Bottling into a Growler - how much headspace

[chemist308]

Tomorrow I bottle. I fully plan on using my grolsch top growler. It was made to for this. The question is, how much headspace do I leave?

With bottles it's easy. The volume of the bottling wand being pulled out is just the right headspace. But I suspect that if I did that to even this thick walled growler I'd make a half gallon mess in two weeks... So what do I use for headspace?

 

[impatient]

I don't think growlers are meant to be used for that. You might end up with less carbonation.

 

[Nurmey]

It is the same as with any other bottle. The bottling wand will give you the right amount of displacement.

 

[MoRoToRiUm]

Just a safety thing I'll point out from reading the forums- Are you using a flip top growler or a screw on top growler?

Supposedly screw tops are prone to be BOTTLE BOMBS! I see both could be with over carbonation, but supposedly flip top is the way to go... Just be safe, and store in a bomb shelter.

 

[chemist308]

Just a safety thing I'll point out from reading the forums- Are you using a flip top growler or a screw on top growler?

Supposedly screw tops are prone to be BOTTLE BOMBS! ...

Oh, it's the grolsch kind (flip top). It was purchased from my LHBS with the understanding that it was made for this. The glass on this is MUCH thicker than that of the screw tops you get from your microbrewery. I knew the kind I get from the microbrewery weren't good for it.

It's similar to this: http://GROWLER

So, just the volume from the bottling wand should still be good?

 

[Revvy]

If you are using the bottling wand, and it can touch the bottom (I know mine can do wine bottles) than it should automatically adjust your headspace.

 

[Jonnio]

Just because your LHBS said it's safe doesn't necessarily make it true. This forum collectively spends many hours every week fixing bad advice from LHB shops.

Anyway, your going to do it one way or another, so the only thing I might add is that when your ready to drink it pour the entire growler into a pitcher so that you aren't stirring up the yeast cake every time you go to pour another glass. Otherwise your last couple pints will be very cloudy/yeasty.

 

[chemist308]

I agree that if you take a standard thin walled growler meant for dispensing from keg and condition in it, it will in all likelyhood create on fine mess. But again, what I'm using is not that. It's about three times as thick, and heavy as hell.

I'm certain it could still explode under the right conditions, just as a 12 oz bottle could. However I aim not to do that. Last time I used it, I erred on the side of safety and gave too much headspace--as a result I got about half the carbonation I wanted.

If it does bottle bomb on me though, I'll know not to be spending another $25 on one.

Edit: found it. This is the exact one I have http://mine

 

[Revvy]

I've looked at them at my LHBS...and I "think" they are okay to bottle in, though I'm not sure...They are pretty thick, as thick as the green grolsh bottles. Methinks that if they can't hold the pressure then the failure would happen at the seal long before the glass would give.

Just be careful...take proper precautions the first time you use them...keep them someplace where if they did shatter the blast will be contained you don't want glass and beer all over the place.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[Jonnio]

I agree that if you take a standard thin walled growler meant for dispensing from keg and condition in it, it will in all likelyhood create on fine mess. But again, what I'm using is not that. It's about three times as thick, and heavy as hell.

I'm certain it could still explode under the right conditions, just as a 12 oz bottle could. However I aim not to do that. Last time I used it, I erred on the side of safety and gave too much headspace--as a result I got about half the carbonation I wanted.

If it does bottle bomb on me though, I'll know not to be spending another $25 on one.

Edit: found it. This is the exact one I have http://mine

From what I remember reading on Growlers is that the issue is the large surface area at the bottom it has nothing to do with them being made of thinner than beer bottle glass.

If you take it from a pure pressure standpoint then you have about 12-15 psi * pi*r^2 amount of force being divided up over the transition from the sides to the bottom 2*pi*r. That means as r goes up the amount of pressure on the transition area goes up at a disproportionate rate. Even a growler as thick as a bottle will not be as well suited at holding pressure as a bottle.

I am not saying that there are no growlers made to hold pressure, I am just saying be really careful when making assumptions based on LHBS or appeared thickness because as the vessel base gets bigger then the thickness has to go up quite a bit, not just stay the same.

 

[CreeDakota]

Great Response Jonnio!

I have bottled into a similar growler over ten times with no incident. I filled it around an inch up the neck, so yes I filled it less than 12 oz and 22 oz i was filling from the same patches.

As far as the seal vs the glass: I've made an embarrashing amount of bottle bombs over the years. Never had a flip top fail, always the glass went first.

 

[Slipgate]

I have also bottled into a flip-top growler with no issues at all. I used the bottling wand, filled it to the top, and removed the wand and went with that head space. Carbonation was normal and no extra residue at the bottom.

 

[Chipman]

The growlers i've used have a great 64 oz marker on them and they've all carbonated really well. Except! for the last batch of Kolsch i made where the growler i was saving for our beer dinner cracked the bottom in half and spilled the yeasty mess all over the floor. No more bottling in growlers for me. Not sure if they are specifically designed to handle the pressure, but i won't be using them anymore.

 

[grbrla12]

What about a stainless steel bottle/growler like RTIC/Yeti make? They are double walled and 64 ounces. The screw top caps are heavy duty. Let the wand determine the headspace or shoot for an inch or so?