Can I just keep the beer in the carboy?

[Leegrisham]

I am not keen on bottling, and since I am new to this, I have not invested in kegging equipment either. Is it possible to sugar the carboy, or a metal growler, and just keep the beer ready to pour from a larger container?

 

[NickTheGreat]

How would you get the beer out? And would you refrigerate it in the carboy?

There's a fair amount of crap at the bottom of the carboy after a brew. And if you don't remove the beer you'll be drinking it too.

I suppose you could rack to a secondary carboy and drink from that? But again, that's a big thing to refrigerate.

 

[Leegrisham]

My bad. I did mean to say I would siphon over to another container and refrigerate once carbonated. Preferably a growler.

 

[Kickass]

What volume of finished beer are you going to end up with? That may help steer the conversation since there are some inherent challenges to what you’re asking. 1 gal would be considerably easier than 5 gals

 

[cfosty]

Also, how do you plan to carbonate?

 

[Qhrumphf]

How big is your carboy?

Very important that whatever you choose to carbonate in can handle the pressure. Especially if you're priming and keeping it warm to carbonate. Growlers aren't rated for that much pressure. It could be fine. Or your growler could explode.

Additionally, if you open a carbed container, be prepared to drink it all pretty much then and there. Once you open it oxygen gets in and carbonation escapes. Screwing the growler cap back on can help a bit holding on to carbonation but you've still only got a day or so before the oxidation becomes significant.

 

[SanPancho]

You can go cheapie with a carbonator cap, soda bottle, and co2 from either the whip-it style bullets or a paint ball tank and adapter. Soda bottles can be anywhere from 8oz to 2 liter. Carb as much or as little as you want. Carbs up in seconds.
youre Not winning any awards but you’ll have beer to drink pretty much instantly as long as you start with it cold.

 

[mashpaddled]

Many metal growlers can hold quite a bit of pressure but with glass you always run a risk of an explosion. Glass carboys and growlers are not meant to hold the pressure necessary to carbonate beer. Yes, a wave of people are going to tell you they have done it over and over with no problems but a search on the subject will give you plenty of people who have had problems.

Bottling is not hard and does not take that long. You can clean the bottles in your dishwasher. I think you will be a lot happier with your beer if you bottle it over trying to use less effort and drink flat beer.

 

[Beermeister32]

This is a hobby that requires a lot of bulk beer handling, cleaning of equipment, scrubbing, soaking, bottling or kegging and all sorts of continuous cleanup and sanitizing. It's not for everyone...

 

[catalanotte]

The larger the container, the easier packaging gets. You can reduce your bottling effort with larger bottles, up to 750ml. As a transition step from bottling to kegging, I used the 5 liter mini kegs many years ago. They can be primed, carbed, and stored at room temp, and fit in the fridge pretty well with a CO2 cartridge tap. They are a bit cheaper than a keg set up for 5 gal, but if you start brewing more frequently, you’ll likely regret and wish you went to right to corny kegs.

 

[tellyho]

In case it wasn't clear from other answers, no you can't.

 

[VikeMan]

The larger the container, the easier packaging gets. You can reduce your bottling effort with larger bottles, up to 750ml.

You can certainly use large bottles. I'm not sure why you're drawing the line at 750 ml though. For example, you can also use 32 oz swing tops.

 

[NitrogenWidget]

I use these or the Mr beer ones for my 2 gallon test batches.

Glass growlers will be big bottle bombs.
Pet growlers should work though I wouldn't trust the threads as there are so few.
Pop contAiners work also. Just have to keep them in the dark or hope will skunk.

BrewDemon Basic 8 Bottling System (1-Liter) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GBX0IYC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_taa_q3FbFb1YCGFB7

 

[catalanotte]

You can certainly use large bottles. I'm not sure why you're drawing the line at 750 ml though. For example, you can also use 32 oz swing tops.

Just never saw anything bigger than the wine bottle size for Belgians. I’ll have to check the bigger ones out.

 

[Beermeister32]

I have some 750's in my hoard. The only issue with the big bottles on bottle conditioned beers is you should empty out all out in one pour, as setting it upright and tipping again can mix the bottle sediment into the second pour. So you need one huge glass or a couple smaller ones to decant the beer into all in one continuous pour.

 

[NitrogenWidget]

I have some 750's in my hoard. The only issue with the big bottles on bottle conditioned beers is you should empty out all out in one pour, as setting it upright and tipping again can mix the bottle sediment into the second pour. So you need one huge glass or a couple smaller ones to decant the beer into all in one continuous pour.

or a pitcher.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Or just use a tight floccing priming strain and good practice and don't worry about it.