Help me out (Growler fills)

2-3 days for max freshness assuming they were not left with any head space. Maybe up to a week if filled reasonably.

 

I usually try to finish a growler either that night or within the next day. If it goes any longer than that, you'll notice some oxygen getting in there and affecting the flavors.

 

Believe he means that even after 12-24 hours he starts noticing oxidation and can detect the off flavors as a result

 

As long as you capped over foam then your good for a while. I've kept growlers for months (unopened) with no noticeable oxidation. I've never actually had a growler that was counter pressure filled, Alaska is behind with times I guess.

 

Did the guy make you cap the growler? kind of strange method. usually the person filling the growler caps and seals the growler

 

If he bottom filled with a tube, gave a right to the top fill, and capped on foam, your growler will be good for up to two weeks in my experience. I am sure the others posting above have experience also, and maybe they have had more growlers than the 150 or so I have had, but this is how it's gone for me.

 

The local brewery here, Fonta Flora, dips the bomber/growler cap in hot wax. I've found this helps the beer last longer. I assume it offers a better seal.

 

I've kept full growlers in the fridge for up to a week with no perceivable drop in quality. They may last even longer, but I haven't tried it yet. My growlers are all brown glass and of the screw-on cap variety. I invested in a couple polyseal caps (available at most homebrew suppliers) and they work well. My local bottle shop always fills growlers from the bottom by attaching a short piece of tygon tubing to the tap. They also put electrical tape around the cap after they put it on, but I think that's mostly so the government will consider it a "sealed container".

 

A local brewery that does growler fills screw tops with a tube (not counter pressure filled). I find a get 2 days max and really only 24 hours before the CO2 levels start dropping.

 

I've kept growlers for far longer than that with minimal, if any, change. Keep in mind that#1, they are bottom filled, capped on foam, and I keep them in my dark, cool cellar.
Also, it will depend on the style, as with anything, IPAs and hop-forward beers won't last as long as other styles, like barleywines and stouts.

 

I try to finish mine within 2-3 days if I can, but I have had luck upwards of a couple weeks (unopened). I haven't risked going beyond that, but from the lack of change in a couple weeks, I'd imagine you can push it a bit beyond that depending on the beer.

 

I was wondering how they fill growlers... Maybe it sounds like a noob question, but they don't sell growlers (fills) in my place. A friend of Mine just recieved 2 growlers of Hill farmstead double ipa's (filled 1.5 week ago) but how do they do it? Do they fill a growler and add a bit sugar for a second fermentation? Or do they add some carbonation in some Way...?

It's got me thinking while i was Reading this topic, because they say you could still drink your growler after a month. They can't just tap some beer in.

 

Short answer:
That's exactly what they do. Tubes and/or careful pours help with minimizing carbon dioxide loss through filling (i.e. keeping it carbonated as much as possible). Then it's really up to the amount of air trapped inside and the seal of the cap to minimize pressure loss and susceptibility to oxidation.


Decent read on growlers if you're interested:
http://allaboutbeer.com/beer-growlers/

 

Thanks for the link. Very helpful

 

This question comes up occasionally, and the answers are so wide-ranging it's almost unbelievable. Some people claim unopened growlers go bad after a day or two, while others say they have kept them for months. I think a lot of it has to do with how the growlers were filled.

Personally, I've had many growlers for 2-3 weeks before opening them and noticed no drop off in flavor/carbonation. All have been capped on foam, some CO2 purged, some bottom filled, some filled straight from the tap.

 

My results have also varied based on the style of beer - generally the darker the beer, the less you notice.

I've drank half a growler of stout, put back in fridge, and not drank the second half for 2 days, with not really any noticeable oxidation.

 

I think if the growlers are bottom filled and capped on foam they will keep for 2 to 3 weeks. I just opened on tonight that was done that way and it was as good as the one I opened the night it was filled. It was filled 3 weeks ago.

 

Why wouldn't he cap them... Weird