Bottling in a Growler

I have 2 swing-top growlers from Russian River that I would like to utilize. I have read that growlers aren't good because the screw-on caps will leak and the bottle could explode. Others say it's fine.

The growlers I have aren't your typical growler, they are pretty beefy with swing tops. I would obviously leave more headspace that I would for a normal 12/22 oz bottle. I add priming sugar straight to the bottles so I can easily put less sugar in these than the other bottles.

I usually use one 2.5g sugar cube in 12oz bottles. I could try just using 4 in the growler. However I would hate to find that it undercarbed.

petrolSpice said:

I I have read that growlers aren't good because the screw-on caps will leak and the bottle could explode.

Click to expand...

If you feel like taking this chance go for it. No one said it won't work but if that growler was to explode or leak which is possible although maybe not likely its still your call. To be clear this isn't a good idea, but we can't talk you out of it if you already know the risks.

**Side note, I highly prefer flip top bottles its just so easy! but the seals do end up wearing out and need replacing.

I wouldnt. Those growlers arent made to withstand the pressure of carbonating beer. You could be talking bottle bombs of epic proportions

I've done it, in far less robust looking growlers. My issue was that there is more sediment due to the larger volume. It's harder to pour without shaking. And if you're not pouring it all at once, you end up waiting a bit for any sediment that did kick up to settle back down.

I still bottle in some 22 oz bottles, but don't even use my 1L flip tops because it's more volume than I want at once. I'm giving away a lot of beer, and 12 oz bottles aren't a big hit on my total volume. So, I've just stuck with those recently.

Hmm... Then I wonder how I could put these to use.

I dunno...get them filled with beer?

petrolSpice said:

Hmm... Then I wonder how I could put these to use.

Click to expand...

You don't have a local shop that fills growlers or a brewery that will?

I have used these for bottle conditioning my last few brews, done about 6 of em so far, not a single problem with them at all. Only thing I'm worried about is getting new seals.

petrolSpice said:

Hmm... Then I wonder how I could put these to use.

Click to expand...

carb in a keg then fill them

I use growlers with ceramic caps to bottle condition beer all the time. Never had an issue.

I have a growler just like that, minus the branding. I bottle condition in it often. Great way to bring homebrew to a friend's place without having to lug a bunch of glass. I only ever fill it when I'm adding priming sugar to the bottling bucket though. When using carbonation tablets I always stick to more traditional sizes.

One additional advantage: the smaller ratio of surface area/headroom to beer volume makes the beer taste fresher longer. I've had IPAs in conditioned in growlers like that side by side with ones conditioned in a 12oz bottle from the same batch. I think the batch had been bottled for 4 weeks or so at the time. Noticeably more fresh hop character in the growler.

drunami said:

I only ever fill it when I'm adding priming sugar to the bottling bucket though. When using carbonation tablets I always stick to more traditional sizes.

Click to expand...

Can you clarify your reasoning for this? If each method yields the same amount of sugar it shouldn't matter.

petrolSpice said:

Can you clarify your reasoning for this? If each method yields the same amount of sugar it shouldn't matter.

Click to expand...

Sure. So basically three points:
1. I've never bothered to measure the volume of my growlers, which is necessary if you're dosing each vessel rather than dosing the batch.
2. My favorite carbonation method (aside from priming the whole batch w corn sugar) are the carbo-tabs that coopers make. I find my yeast carbonate quickly, and they give the right amount of carbonation for an APA at 12 oz size, and my ordinary bitter when used with my 500ml size bottles. Those drops are huge though, so not well suited to doing weird sizes.
3. I primarily use carbonation drops on "quick" beers — i.e., things that spend 7-10 days in primary and then go straight to bottle. They allow me to bottle straight from my primary bucket. For almost all other beers I use corn sugar boiled with a small amount of water in my bottling bucket, which I feel gives me better control and consistency.

drunami said:

Sure. So basically three points:
1. I've never bothered to measure the volume of my growlers, which is necessary if you're dosing each vessel rather than dosing the batch.
2. My favorite carbonation method (aside from priming the whole batch w corn sugar) are the carbo-tabs that coopers make. I find my yeast carbonate quickly, and they give the right amount of carbonation for an APA at 12 oz size, and my ordinary bitter when used with my 500ml size bottles. Those drops are huge though, so not well suited to doing weird sizes.
3. I primarily use carbonation drops on "quick" beers — i.e., things that spend 7-10 days in primary and then go straight to bottle. They allow me to bottle straight from my primary bucket. For almost all other beers I use corn sugar boiled with a small amount of water in my bottling bucket, which I feel gives me better control and consistency.

Click to expand...

Ah I see. I've started to bottle straight from the primary too using 2.5g sugar cubes in the bottles, 1 cube for 12oz, 2 for 22oz. If I'm using 16oz bottles I'll do 1 cube and an 1/8 tsp of corn sugar. Seems to work out nicely.

This will work fine. I have a 3 liter bottle I got in Austria that works great.