the sound made by the escaping bubbles in a bucket full of beer. (Personally, I’d say that if your beer seems to be growling at you, it may be time to take a very long nap.) It’s also been suggested that “growler” refers to the cranky (or worse) temperament of someone who has consumed an entire pail of beer.
Researcher Gerald Cohen, on the other hand, has come up with what strikes me as a more likely origin. Noting that an alternate form of “rush the growler” back in the 1800s was “chase the duck,” Cohen suggests that the original metaphor behind such phrases was that of a hunting dog dispatched to find and retrieve a downed fowl. In “chase the duck,” the command to the “fetcher” is obvious. In “rush the growler,” the “growler” is the dog urged to fetch the prey quickly. Cohen’s theory seems entirely plausible, and I’d be willing to bet a bucket of beer that he’s right.
I found this on The Word-Detective.com.
Still no definite answer but I hope it helps.

 

[timmi9191]

Because the word vagina was already taken..

 

[Batz]

The earliest use of “growler” in print found so far (by etymologist Barry Popik, who has an entire page devoted to “growler” at barrypopik.com) comes from 1883, and there has been considerable debate as to the origin of the term. The explanation most frequently offered is that “growler” originally referred either to the sound the full pail made being shoved down the bar or, less plausibly, to the sound made by the escaping bubbles in a bucket full of beer. (Personally, I’d say that if your beer seems to be growling at you, it may be time to take a very long nap.) It’s also been suggested that “growler” refers to the cranky (or worse) temperament of someone who has consumed an entire pail of beer.
Researcher Gerald Cohen, on the other hand, has come up with what strikes me as a more likely origin. Noting that an alternate form of “rush the growler” back in the 1800s was “chase the duck,” Cohen suggests that the original metaphor behind such phrases was that of a hunting dog dispatched to find and retrieve a downed fowl. In “chase the duck,” the command to the “fetcher” is obvious. In “rush the growler,” the “growler” is the dog urged to fetch the prey quickly. Cohen’s theory seems entirely plausible, and I’d be willing to bet a bucket of beer that he’s right.
I found this on The Word-Detective.com.
Still no definite answer but I hope it helps.

Read that one too, my wife calls them a grumpy.

 

[wombil]

As another side to Batz's article on the growler we have the same tradition here in Queensland.In the early 1900's or before , when Mount Morgan mine was in full swing the miners would have a lad bring a billy can of beer from the pub for a drink at end of shift.This was called "RUNNING THE CUTTER".
Similar to Batz,s story from Milwalkee but a different name for the container.There is a statue of a boy running the cutter in the street at Mount Morgan.
The following paragraph is from the Mount Morgan Historical society.
The practice was probably pretty widespread as I recall one old bloke saying that when they finished plowing,(Horse drawn)the missus would bring a bucket of beer to the paddock for the men.That was 60 years ago and he was at least 60+ then.
Doesn't help much with the origin of the name but the same practice was probably enacted all over.In the U.S.it was called a growler and called a cutter here.
Maybe we could stick with our own name and call it a cutter.Have to find out why it's called a cutter then hey.I'll ask around.

 

[DU99]

[SIZE=10pt]Before bottled beer became economical and common (especially after the widespread use of pasteurization in the mid-1800's) in the US, if one wanted beer outside of the saloon, it was usually draught beer filled and carried out in a growler, aka a "can" or "bucket" of beer. Many different containers (including pitchers, other pottery or glass jars and jugs, etc) were used to carry beer home or to work - the most common "growler" was a 2 quart galvanized or enameled pail as seen in these illustrations. Pitchers/jugs, however, tho' not as nostalgically romantic, were also routinely be referred to as "Growlers". See Stoneware jugs or pitchers as Growlers While many children were employed by parents and others to "Rush the Growler" (or "Rush the Can"), as can be seen in the photo directly above, adults also were "Bucket Boys" or "Kesseljunges" (a German term apparently used in Milwaukee in particular). Note the notched poles above which will be used by the "boy" to carry the growlers back to the workplace, as is being done with the empties (above left). The beer in a growler was sold as a "pint" but most bartenders by tradition filled a growler with close to a quart of beer- the excess space taken up by the generous head on the beer. During the early 20th century when the "nickel beer" was standard, a growler fill was commonly5-15¢ (see prices below left). While the origins of the "Growler" term is much in dispute on brewerianaand etymology sites, some contemporary sources suggest that it was the constant conflict between the two parties - the bartender who's filling atwo quart pail with a pint of beer - and the customer looking for a full pail- which caused the "growling". [/SIZE]

 

[TidalPete]

Hey DU99,
That seems to be a copy & paste from somewhere & all very informative. :super:
Can I be a "squealer" :lol: & ask for the link please?

 

[DU99]

info in batz post also try this http://beeradvocate.com/articles/384/

 

[TidalPete]

Thanks DU99 & thanks also to you wombil old son for your great input which sounds good to me in this "Americanised" world. :beer:
Now what would a squealer be if a growler was a cutter?
Any ideas?

 

[wombil]

Not trying to hijack Batz's post but maybe add to the discussion.
Just asked a lifelong Mount Morgan resident why the billy of beer was called a cutter and he said ,"Because the lane behind the pub was called Cutters Lane".Wether the lane was named after the practice of drinking the cutter there or was named after a different cutter we don't know.
The miners would smear the bottom of the billy with butter so the beer would not foam up and they would get a full billy.Don't know if the yanks thought of this trick but it knocks the story of the beer growling out of the lid.

 

[Batz]

I know Mt Morgan as I pass thought there heading to work sometimes, it's the sort of town I find blow torches, another of my stupid collections.

From now on I'll call my growlers cutters, also the name of the local AFL team. :super: Cheers guys, anyone asks the question again I have a story.

Batz

 

[wombil]

Good one Batz.
Perhaps the yanks used to drink theirs in Growlers Lane.

 

[of mice and gods]

if a cutter is a growler, wouldn't that make a squealer a knicker?

you might get strange looks arriving at a party saying you have your knickers full of beer though.

 

[of mice and gods]

..or asking other blokes at a homebrew meet about what's in their knickers.

ok, i'll stop now.

 

[Batz]

..or asking other blokes at a homebrew meet about what's in their knickers.

ok, i'll stop now.

You've never been to a Queensland swap then?