Great Growler Find!

I've been looking for growlers all over the internet and they ranged in price from $7-$30 and then I would still have shipping on top of that. This was a little more then I wanted to pay for a couple growlers so I figured I would call my local brewer to see how much they charge for an empty growler.

$3.50!!!!

I always assumed everything would be cheaper online but this showed me it is always worth checking locally.

3.50 per? thats pretty expensive. If you dont care about it being brown you can get it for a little over a buck each

http://www.fillmorecontainer.com

Don't know if your local grocery store has them but you can buy Murray's Apple cider which comes in a clear half gallon jug/growler. It's $2.99 here. Then you can use the cider to make hard cider or whatever else...

If I'm in need of a growler, I usually go to the beer store and pick up a growler of beer. Drink beer, attain growler

You apparently have never bought a growler of beer from a local brewery?
Don't buy them empty, is all I can say.
They tack the one-time fee for the glass on your 1st fill-up. It is generally 3-4 bucks.

My question is whether or not you can bottle, carbonate and condition in a growler?

TheSeether said:

My question is whether or not you can bottle, carbonate and condition in a growler?

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I've done it twice, but I've heard that they are not designed for that sort of pressure.

i have carbonated in a growler once. it came out just fine but i have read on here that growler bottles are not strong enough to carb with. maybe i just got lucky. i won't do it again for fear of a large bottle bomb

I can pick em up for a $2.50 deposit at the Harpoon brewery down the street.

payton34 said:

i have carbonated in a growler once. it came out just fine but i have read on here that growler bottles are not strong enough to carb with. maybe i just got lucky. i won't do it again for fear of a large bottle bomb

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"BREAKING NEWS: Domestic terrorist terrorizes downtown Grand Rapids with beer-bombs. More info to follow the break!"

I wouldn't carb in a normal screw cap growler, but I did buy a case of these and carb in them all the time... Certainly not cheap but they are really thick...

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/2-LITER-SWING-TOP-JUGS-6-Actual-Cost-Shipping-Item-P1941C49.aspx

I use my half gallon screw cap growlers for starters. They work great!


and if i'm ever going to head to a particular brewery of which I have an empty I don't have to pay for the deposit to get a refill

I use growlers for starters and to store extra Starsan solution. Occasionally, I run a couple to the bar to actually use them for beer.

anything special about storing the star-san? can i just keep it at room temp? I would definitely like to do this.

MikeMayhem said:

I use my half gallon screw cap growlers for starters. They work great!


and if i'm ever going to head to a particular brewery of which I have an empty I don't have to pay for the deposit to get a refill

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My experience is that many breweries will either (a) happily fill your growler from another brewery or (b) happily replace it with one of their own growlers. No need to hunt for the right one.

that's good to know! thanks!

jds said:

My experience is that many breweries will either (a) happily fill your growler from another brewery or (b) happily replace it with one of their own growlers. No need to hunt for the right one.

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Unless you are somewhere like San Diego. When I was there, you needed a growler with the brewery name, some safety info, and if if said the name of a beer on it (like those huge Double Bastard bottles), that particular beer is the only one that can fill it.

I'm guessing everywhere is different, but I was really surprised at Sand Diego.

Hmm, have 6 growlers with screw tops I've used to carbonate atleast twice. Have yet to have a problem. Am I missing something?

My local micro(ish) brewery Rock Bottom will give you a growler full of any of their normal beers for around 8 bucks! I consider it to be the best deal in my area beer related, even though their beer is not anything to write home about.

TheSeether said:

My question is whether or not you can bottle, carbonate and condition in a growler?

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No, and if Revvy sees this he will kick your ass!

Not really, but he will lecture you and post a link to his previous discussions on this topic.

jblizz said:

I wouldn't carb in a normal screw cap growler, but I did buy a case of these and carb in them all the time... Certainly not cheap but they are really thick...

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/2-LITER-SWING-TOP-JUGS-6-Actual-Cost-Shipping-Item-P1941C49.aspx

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I'd still be worried that the glass isn't strong enough to hold the pressure, beer bottles are designed to withstand the CO2 produced when bottle conditioning, growlers aren't.

I do the same. And the Rock Bottom closest to me (Bellevue, WA) has an excellent beermaster that makes some really great beers. He's even agreed to give me yeast for home brewing if I needed it!

Their growlers are the screw-top variety so they're not the greatest, but they are cheap!

kpr121 said:

My local micro(ish) brewery Rock Bottom will give you a growler full of any of their normal beers for around 8 bucks! I consider it to be the best deal in my area beer related, even though their beer is not anything to write home about.

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Good to know about the no bottle conditioning thing, we were just talking about trying to do a couple of growlers. Yikes.

However, if you don't mind the lack of glass and plan to drink the beer within a few months, 2l soda bottles work nicely, and have no problems handling carbonation pressure.

I'm not kidding. They work nicely for the lazy brewer. I used them many times before I bought kegging gear.

I found an awesome west german growler at an antique store yesterday for 10 bucks, and it would have come home with me except I opened it. Basically smelled like death and the inside had turned black from having old beer (I assume) sitting in it for who knows how long.

count_dookie said:

I found an awesome west german growler at an antique store yesterday for 10 bucks, and it would have come home with me except I opened it. Basically smelled like death and the inside had turned black from having old beer (I assume) sitting in it for who knows how long.

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muratic acid