Beer haven: 30-tap Madison Growler Shop opens inside Midtown Memphis’ Cash Saver
The Cash Saver grocery store in Midtown, which already boasts of the best selection and prices for packaged craft beer in Memphis, has unveiled a new addition just in time for the holidays.
The 30-tap Madison Growler Shop, with 64-ounce glass jugs of beer to go, opened for business Friday inside the grocery store at 1620 Madison Avenue.
It’s the first growler-fill station inside a Memphis grocery store, and it opened just on the heels of The Growler, which debuted in Cooper-Young earlier this month as Memphis’ first growler shop.
Cash Saver’s growler shop will be open Monday-Saturday, from noon to 8 p.m.
The shop sells glass growlers for about $5, or you can bring one in to fill. Prices range from about $4 to $9 per fill, though Yazoo Brewing Company’s limited-edition 10-year IPA went on sale Friday for $14. Like everything else in the store, Cash Saver sells growlers for cost, plus 10 percent.
On their first day of business, Cash Saver craft beer manager Taylor James (above) and Erica Bodine filled about 50 growlers in the first five hours, and that was even before people has gotten off work.
So, needless to say, business was brisk.
The growler station features local beers, including Memphis Made Brew Company, Ghost River Brewing and High Cotton Brewing Company (no Wiseacre so far), and regional beers, like Schlafly Beer, Abita Beer, Blackstone Brewing Co. and Yazoo. Other breweries featured include Fort Collins Brewing Co., New Belgium, Brooklyn Brewery, Stone, Rogue and Sierra Nevada.
Due to Tennessee beer laws, only “low gravity” beers, which are about 6.25 ABV or lower, can be sold at the store.
As more Memphians ditch the Bud, Miller or Coors in favor of a craft beer, growler shops are becoming the latest business to help meet the growing demand for good beer.
In addition to Cash Saver’s Madison Growler Shop and The Growler, Memphis Filling Station has announced plans to open in early 2014, and a growler station is being planned as part of the East Memphis Whole Foods expansion.
For the latest beer news from Cash Saver, follow the Madison Growler Shop on Twitter, @madisongrowler. Also, you can follow Taylor James, @taylorhjames, and Eric Bodine, @scootette.
