Cat204 Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 Hey, I've decided to venture into home brewing and my first batch will be ready to bottle in day or two. I came across a good deal on some 64oz growlers, is it safe to bottle in these or should put them aside for once I get into kegging? Also I have access to a laser engraver, has anyone laser engraved some labels onto their bottles that they'd care to share? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 I'm not sure if growlers are suitable for actually carbonating beer in, I think they're just designed to be filled with already carbonated beer. They usually say to consume it within a week or something as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lab Cat Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 (edited) 64oz translates to 1.8 litre bottles. You're going to need to work out how much sugar to prime the bottles with if you use them. I don't think the carb drops will equate well, they're dosed for 375 and 740ml bottles. EDIT. As per Otto's suggestion, you might want to pick up some coopers PET bottles. I've recently started labelling bottles I give away. I use a fabric name badge label, as these come off easily afterwards. I just find images I like for the beer and make these up on a Word label template. Edited November 10, 2019 by Lab Rat 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussiekraut Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 I was thinking about Growlers and Squealers but I don't think they can hold the pressure to be honest. Give it a go with a few Growlers but just in case, put the rest in bottles. I'd hat to see an entire batch wasted, if it doesn't turn out well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSands Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 38 minutes ago, Aussiekraut said: I was thinking about Growlers and Squealers but I don't think they can hold the pressure to be honest. The ones I used to sell were rated at 40psi. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journeyman Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, Otto Von Blotto said: I'm not sure if growlers are suitable for actually carbonating beer in, I think they're just designed to be filled with already carbonated beer. They usually say to consume it within a week or something as well. Not sure about the first part but I was told by a professional brewer the short 'shelf time' was because they are being filled from kegs. Maybe decanting direct from the FV or bulk primer and sealing it would be different? If they didn't hold pressure, would you even get a week? They'd go flat overnight. Edited November 10, 2019 by Journeyman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 1 minute ago, Journeyman said: Not sure about the first part but I was told by a professional brewer the short 'shelf time' was because they are being filled from kegs. Maybe decanting direct from the FV or bulk primer and sealing it would be different? It's probably more because they haven't been carbonated in the growlers and simply filling it with carbonated beer it tends to lose its fizz more easily because the pressure isn't there to maintain it. It's not likely to go off just because it's in a different container. It will equalise but some of the gas in the headspace maintaining whatever pressure it ends up at would normally still be in the beer if it was carbonated in the growler, so there's less in the beer therefore lower carbonation. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussiekraut Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 27 minutes ago, Journeyman said: If they didn't hold pressure, would you even get a week? They'd go flat overnight. I never get a week out of them. You can tell after 2 days that the beer is getting flat and 3 days is the max IMHO. If they'd seal properly, they'd hold the pressure for just as long as a crown sealed or PET bottle does. I think they're simply takeaway containers, meant to be consumed on the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journeyman Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 23 minutes ago, Aussiekraut said: I never get a week out of them. You can tell after 2 days that the beer is getting flat and 3 days is the max IMHO. If they'd seal properly, they'd hold the pressure for just as long as a crown sealed or PET bottle does. I think they're simply takeaway containers, meant to be consumed on the day. Although Otto has a valid point I think. They're being filled from an end-source so CO2 is coming out of beer into the head space. Be interesting to hear thow things go with treating a growler as the bottle from FV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 They hold pressure, the original point I was making is whether or not they can hold enough to be used as the carbonation vessel as opposed to just a storage vessel. If they're rated to 40psi they should, but they may not all be. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenyinthewestofsydney Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 Grab one and give it a whirl i say. Practical test will always trump theory. Worse that could happen is it fails. My guess is it will hold pressure fine. Id just carb it on a normal level to test. I wouldnt be going a belgian style carbonation level. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journeyman Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 1 hour ago, Otto Von Blotto said: They hold pressure, the original point I was making is whether or not they can hold enough to be used as the carbonation vessel as opposed to just a storage vessel. If they're rated to 40psi they should, but they may not all be. I saw one on ebay that was only rated to 25 psi - most of the others I saw from (China) didn't have any rating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thirsty Jim Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 A major Melbourne retailer notes that glass growlers are not good at holding pressure with the provided white metal cap and they offer a black cap upgrade that holds better pressure and does not leak. The same retailer also sells stainless steel growlers with spring wired lids. They say - " Most screw top growlers struggle to hold the pressure required to keep beer fresh and carbonated. Our Ultimate Growler comes with a spring wired lid capable of holding up to 40psi. Wire sprung lids also have the added advantage that they act like a pressure release valve preventing damage to the growler. So if the pressure gets too high in the growler (ie. the product starts fermenting again) then the lid will pop up, release pressure then re-seal." 