Can You Bottle Condition in a Growler? I have heard people say that you can just as many times as I have heard people say that you cannot. Whats your experience? Just in case, I have 6 growlers waiting in case i can call them into action.
I’ve done it successfully, as have many others. There has been a lot of discussion on this here. MullerBrau might have a good suggestion on the best caps for holding pressure.
Personally, I think you’re better off getting a few bail-top 22 oz bottles. I just like to hear the “pop!” when I crack one of those. Sometimes the carbonation even causes the top to spin around a bit. It really adds to the coolness of homebrew when you’re bringing it to share.
Growlers are great for filling from the keg.
As far as swing top growlers go (the 1 liter ones with the rubber gaskets and porcelain tops), I use them all the time. They are built to handle the same type of pressure.
As far as the screw top ones go, I hear they people are not as successful with them.
I’ve used growlers a bunch. The swing tops are definitely the easiest and most gratifying to open. But I only have a few of those. For the screw tops, I would suggest buying new caps every so often. Also, and this is probably just me, but if you’re pouring a beer that’s not going to do well with too much of the yeast cake (from bottom of the bottle), the growler is going to stir that up pretty good as you pour a few glasses. With a hefe-weizen or similarly yeasty beer, you’ll be fine. But with some other styles, you may want not want all that yeast in the glass.
Never tried it so I could not say, I know grolwers from brew pubs and such should be consumed I would say within a month. They can go south fairly quick.
That may be where your hearing the “no’s” from
You absolutely can, I’ve done it a couple of times. Just make sure your cap is firmly sealed and on tight.
I used to use growlers to hold what wouldn’t fit in the keg. After a couple dozen batches one exploded. Never again.
My experience has been the growlers from a pub are not rated to withstand the pressure for naturally carbing (screw caps, not flippys). I only use mine for transporting and sharing. I don’t think the pub sanitizes before they fill so I wouldn’t let it go a month. That said, a lot of people do various things beyond ratings without issue… but it only takes that one time. The growlers I have don’t seem any thicker than a wine bottle and I certainly wouldn’t use wine bottles for carbing.
I have done it a couple of times, but remember, the head space is about the same as a couple of regular bottles so you don’t need to add very much sugar. I usually use it for leftovers that won’t fit in the keg if I have not gotten regular bottles sanitized. I also try to store bottles that may break in a cardboard box or something in case they do break.
I did have issues with the big Budwiser Special lager swing cap bottles a few years ago. I had one that did not seal so I have not used them since. The coolest thing about the beer (their’s, not mine) was the bottle so I was kind of bummed about it. I guess I was also bummed about my good brew going flat in that bottle.
Damn, i was hoping that i could growlers to cut back the number of 22s i was going to need. I just ordered a kolsch and I’m picking up an imperial pale ale tomorrow. With these and the Irish stout i have in the primary, I’m in a pinch to get a bunch more 22s to put beer in.
I guess I’ll see if the local liquor store will let me buy some empties off of them. I tried it one time at one store and they looked at me like i was a total weirdo and wouldn’t sell them to me.
I have used growlers, and they have been fine. But, generally, I do not. I have bought/acquired 3-4 dozen 1 liter flip top(grolsch style) bottles over the years. Those are pretty slick if you are looking for fewer bottles. Usually, if I am bottling a batch, I try to use 4-6 1 liters, a dozen 22 oz. and the rest in regular bottles. Kind of nice to have a variety of serving sizes.
Move to kegging is the easiest :cheers:
I used to collect 22oz, larger flip top and such and found it to be more of a pain than just having all 12oz. The large different bottle really screwed up space in the fridge shelving and the cellar where I keep bottles. I also didnt like opening a huge bottle if I just wanted a beer if I was out of 12oz
Oh trust me i want to keg as soon as possible. I’m watching for deals as Christmas hit the wallet pretty good.
Growlers, like the ones pictured below are only rated for pressures up to 2.5 volumes at 45F, about 15 PSI. They are NOT rated for 30 PSI, which is the pressure it takes to bottle carb a beer to 2.5 volumes at 70F.
[attachment=0]Growler.jpg[/attachment][attachment=1]Growler 1.jpg[/attachment]
I’ve never tried it, but I read on a brewing forum somewhere, that someone had one explode in their face (bottle bomb) and actually cause injury from the glass…that was enough to prevent me from experimenting!
The only time I bottled in a growler, I had this same issue. You could get around that by pouring the whole growler into a pitcher I guess.
