Can I use 1/2 gallon Growlers?

I'm sorry if this sounds like a stupid question. But...
My wife and I are getting ready to get into brewing our own beer. We have not started yet (our kit and stuff has been ordered) and we are in the process of getting bottles together for when we are ready to bottle our first brew.

Now my question is that we have been enjoying a beer from a local brewery and their beer comes in a 1/2 gallon growler with a resealable twist on/off cap. The bottles are dark brown so color should be 'OK'. Can we use these bottles or should we stick with the 'standard' size? Are these too big?

F.Y.I.
The beer that we have been getting the bottles from are Opa Opa brewed by the North Hampton brewery here in MA.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

Well if you drink one in a day or so after opening, I find them to be great. I recently opened one that I had some hard cider (which I primed) and the carbonation was fine. I did have one get an infection but that was my own stupidity and nothing to do with the growler. As long as the cap seals just fine you should be good to go. I don't normally use them because I don't like being 'committed' to drinking a full growler once I open it...in case I am in the mood for some other style.

Guess I should add two things...one is they will make bottling day much easier. You'll have to fill 10 of those for a 5 gallon batch vs. 48 or so 12 oz. Second, some people are fine drinking a growler in a sitting. Personally, unless someone shares it I am hard pressed to do so.

I'm with zoe. It will work fine to prime and bottle and if you and your wife can drink the entire 1/2 gallon in a day, go for it.

I, on the other hand, drink maybe 2-3 beers per sitting most times, (and I don't drink every single day) so a growler isn't the way to go for me...

The question comes up. On the technical side, there is a fine line between a good enough seal and trashing the cap.

Yeah, some of those growler screw tops are pretty chincy IMO. I like the swingtop growlers best... Look cooler and should provide a much better seal with the large rubber gasket...

SilkkyBrew said:

Yeah, some of those growler screw tops are pretty chincy IMO. I like the swingtop growlers best... Look cooler and should provide a much better seal with the large rubber gasket...

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These 'seem' to be a pretty good cap. They have a plastic 'wedge' that is inside the cap so when you screw it on it should seal pretty well.

But what zoebisch01 said makes since. Maybe we'll do a few growlers and the rest regular bottles. That way if the growlers/caps don't work out we're not losing an entire batch. But if they do work out then we know for future use.

Thanks for all the help! At least we know they 'should' work.

david_42 said:

The question comes up. On the technical side, there is a fine line between a good enough seal and trashing the cap.

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Yeah this is indeed something you have to keep an eye on. The ones I have a very good (the brewery has higher quality ones). I was worried, but having run out of bottles, I figured what the heck. Worked great. But, they are not terribly old either. You can buy the caps though like david suggests. Actually, you could even ask the brewpub if they have some they could sell you. That way you are assured of a good seal. Just make sure to give them a firm tightening after you bottle and I am fairly certain it should be fine.

I have a few of those growlers, the cap seems very air tight to me, but i still wouldnt use it to bottle...

get some 12 oz bottles, and use that growler for a yeast starter next time your brew!