"Heavy-Duty" Growlers at LHBS?

[drummerguysteve]

I stopped by a HB store that is a little out of my way, but still in town yesterday, and asked what the biggest bottles were that they had that could naturally carbonate. I was really looking for 1-L bottles, but he pointed me to his growlers.

I gave him a really funny look, and told him again that I was bottle carbonating, and explained that I have seen photos of the aftermath of someone bottling into growlers.

He told me that the ones they have are heavy-duty, and should bottle-carbonate just fine. He told me how much cheaper it would be than buying a bunch more 1-L grolsch bottles.

Has anyone heard of these growlers? I didn't end up buying anything, because I was really nervous about it. I may just make a 1-gallon batch, and buy two of these just to check them out, but if anyone has tried these before, it would be great to hear about it. Thanks!

 

[samc]

I have a real Growler that I have bottle conditioned in without explosion. It's heavy duty with a ceramic flip top & seal. Just in case I keep it in a plastic bucket with a towel over the top. The normal "jug" sold as growlers are bombs waiting to explode. I got mine @ Goodwill for $6, the new ones seem to be $20 or more.

Doesn't sound like the ones you are looking at. Do you have a photo to link to?

 

[drummerguysteve]

I didn't take a picture, but it was only $4.50... It didn't have a ceramic top, just a twist on plastic cap. I knew it was way too good to be true.

I'll stick to my 1-L grolsch bottles. It's still very quick when compared to 12-oz bottles. 1/2-gallon just would have been REALLY quick.

 

[malkore]

Its hard to say. 1/8th inch thicker glass than a brew pub growler and yeah, its probably more than strong enough.

just like all beer bottles aren't made the same, not all growlers roll out of one factory at one wall thickness.

but you'd have to use a feeler gauge to really know it was thicker and thus 'ok'

 

[drummerguysteve]

...I'm going to bottle one of these with a dry stout I made, and put the rest into my 1L bottles tonight. I'll lock this one in a plastic bin just in case.

I'll let you guys know in a few weeks if it blew up or not. I'll try to find out what brand they are from the LHBS too, just in case they do work.

 

[kanzimonson]

I had a friend who would frequently bottle part of his batch in one of the flip-top growlers and he never had a problem with explosion. But I hate the idea of this because:

1) How often are you going to sit down and drink a whole growler?
2) What about tipping the bottle up and down and stirring up the yeast?

 

[drummerguysteve]

You're right, pouring will probably be a problem. In that case, not drinking a growler at once may help. If I pour one glass, and then put the growler back in the fridge for another day, the yeast will settle back down, and stick to the bottom again.

I may not end up bottling in growlers very ofter, if it even works. Thing is, I've really gotten lazy in regards to bottling lately, it seems like everything keeps going into kegs and this would be an easy way to bottle up a batch really quickly.

*Not trying to start the keg vs bottle fight again....*

 

[kanzimonson]

If you pour a beer out of the growler and then cap it, it will not return to the same carbonation level. CO2 will escape solution to equalize the pressure in the headspace vs the liquid. You will also be introducing a lot of oxygen to the bottle, so the beer will age very quickly.

The only way to drink from a bottle-carbed growler is to line up 5 pint glasses and fill them up in a row without tipping the growler up and down each time.

 

[drummerguysteve]

Way to rain on my parade. You're correct, and as usual I wasn't thinking far enough ahead. My brain just said, "Hey! You could be done bottling after 10 growlers, instead of 22 liter bottles!"

Oh well, I still picked one up, and if it works I might get away with bottling 2 growlers in each batch and saving dome time. there are plenty of occasions where I could pour 5 glasses at once.

Thanks for your input, I would have hated to fill 10 of these and go D'oh! When I pour the first glass and realize my mistake.

 

[Trencher]

I have several 2 liter swing-top growlers and still use them to bottle condition on occasion when my fermenter contains more beer than my keg can hold. They are great for the purpose and I've never had any problem with the conditioning.

Serving, however, can be a problem. The best solution I've found is to decant into a pitcher before filling glasses. No matter how careful you think you're being when moving from one glass to the next, some yeast will get kicked up and the last pint will be a mess. The only reliable way to leave your yeast behind is to pour it all at once into a 2-liter vessel and serve from there.

 

[drummerguysteve]

I've been using my 1L swing tops for session beers. We can pour a couple glasses and go through a couple bottles in a night. I was thinking the same thing for the growlers.

I like the pitcher idea. I'll have to swing by cash and carry on the way home to get a beer pitcher.