Growlers from the local brew pub...their usefullness for bottling?

Hello forum! This is my first posting, and my first brewing attempt will begin on February 26. I'm currently preparing myself by reading as much as I can on the subject and buying equipment. So far I have a "Brewer's Best" kit which includes all the basics and a secondary, a wort chiller, an IPA ingredient kit, and "The Complete Joy of Home Brewing" by Charlie Parpazian. As far as I can tell, all I need now is bottling equipment - which will be my next purchase. My question is - I have about 10 of these half-gallon growlers from the local brew pub and I am interested in using them in addition to bottles. Will they work?

If they are the screw top type like I have you can't use them as they won't seal 100% to carbonate or retain carbonation. If you ever got them filled from the brewpub and didn't drink it after a couple days you'll notice it goes flat.

Now if they are the type with flip tops like Grolsch bottles (think they make some of those out there) then yes, they'd work for you.

Oh yea, they do work great for doing yeast starters or keg setups to take some homebrew to events though. This is what I use them for.

You might be able to get the cap tight enough to hold pressure, once! You'll end up taking the cap off with a plumber's wrench and destroying it. Follow desertbrew's advice, unless you are going for flat "real ale". [not that that's a bad thing]