Can I use a used growler with twist off cap to bottle some brew?

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emgesp1

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My second homebrew will be an American Stout, and I have a left over Rogue Dead Guy Ale growler.

So, can I use this with my own brew? See, I used 24 bomber bottles last time and there was still a good amount of brew left that I had to throw away, so I'm guessing this growler will hold all that is left over.

Should I be worried about the twist off cap?

Thanks.
 
One of my fellow employees is also a Homebrewer, but he kegs. So I could try his beer, he put it in a Growler from a local Brewery (Buckbean ftw!). Anyway, I had it in my fridge for a couple of days, and it had already lost some of it's carbonation. My guess is that you will lose most if not all of your carbonation by the time it is ready to drink.
 
Reno Homebrewer said:
One of my fellow employees is also a Homebrewer, but he kegs. So I could try his beer, he put it in a Growler from a local Brewery (Buckbean ftw!). Anyway, I had it in my fridge for a couple of days, and it had already lost some of it's carbonation. My guess is that you will lose most if not all of your carbonation by the time it is ready to drink.
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So, even if I apply superman pressure to the cap, it will still lose carbonation?
 
If you can trap the carbonation it will probably cause a large bottle bomb. Growler glass is not made to withstand the pressure.
 
emgesp1 said:
So, even if I apply superman pressure to the cap, it will still lose carbonation?
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Well i saw some vid on youtube where this dude bottled his brew in what looked like plastic bottles with screw on caps and his brew came out carbed. They looked like pint sized though. Actually they looked like those miller lite 16oz plastic screw caps...like a plastic soda bottle cap looking thing. Never tried one my self, I use mainly 12-16-22-24-and 26oz bottles that i have to cap myself with a capper and caps from the Homebrew store. And sometimes the swing top ones. You having a bottle shortage?
 
Righlander said:
Well i saw some vid on youtube where this dude bottled his brew in what looked like plastic bottles with screw on caps and his brew came out carbed. They looked like pint sized though. Actually they looked like those miller lite 16oz plastic screw caps...like a plastic soda bottle cap looking thing. Never tried one my self, I use mainly 12-16-22-24-and 26oz bottles that i have to cap myself with a capper and caps from the Homebrew store. And sometimes the swing top ones. You having a bottle shortage?
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Yes, I have 25 bomber bottles and now this growler.

The 1/2 gallon growler seems just as solid as my 22 oz bomber, but I could be wrong.
 
The commercial filled growler may indeed be heavier than the standard fill-at-brewpub growlers which is what I thought you were talking about. Carry on.
 
emgesp1 said:
Yes, I have 25 bomber bottles and now this growler.

The 1/2 gallon growler seems just as solid as my 22 oz bomber, but I could be wrong.
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Cool. Hey if you're in a bind It's always cool to go to the beer store and buy some grolsch. They got the swing tops and they're pints. Not too expensive. They're green but just put em in a box. Grolsch is so skunky though so I guess It's a chore in it's self to drink like 6 of those!
 
What do you mean by, "...there was still a good amount of beer left that I had to throw away..."?

I would've put it in empty plastic soda bottles before I'da done that!

Pogo
 
i bottled my 1st brew over a year ago in a bunch of 22s and 2 growlers funny thing they were dead guy growlers also. beers were well carbed. i think it is once you take beer out of the growler leaving a big head of air is when it starts to lose CO2.
 
Pogo said:
What do you mean by, "...there was still a good amount of beer left that I had to throw away..."?

I would've put it in empty plastic soda bottles before I'da done that!

Pogo
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Did not expect to lose so much brew after bottling. Also, I wouldn't have known if plastic bottles could be used.
 
emgesp1 said:
So, Rogue dead guy ale isn't naturally carbonated in the bottle?
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There are a few different types of growlers on the market. Some are designed to withstand pressure, others are not. Rogue sells beer carbed up in those growlers as do other breweries. In fact, unless they have changed, Climax Brewery in New Jersey only packages in growlers (besides kegs).
 
noremorse1 said:
There are a few different types of growlers on the market. Some are designed to withstand pressure, others are not. Rogue sells beer carbed up in those growlers as do other breweries. In fact, unless they have changed, Climax Brewery in New Jersey only packages in growlers (besides kegs).
Click to expand...

So, can I use the one Rogue uses? I bought this at Jewel and I did not get it from the Rogue brewery.
 
My bar owner friend states that many times local home brewers will rummage through his recycling and take the necesarry bottles...just buddy up to your local bar owner..and BAM...free 12 0z. bottles, if that helps
 
I put some of my Octoberfest in a growler from CB & Potts (glass growler plastic screw top) and it did just fine. I did two one that I filled up to the neck and the other I filled only half way. The one that I did half didn’t carbonate but the other one worked great. The downside is the beer came from the bottom of my secondary so pouring it multiple time out of the growler left more sediment that a normal bomber or 12 oz did.
 
I've done it with an IPA and it works fine. Of course I don't like super carbonated beers, but it definitely created some suds
 

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