Bottling FROM a Growler - I searched, I promise

[Hannable1975]

OK, There is a local brew pub I like - but I NEVER finish a growler before it's kinda flat.

Has Anyone ever ( I am sure, and I swear I searched to no avail ) bought browler, and then bottled for later enjoyment?

See, I don't know if the beer is so filtered it would not carb, but hate to use a coopers tablet or other adjunt and change the beer.

Any ideas / recomendations / help?

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

Find out if they fill kegs. That's probably your best bet. If they filter it, the only way to carbonate it is to inject co2, which you'd need a kegging setup for.

 

[mc_eric]

Drink faster

 

[MrBungle]

the Whole Foods over here has 32 oz. growlers. i'm sure if you got a hold of one they could just fill that.

 

[plaidpaint]

The extra sugar required to prime a bottle generally isn't enough to change the beer, but there would have to be live yeast for it to work. You could make a little yeast starter, then add it to the bottle with the extra sugar to make sure it carbs, but that's a lot of work.

You could also recarb it, or at least repressurise the container to keep it from getting flatter, with one of those little CO2 chargers.

But I'm tempted to go with mc_eric on this one

 

[Hannable1975]

LOL - they actually sell kegs, and in th not so distant future but not right now that will be the answer

 

[kanzimonson]

I've been thinking of a method to do this but haven't really gotten around to it. Basically, I'm thinking of getting an undrilled stopper, drilling TWO holes in it, and turning each one into hookups for beverage in and beverage out. I think the easiest way would be to just use a small length of racking cane that you attach to your CO2 supply. The "out" side would have a racking cane that goes to the bottom of the growler. Then, with 5psi or less you could push the beer out of the racking cane and bottle using the Bier Muncher Bottle Filler method.

I'll probably never get around to doing this.

 

[TheWeeb]

I would think that the same procedure used for under-carbonated homebrew would work. Let the growler go flat, then bottle, add a couple of grains of dry yeast and a bit of priming sugar, then cap. This would be a good experiment, as a couple of the brewpubs around here have limited release beers that might be good to save and even age.

 

[remilard]

Depending on the state you live in, they may be required to fill their own growler but if they will fill any "growler", have them fill a 2 liter PET bottle. Then when you get done pouring a beer, squeeze the bottle until the beer is right up to the top and cap like that.

 

[kniles38]

I had to bottle half a growler of RIS recently. Gently poured into bottle through funnel, minimize splashing. Drank couple weeks later. It was slightly undercarbonated, but otherwise perfect.

 

[devilishprune]

I've been thinking of a method to do this but haven't really gotten around to it. Basically, I'm thinking of getting an undrilled stopper, drilling TWO holes in it, and turning each one into hookups for beverage in and beverage out. I think the easiest way would be to just use a small length of racking cane that you attach to your CO2 supply. The "out" side would have a racking cane that goes to the bottom of the growler. Then, with 5psi or less you could push the beer out of the racking cane and bottle using the Bier Muncher Bottle Filler method.

I'll probably never get around to doing this.

That seems like a legit idea. I can't help but think, if you're going to go through all that trouble, why not just find a way to pressurize the growler so that the CO2 in the headspace is in equilibrium with the beer and will thus remain carbonated?

 

[dwarven_stout]

That seems like a legit idea. I can't help but think, if you're going to go through all that trouble, why not just find a way to pressurize the growler so that the CO2 in the headspace is in equilibrium with the beer and will thus remain carbonated?

Growlers don't pressurize well. They tend to burst.

 

[devilishprune]

I know, but there is some amount of pressure in the growler when you fill it with beer. Probably somewhere around 2.4 volumes, just because the CO2 in the beer is going to equilibrate with the headspace in the growler. The issue that people have seems to be when they carbonate in them, which produces more pressure than that initially.

 

[Walker]

Growlers don't pressurize well. They tend to burst.

a proper swing-top thick-glass growler will handle pressure. the screw-top "hillbilly" jugs that some places sell as growlers will not handle it.

I own a couple of these that can save the beer:
http://brewstock.enstore.com/item/the-carbonator-cap

I didn't pay nearly that much for mine, but it was several years ago that I got them. I think I paid like $9. Put the beer into a sanitized plastic soda bottle, pressurize, and put in the fridge.

I also use those to keep soda or tonic from going flat after we open them.

 

[LCTitan]

I found that it's best to share the contents of a growler because they do go flat after a day or two! Otherwise drinking faster is a great way to overcome this. I brought home a growler of a very good IPA last week (Special Forces IPA) from Crown Brewing in Crown Point, IN. and shared it so we all savored this one.

 

[dwarven_stout]

a proper swing-top thick-glass growler will handle pressure. the screw-top "hillbilly" jugs that some places sell as growlers will not handle it.

I own a couple of these that can save the beer:
http://brewstock.enstore.com/item/the-carbonator-cap

I didn't pay nearly that much for mine, but it was several years ago that I got them. I think I paid like $9. Put the beer into a sanitized plastic soda bottle, pressurize, and put in the fridge.

I also use those to keep soda or tonic from going flat after we open them.

I'd like to get a swing-top growler, but I don't want to put out the money. Hillbilly jugs for me!

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

I'd like to get a swing-top growler, but I don't want to put out the money. Hillbilly jugs for me!

If you don't care about the name on them, see if you have a Granite City Brewery near you. The beer sucks, but the growler is only $15 on certain days. It's a swingtop.