bottling in growler Q?

Is it possible to bottle in a growler rather than bottles? I can't bittle another bottle due to severe patience issues but don't yet have the money to set up a kegging system. What are the ins and outs/specifics of growler bottling if possible?

No, they are not designed for bottle conditioning pressure. It will leak CO2 if you're lucky or explode if you're not.

You know how if you don't drink beer from a growler in a day or two it gets really flat? Well that's what will happen with a growler that you try bottle conditioning beer in it, the beer won't carbonate and will be flat, at best.

22oz/750ml or 1L crown top or flip-top (grolsch-style) bottles are a compromise - larger than the normal 12oz so there's not as many, and they'll hold the pressure.

To me bottling is an enjoyable and relaxing time. If you are finding it difficult perhaps some improvements can be made to the method.

If you care to, describe your equipment and method.

Maybe I'm just lucky, but I have bottle conditioned quite a few growlers. No problems. Luck doesn't equal safe though.

I wonder about rogue. They sell growlers in fae away States from the brewery. Why don't those explode? Or lose carbonation? They are just regular growlers.

First few times was a huge pia. Got a bench capper and changed my setup, different counter and stuff and it was a lot less painful. Last time I did 14 gallons in like two hours.

sandyeggoxj said:

Maybe I'm just lucky, but I have bottle conditioned quite a few growlers. No problems. Luck doesn't equal safe though.

I wonder about rogue. They sell growlers in fae away States from the brewery. Why don't those explode? Or lose carbonation? They are just regular growlers.

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Rogue growlers are not bottle conditioned. It may work some of the time, but it is a best practice not to bottle carbonate in a growler. Even if I would try it, I would not recommend it to anyone else because of the serious consequence if there was a glass failure.

sandyeggoxj said:

Maybe I'm just lucky, but I have bottle conditioned quite a few growlers. No problems. Luck doesn't equal safe though.

I wonder about rogue. They sell growlers in fae away States from the brewery. Why don't those explode? Or lose carbonation? They are just regular growlers.

Click to expand...

They are carbonated before being bottled in the growler. They're also sealed really well to maintain carbonation.

Gas - liquid equilibriums are complicated when not in balanced system, and I am by no means an expert on the topic. But, to me, there is no magic in CO2.

If I take a growler and fill it from a tap with liquid that contains, say, 2.5 volumes of CO2 at a given temperature, it's very quickly going to reach equilibrium with a certain amount of head pressure and just short of 2.5 volumes of CO2 in the beer itself. Assuming it's properly sealed.

So, let's say I add priming sugar sufficient to reach 2.5 volumes of CO2 at the same temperature to an unprimed growler with the same amount of headspace. When it's all said and done, there's the same amount of CO2 in that bottle, and the head pressure is going to end up being exactly the same, right?

Now, there are some problems with that analogy. First, head pressure is dependent on temperature, and you usually bottle condition at a higher temp than you keep a filled growler. Is that enough to explode? I doubt if I took a growler I got filled from the brewery and let it reach room temp it's just going to blow up. But, hey, I've never tried it.

Second, if you overprime, or have admixture of the sugar, *BOOM*. So don't do that.

Third, I'm not sure what effect the gradual increase in gas pressure from bottle conditioning has on the container.

Personally, I'd be perfectly comfortable doing it.