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeastyBoy Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 Onya for getting into home brewing. What do you have in your FV? "Bottle" is a damn good idea. Whack a code on a crown bottle cap works well for knowing what the contents are. What's a 64oz Growler?? Metric?? Pic?? Glass/Alum?? If the price seems to good to be true probably tells you something?? Bargin...……...not. Access to a laser engraver, what does that mean?? I have access to Parliament but it means little. Cheers YB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamus O'Sean Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 8 hours ago, Cat204 said: Also I have access to a laser engraver, has anyone laser engraved some labels onto their bottles that they'd care to share? Not sure I would do this in principle. You do not want to create any weaker points in your bottles would be my thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSands Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 These are the growlers available locally here in NZ. You must be able to get them in Aus, probably cheaper too... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 Yeah they are available here too. The ones you get from brewpubs and whatnot are usually glass, and as far as I know aren't suitable for bottle carbonation. I could be wrong though, or there may be other ones available that are. I still have a few Newstead ones floating around somewhere, occasionally I use them to take beer to a party or whatever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat204 Posted November 11, 2019 Author Share Posted November 11, 2019 13 hours ago, YeastyBoy said: Onya for getting into home brewing. What do you have in your FV? "Bottle" is a damn good idea. Whack a code on a crown bottle cap works well for knowing what the contents are. What's a 64oz Growler?? Metric?? Pic?? Glass/Alum?? If the price seems to good to be true probably tells you something?? Bargin...……...not. Access to a laser engraver, what does that mean?? I have access to Parliament but it means little. Cheers YB I started with a "bilby - Hoppy pale ale by cellardweller" since there was a good video on YouTube and good recommendations. A laser engraver is like a printer but it can engrave/etch any image/writing onto a surface except with lasers instead of ink. The 64oz growlers I bought off someone having to move and didnt have space for making beer so he was wanting to get rid of them fast. All of them come with the upgraded cap/seal and were bought from the local brew store and not from a brewery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 Well you learn something new every day, I thought they all came with the black plastic lids with the good seal, but I've only ever got them from breweries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeastyBoy Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 1 hour ago, Cat204 said: The 64oz growlers I bought off someone having to move and didnt have space for making beer so he was wanting to get rid of them fast. All of them come with the upgraded cap/seal and were bought from the local brew store and not from a brewery. Thanks for sharing, that helps as never seen these before. Reminds of the old glass flagons which I have not seen in a while. A hoppy pale ale sounds like a good choice for a first brew. Suggest splitting the bottling between these bad boys & crown seal bottles/plastic sealed bottles? That way you will test a few of growlers without experiencing maximum disappointment if they don't seal or hold pressure first time round. Cheers YB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journeyman Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 That's not a growler... THIS is a growler. Costs a bit more though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thirsty Jim Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 8 hours ago, BlackSands said: These are the growlers available locally here in NZ. You must be able to get them in Aus, probably cheaper too... Brace yourself BlackSands .... same growler & same supplier in Oz = AU$19.95 (that would be about $NZ 21.50) I appreciate people concern about glass growlers under pressure (but hey, if they explode than clearly those caps are holding pressure). However I frequently use a Darwin stubbie - that is 2 litres crown sealed - and I have never had an issue with it. Its fun to bring it out when I have guests but otherwise I find it a highly impractical size to serve beer from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSands Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 (edited) 17 hours ago, James of Bayswater said: Brace yourself BlackSands .... same growler & same supplier in Oz = AU$19.95 (that would be about $NZ 21.50) Yeah... doesn't surprise me. The only Aus example I could find though was this, not quite the same but very similar: Edited November 12, 2019 by BlackSands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thirsty Jim Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 https://www.kegland.com.au/vacuum-insulated-ultimate-growler-2-litre-64oz-mini-keg-system.html The blurb you have provided above is word for word from the Chinese Kegland site. The $19.95 one I quoted is listed at the URL above from Kegland Australia. I reckon the only difference between them is that the $34.95 one was a Mk 1 and the $29.95 (or $19.95 Aus) one is a Mk 2. They would both have been sourced from Kegland. They are nice but I wont be breaking my bottle habit any time soon though. It is a habit I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben 10 Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 Growler, what a bad name. Go the GROWL 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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