Exploding tired hands growler

First time I heard about it was at the anniversary party and it was mosaic magotago. I saw one of them explode so I decided to not wait 2 hours for a bomb on the way home. Sounds to me like a beer problem mainly with that beer. I did get a growler new on Thursday and just drank it today with no issues though. Who knows? I agree they are opening themselves up for a lawsuit. If that explodes next to a child that will be the end of tired hands. Doesn't matter if it is the beer or glass once someone gets injured. It is their fault for continuing to sell them without resolving the issue.

 

I see Tired Hands just addressed the issue in twitter after someone tweeted to them about an explosion. At least they are acknowledging the problem.

 

30 out of 8 is awful odds!

 

I know of someone else who had a 64oz that exploded at least a month ago. Another thing to consider is that many people use these tired hands growlers for fills at other places and don't have issues. I know people who fill these at Whole Foods (who also use the same exact growler) and the issues are always with beer filled at TH.

 

I guess the beautiful and delicate terminology now extends to their growlers as well as their beers.

 

Only ended up getting two 32oz, a magotago and a funnieduddie, drank the latter sunday when I got home and the mago is still in tact, probably drinking tonight

 

Since these reports have come up, I have made it a point to pop the top to relieve pressure about 15-20 minutes after they fill it and immediately latch the swing-top back on tight. I have done this a few times and can report fully intact carbonation even after two weeks. My growlers tend to not last longer than that for consumption.

Perhaps those should give this a try, though, at the heart of it I do wish Tired Hands would acknowledge or do something to remedy this from continually happening. A PSA of some sort with solution would be nice.

 

Do you have any idea why a Public Service Announcement has not happened yet?

Do you think they have been advised not to do so by legal counsel?

Cheers!

 

@JackHorzempa I would only be speculating at this point.

I am just very surprised after countless reports and even one exploding on the bar that it has not been publicly addressed.

 

I suppose we should be thankful that nobody has gotten hurt yet? I am assuming that nobody has gotten hurt yet since there has been no mention of injury.

Cheers!

 

I like your idea of releasing some pressure but once you open a growler you introduce oxygen and that is a shelf killer and effects the flavor of the beer if you wait to open it days later. Oxygen contact with already frermented beer creates the aroma of wet cardboard and this is the easiest off flavor for your average beer drinker to identify.

If you do release some pressure by opening after your fill, plan on drinking some of the growler that night and finish it off the next day.

 

Heres my experience so far.. Ive learned to transport the growlers in a cooler on my 45 minute ride home (no problems thus far) and immediately refrigerate them. Ive had 2 growlers of Milkshake explode during my transport home before I started to use a cooler. As for shipping, Ive had a growler of milkshake explode and prior to packing I warmed the beer to room temp and cracked the seal a few times in hopes that the growler would arrive safely. I even overnighted the grower to Boston and it was a huge fail. Haven't had any issues with any other beer except the Milkshake. For the growlers that exploded I was compensated quite well by Tired Hands.

 

There is usually enough CO2 coming out to both release pressure and purge any O2 that the beer had been exposed to in that one or two seconds.

 

Agreed. My method is to quickly pop it to relieve pressure and then snap it back on within a second or two. Like I mentioned above @HeadyBeer I have done that and consumed two weeks later with no off flavors/oxidization.

 

Standing in line for growler fills at the Para5 release, we were talking to somebody in line that warned us about the exploding growlers and mentioned a girl was holding one under her arm when it exploded. She was only slightly cut (and very scared). It sounds like it could have been much worse.

 

Thank goodness she was only slightly cut and there was no major damage like an artery getting sliced open.

I would imagine it was indeed a frightening occurrence.

Cheers!

 

It seems pretty obvious to me what the problem is. They fill their growlers straight from the taps and allow them to overflow into their drains until there is no foam. This means the growler is filled completely to the top. If you don't know, water expands as it warms up and it also can't be compressed so as your growler warms to room temperature, the beer can expand enough to blow up the growler. A growler filler prevents this because when you remove it from the growler, it leaves some head space behind. I would advise just pouring a little bit out. That tiny bit of air isn't going to stale the beer quickly enough for people to notice in the time their beer should be drunk anyway.

They just need to stop filling their growlers to the very top...

 

If that was the case it would happen to all pours, not just specific ones (mago tago looks like one of them). I still suspect what I mentioned earlier, the beer is prob too young. Either way they should be capping on foam with a growler filling hose as you mentioned.