Keg to Growler?

[dodeebryan]

I am going to keg for the first time tomorrow! I believe I got all that worked out. However after its all carbed up I want to put some in a Screw top Growler I got from a little brewery in CO and take with me on a 6 hr drive for family Christmas gathering. I'd like to show off some of my beer. Will it stay carbonated? And if so how long? Do I need to keep cold? ( cooler)?

 

[Cranny04]

It'll stay carbonated, just be sure to fill it all of the way. Also I've found that if the growler is cold, when you fill it, it won't foam as much.

It will be fine if you can't keep it cold.

 

[bigbeergeek]

Try extending the faucet on your keg with a piece of racking cane/tubing. If you can avoid the beer splashing down the wall of the growler by filling it from the bottom up you'll have better carbonation. Also, vent the pressure from the keg and set your regulator to around 3 psi. You want a slow, gentle fill with splashing/shaking minimized. Fill the growler until foam is coming out the top. Your brew is going to lose some carbonation in vessel transfer and transit, but it should still have some life in it if you handle it gently and screw that cap down tight. Good luck.

 

[Hammy71]

I do basically the same thing as Bigbeergeek. Only thing I do, is use a larger stopper on my BM bottle filler. Works the same as filling a bottle off of the kegerator. Cap on foam and your golden.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/we-no-need-no-stinking-beer-gun-24678/

 

[Yooper]

Good advice! Having the growler cold first helps avoid foaming, and using a piece of tubing helps as well. Even when I get a growler from a brewpub, a lot of the time they will use a long piece of tubing jammed up in the beer faucet that goes to the bottom of the growler.

Another tip- turn the gas way down (purge the keg) and then just fill at 2-3 psi. That also helps!

One thing that I like to do is fill 2L soda bottles when I go places, then I don't care if I get them back! I have a "carbonator cap", and I can even give it an extra blast of c02 before leaving. You can't use those carbonator caps with glass, though- just plastic!

 

[Revvy]

This hit the market, it's available at any homebrewshop and online for around 10 bucks.

 

[dodeebryan]

That's awesome y'all. Good info. Thanks for the help

 

[zachattack]

This hit the market, it's available at any homebrewshop and online for around 10 bucks.

Seconded! I have one. Keep in mind you need a slightly different insert for Perlick faucets, so make sure you buy the right one.

 

[VegasJ]

Seconded! I have one. Keep in mind you need a slightly different insert for Perlick faucets, so make sure you buy the right one.

been looking at those now that my keezer is up and running.

the dual o ring end slips inside the faucet end?

or over it somehow?

 

[zachattack]

Inside the faucet! Since Perlicks have a different ID, get the one marked as such

 

[Revvy]

I leave mine in a tupperware tub of sanitizer inside my keezer so it's always ready to use.

 

[daksin]

That's neat. I use picnic taps and a racking cane fits perfectly into the end of one for all of you that don't have fancy taps at home. I have a shortened cane just for this purpose.

A frozen growner and low pressure is all you need!

 

[mrstevenund]

That's neat. I use picnic taps and a racking cane fits perfectly into the end of one for all of you that don't have fancy taps at home. I have a shortened cane just for this purpose.

That's exactly what I used tonight to fill a growler for our club meeting. I kept it at 10PSI (forgot to lower it) and it filled just fine.

 

[AndrewD]

I just bottled off the keg for the first time. I used a section of racking cane jammed in the picnic faucet. I turned psi down to about 3. I had a rubber stoppper on the cane as I had read about using this to control the pressure and flow rate going into the bottle. The stopper was not necessary for me. My beer, which was a bit overcarbed in anticipation of loosing some carb during bottling, barely foamed with this set up. In order to get some foam to fill the neck as opposed to just having the bottles completely filled, i would pulse the picnic faucet on and off a few times when the beer reached the neck, and then shut it off and let the beer in the racking cane drip vigorously into the bottle, overflowing it with foam. Then I capped on the foam immediately. I was doing 4 bottles at a time. My bottles were room temperature. I've sampled them a few days after bottling and found that I didn't even need to overcarb the beer. They lost no carbonation whatsoever.

 

[VegasJ]

hmmmm... I have my fancy pantsy Perlick to bottle filler on its way.

Now I wonder how I can fill bottles from the stout tap to bottle. Maybe fit some beer tubing over the stout end?

 

[dodeebryan]

I just bottled off the keg for the first time. I used a section of racking cane jammed in the picnic faucet. I turned psi down to about 3. I had a rubber stoppper on the cane as I had read about using this to control the pressure and flow rate going into the bottle. The stopper was not necessary for me. My beer, which was a bit overcarbed in anticipation of loosing some carb during bottling, barely foamed with this set up. In order to get some foam to fill the neck as opposed to just having the bottles completely filled, i would pulse the picnic faucet on and off a few times when the beer reached the neck, and then shut it off and let the beer in the racking cane drip vigorously into the bottle, overflowing it with foam. Then I capped on the foam immediately. I was doing 4 bottles at a time. My bottles were room temperature. I've sampled them a few days after bottling and found that I didn't even need to overcarb the beer. They lost no carbonation whatsoever.

After reading this I am now gonna put some in some bombers and take more beer with me. Hadn't even thought if putting in bottles. Just Growler. Why? I have no idea. Dumb I guess.

 

[zachattack]

Try Yooper's suggestion, fill 2L seltzer bottles! No worries about glass and they're completely expendable...

 

[RmikeVT]

This hit the market, it's available at any homebrewshop and online for around 10 bucks.

I have one of these and I hate it. I built a ghetto beer gun with a cobra tap, stopper and ranking wand --- much better investment of $10.

 

[dodeebryan]

Try Yooper's suggestion, fill 2L seltzer bottles! No worries about glass and they're completely expendable...

Thanks for the reminder. Only problem is I am vain and looks kinda redneck coming out of plastic bottles as compared to glass. But I think I'll go redneck. After all I'm originally from Arkansas! BA da ding ding ding (banjo music)

 

[Slipgate]

I freeze the growler for an hour, fill it as far as I can from the tap until the foam is at the top, then fill a glass, then spoon the foam off the growler and continue to add from the glass until it is full. Takes about 10 minutes to totally fill it. I have the flippy style growlers which I think are more airtight then the screw ones.