Carbonating in a growler.

[Tobor_8thMan]

Recently had more than 5 gallons of brew to carbonate. Put 5 gallons in a keg. Had a 1/2 gallon left. I didn't want to dump it.

Hmm... 1/2 gallon = 64 oz = growler!

I determined the corn sugar needed to carbonate 1/2 gallon and added the corn sugar mixture (in water) to the growler.

Wait 1 week and the beer in the growler is carbonated. Very nice drinking.

Much easier than filling bottles (approx 5 12 oz bottles).

 

[Kirkwooder]

I have done this several times. I find that the caps tend to be problematic. The seals seam to be a bit unreliable. Some carb nicely some don't.

Certainly better than dumping the beer though.

 

[Qhrumphf]

I've done it before but wouldn't recommend it for safety reasons. Growlers aren't necessarily pressure tolerant enough to withstand bottle conditioning.

At least as of several years ago the Brewers Association had guidelines for commercial breweries to explicitly tell customers getting growlers filled that they needed to be stored cold (of course whether or not that was ever followed by either brewers or customers is another story), as the pressure of ~2.5 volumes of CO2 at room temp exceeds what the glass could reliably handle.

 

[tellyho]

I have done it in a pinch. Some recommend an electrical tape seal, which I found helpful.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

I used an SS growler with a swing type top.

Believe I purchased here www.morebeer.com/products/ultimate-growler-stainless-steel-64-oz.html

Not worried at all. Encourage others to try doing the same.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Carry on then!

 

[Kirkwooder]

Yeah, that should work great! I never think of those when I hear growler. How is that for keeping beer from a fill station cold?

 

[three_bags_full]

I do it quite often in my SS growler. I use thread tape inside the cap and electrical tape on the outside.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Yeah, that should work great! I never think of those when I hear growler. How is that for keeping beer from a fill station cold?

In my experience the double insulation keeps contents cold or hot for quite a while.

I found out about SS growlers when I visited Alewerks in Williamsburg, VA. Person sitting next to me had a SS Alewerks growler. What a great idea! Struck up a conversation with him. Unfortunately, Alewerks didn't have anymore SS growlers.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Tastes great and, IMO, was a good use of "left over" brew.

 

[Cantina De Jefe]

I use a 1 gallon uKeg with the ball lock lid. Works great aside from the price. I got mine as a gift.

 

[z-bob]

That's what 2-liter pop bottles were made for! (seriously, try it, it works and it's safe) If you don't have quite enough to fill the bottle, just squeeze out all the air before you screw the cap on. The bottle will inflate with CO2 as it carbonates.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Yeah, that should work great! I never think of those when I hear growler. How is that for keeping beer from a fill station cold?

Believe double walled. Keeps beer cold for quite awhile.

 

[tick_daddy]

Recently had more than 5 gallons of brew to carbonate. Put 5 gallons in a keg. Had a 1/2 gallon left. I didn't want to dump it.

Hmm... 1/2 gallon = 64 oz = growler!

Question: If I'm conditioning in a 2l growler, how far up do I fill it? It's technically over 67 oz.; should I figure out where the 64 oz. mark is or just leave an inch or two of headspace?? Trying to avoid a growler bomb.

 

[z-bob]

Question: If I'm conditioning in a 2l growler, how far up do I fill it? It's technically over 67 oz.; should I figure out where the 64 oz. mark is or just leave an inch or two of headspace?? Trying to avoid a growler bomb.

1) It's a bad idea.
2) Now that's out of the way, fill it to about an inch from the top. Condition it as cold as you can to keep the pressure down. In a fridge if your yeast will still ferment that low.

 

[tick_daddy]

1) It's a bad idea.
2) Now that's out of the way, fill it to about an inch from the top. Condition it as cold as you can to keep the pressure down. In a fridge if your yeast will still ferment that low.

It's weird. It seems like discussions about bottling in swing-top growlers split into two camps: been doing it for years and it's fine or DON'T DO IT!

 

[z-bob]

It's weird. It seems like discussions about bottling in swing-top growlers split into two camps: been doing it for years and it's fine or DON'T DO IT!

I don't know about the swing tops. The screw top glass growlers are designed to contain the pressure of cold beer that is already finished, and that's really not much pressure. In any case, I think "keep it as cold as will still carbonate" is good advice, and I wish you good luck.

Plastic soda bottles can take a lot of pressure. That's what I would use (and I do use them)

 

[JDOrganic]

That's what 2-liter pop bottles were made for! (seriously, try it, it works and it's safe) If you don't have quite enough to fill the bottle, just squeeze out all the air before you screw the cap on. The bottle will inflate with CO2 as it carbonates.

Isn’t it going to end up flat... if you leave it to inflate it will have much more space for the CO2 and less of it will get in the beer