Have 2 Growlers, What Do I Do with Them?

I was given two 1/2-gallon growlers with original lids and told that, as a homebrewer, I'd really appreciate having them.

What do I use them for? I don't keg, so I can't use them to transport jugs of beer from the keg. Growlers, as far as I know, aren't made to take the pressure of carbonating beer in the bottle.

Suggestions?

Use to make starters.

Does concord have any pubs that fill growlers? It's the cheapest way to drink pub beer.

take them to your local brewery/bar/brewpub and get them filled with delicious beer.

sell them to me... i want them

or do what i do... keg my beer... but bottle condition a few growlers to travel with

or just sell them to me... NOW hahahaha

seriously though... i want them

+1 on using them for starters. They are ideal for that once you can find a rubber stopper that fits the spout.

I find that 12 oz molotov cocktails just don't have the WHOOMF that I'm looking for.

Now 1/2 gallon glass jugs, on the other hand...

hercher said:

They are ideal for that once you can find a rubber stopper that fits the spout.

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Use aluminum foil.

Or use them as small blow off containers. I am using 1 of mine for this as the other 2 are full of local brewery beer!

Brew sake ... http://morebeer.com/view_product/6004/102379/Sake_Kit_-_400_Grams

I pour from my tap for a six pack on the go.

LandoLincoln said:

I find that 12 oz molotov cocktails just don't have the WHOOMF that I'm looking for.

Now 1/2 gallon glass jugs, on the other hand...

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Hahahaha hilarious

There is a myth that has been perpetuated on this site that under no circumstances are growlers appropriate for bottling. The fact is that as long as the growler isn't obviously super thin glass (this is rare) and you aren't carbing at high volumes of CO2 - say under 2, they work wonderfully.

I also agree the they are great for starters.

smyrnaquince said:

I was given two 1/2-gallon growlers with original lids and told that, as a homebrewer, I'd really appreciate having them.

What do I use them for? I don't keg, so I can't use them to transport jugs of beer from the keg. Growlers, as far as I know, aren't made to take the pressure of carbonating beer in the bottle.

Suggestions?

Click to expand...

If they're the heavy duty swing-tops, then you can condition in them. If they are the regular ones that the brewpubs use, don't risk it.

NCBeernut said:

That doesn't mean that you should never use growlers for bottle conditioning, just like you shouldn't avoid completely driving your car.

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ahhh . . .
What it means is that I wouldn't use a growler that I wasn't 100% sure is rated for the pressures of bottle carbonation or it might blow up in my face.
Find the proper vessel. It's really not that hard.

I'm not saying that I'd completely stop bottling, just take the proper precautions.
What you do is your business.

hercher said:

+1 on using them for starters. They are ideal for that once you can find a rubber stopper that fits the spout.

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AnOldUR said:

Use aluminum foil.

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This. You don't need a rubber stopper with a starter because you don't want an airlock. Starters need air to come in for oxygenation. That's how they grow. An airlock would be counter productive.

AnOldUR said:

ahhh . . .
What it means is that I wouldn't use a growler that I wasn't 100% sure is rated for the pressures of bottle carbonation or it might blow up in my face.
Find the proper vessel. It's really not that hard.

I'm not saying that I completely stop bottling, just that taking the proper precautions.
What you do is your business.

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Agreed. Even if the growler doesn't explode in a million uses, it's not rated for pressure and you'll never know. Properly rated bottles are too easy to find to even consider it.

NCBeernut said:

There is a myth that has been perpetuated on this site that under no circumstances are growlers appropriate for bottling. The fact is that as long as the growler isn't obviously super thin glass (this is rare) and you aren't carbing at high volumes of CO2 - say under 2, they work wonderfully.

I also agree the they are great for starters.

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+1 on the fact it is a myth.

People love to say that they will not work for carbing beer. Of those people, I haven't heard of a single one that says they have actually TRIED bottling beer in a growler.

I bottle in growlers all the time. I have never had an issue. I have used different shape and sizes, from growlers with flip tops to ones with screw caps. I have NEVER had a problem. Always carbed up. I have done this a good dozen times.

Before whenever I have posted that I get the "Well, you have just been lucky so far" from someone that has read that you shouldn't due it.

So use them to bottle if you want, great for going to a party so you don;t have to keep track of a lot of bottles.

See here:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/exploding-growlers-89246/

Yuri_Rage said:

See here:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/exploding-growlers-89246/

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Thank you for the link!

I am just speaking from my personal experiences. However, I have never used a thin growler or used a growler on a batch than was over-carbed. Additionally, all the growlers I have used recently are ones with flip-tops, not screw caps, and are rather thick glassed.

If in doubt, then don't use it. If curious, then bottle in 1 growler, bag it so if it blows it is contained, and see how it does. That way in a worse-case scenario you are down some beer with minimal clean-up.

I think the most obvious thing to do with the growlers is use them to decorate your brand new brew shed / pub! They'll look great on a shelf beside your new electric brew rig!

Tall_Yotie said:

I bottle in growlers all the time. I have never had an issue. I have used different shape and sizes, from growlers with flip tops to ones with screw caps. I have NEVER had a problem. Always carbed up. I have done this a good dozen times.

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I'm the OP. The growlers I have are screw caps and I do have the original caps. Are new screw caps available? Is it OK to re-use the original screw caps? How many re-uses will they stand up to?

smyrnaquince said:

I'm the OP. The growlers I have are screw caps and I do have the original caps. Are new screw caps available? Is it OK to re-use the original screw caps? How many re-uses will they stand up to?

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Some brew shops have fresh screw caps. It is hard to say how much you can re-use a screw cap, as it wears down every time you tighten it down hard. I would honestly only use it once or twice before replacing, but that is just gut feel and not from experimentation or evidence. In a pinch I have bottled in a plastic soda 2L bottle, something that is opened and closed a lot, and the brew carbed up just fine. The caps are cheap, so if you can replace them regularly then do so.

Yuri_Rage said:

See here:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/exploding-growlers-89246/

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For every guy who has had a growler explode, there are probably 20 who have had an entire batch of bottle bombs. Does that mean we should stop bottling too?

NCBeernut said:

For every guy who has had a growler explode, there are probably 20 who have had an entire batch of bottle bombs. Does that mean we should stop bottling too?

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That has been my thought as well. I here a lot about bottle bombs, and I think exploding growlers are just as likely, and caused by the same issues. However, let us not go too far down this road, as it seems this topic has been fairly well covered in this thread.