Can I condition in a growler?

I made a Irish Death clone that I will be kegging this weekend. I ended up with about 5.5 gallons so it won't all fit in the keg. I was thinking I would put half a gallon in a growler, throw about 3 or 4 carb drops, a few toasted oak chips and maybe a vanilla bean and see what happens.

1. If I used a brand new lid, can I bottle condition in a growler?
2. I have never oaked anything. How many of those toasted oak chips should I use if I plan to leave it for 6 months?
3. How much vanilla bean?

I know the oak and vanilla bean are to taste but I am curious what the consensus is?

Thanks HBT again for your help.

growlers aren't meant for long-term storage. i have 1, and it's not air-tight. when i first got it, i tried leaving beer in it for a couple weeks. it got infected, as i suspected

How about the swing top growlers?

They're more likely to become bottle bombs. If they're not fully carbed yet I'd dump them.

I've bottle conditioned in a standard growler with a used screw on top similar to this one but from a local brewpub http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/northern-brewer-plaid-growler.html If the lid seals, sanitize thoroughly and go for it. I kept one unrefridgerated for 6 months and it was fine. The only downside I've found is pouring a growler without disturbing the yeast on the bottom is really hard - the last pint is always muddy. I'd go light on the carb with them too as I don't trust them with much pressure (as noted in the NB product description)

My swing top growler is pretty robust...the caps on standard growlers seem a bit flimsy. A 2 liter soda bottle will work in a pinch fwiw.

It's not the cap that's the issue. It's the glass. The glass is not made with pressure in mind. In other words, the glass is not designed to contain the pressure that's created when beer conditions. I had a 22 oz. growler go off and it was an powerful and pretty damn frightening explosion. A growler is 64 oz. If it explodes, watch out.

JonM said:

It's not the cap that's the issue. It's the glass. The glass is not made with pressure in mind. In other words, the glass is not designed to contain the pressure that's created when beer conditions. I had a 22 oz. growler go off and it was an powerful and pretty damn frightening explosion. A growler is 64 oz. If it explodes, watch out.

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I've wondered about this. Can refermenting in a growler create more pressure than filling one with beer and capping it? That doesn't make any sense to me.

REvvy explains all here.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/growler-364980/

Fermenting doesn't create any noticeable pressure as long as an airlock is used. Filling a growler with already carbed beer also doesn't make much pressure as long as it's not done with a counter pressure bottle filler. There is a small amount of pressure as your beer lets off some c02 but that's it. Carbing in a bottle on the other hand creates relatively large amounts of pressure; enough force c02 into the beer.

I second the 2 liter seltzer bottle idea