Breweries that counter-pressure fill

Discussion in 'Pacific' started by TheMagnanimous, May 8, 2015.

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  1. TheMagnanimous

    TheMagnanimous Initiate (0) Mar 16, 2011 Vermont

    A bunch of my favorite breweries on the East COast purge CO2 prior to filling growlers, and the carbonation remains intact for weeks.

    Have been to a bunch of CA breweries that do not use this practice, and I've had a lot of carbonation loss even trying to take good care of the growler.

    Would love to know if there are breweries in CA doing counter-pressure fills. Thanks guys.
     
    #1 TheMagnanimous, May 8, 2015
  2. SDReaper

    SDReaper Pooh-Bah (2,174) Aug 15, 2013 California
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Modern Times I believe does.
     
    #2 SDReaper, May 8, 2015
  3. jnance88

    jnance88 Zealot (572) Jun 10, 2014 California
    Trader

    I know Smog City in Torrance purges CO2 before filling their growlers. I don't believe Monkish in Torrance does. Only two places I get growlers from.
     
    #3 jnance88, May 8, 2015
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  4. TheMagnanimous

    TheMagnanimous Initiate (0) Mar 16, 2011 Vermont

    Thanks a lot guys. Very encouraging to hear about Smog City which I want to visit, and will look into Modern Times.
     
    #4 TheMagnanimous, May 8, 2015
  5. HeavySpeedway

    HeavySpeedway Initiate (0) Jul 8, 2013 California

    Yeah, no extra oxygen to spoil that cockstaggeringly tasty rad dank sauce!
     
    #5 HeavySpeedway, May 8, 2015
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  6. UnknownKoger

    UnknownKoger Pooh-Bah (1,895) Jul 9, 2010 California
    Pooh-Bah

    Is this what we're doing?
     
    #6 UnknownKoger, May 8, 2015
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  7. TheMagnanimous

    TheMagnanimous Initiate (0) Mar 16, 2011 Vermont

    Pretty much.
     
    #7 TheMagnanimous, May 9, 2015
  8. TheMagnanimous

    TheMagnanimous Initiate (0) Mar 16, 2011 Vermont

    Not trying to ship growlers here. Trying to figure out on road trips what breweries I can grab growlers from and know that carbonation will reliably hold up.

    The vinyl-tube direct from tap, capping on foam, with no purge of oxygen is just not reliable.
     
    #8 TheMagnanimous, May 9, 2015
  9. MiScusi

    MiScusi Pooh-Bah (1,803) Feb 12, 2005 California
    Pooh-Bah

    Societe does I believe.
     
    #9 MiScusi, May 9, 2015
  10. MiScusi

    MiScusi Pooh-Bah (1,803) Feb 12, 2005 California
    Pooh-Bah

    Just as an aside, I've filled growlers for over a decade and have kept many, actually most, for 1 or up to 2, even 3 weeks and never experienced carbonation loss or even loss of flavor/oxidation (except 2 growlers from Stone in 2007 filled with Ruination at the same time that 1 week later when we opened were terribly stale... had to be a problem during the fill b/c I'd filled ton's of stone growlers and kept >1 week refrigerated with zero issues).
     
    #10 MiScusi, May 9, 2015
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  11. schuey1010

    schuey1010 Initiate (0) Jun 18, 2009 California

    Agreed. I had screw cap growlers that lasted 3 or 4 weeks with no loss. Once ya open em, ya gotta drink em up though.
     
    #11 schuey1010, May 9, 2015
  12. clayfu

    clayfu Initiate (0) Apr 27, 2010 California

    Societe does for sure. Was just there. Their growlers stay fresh for way longer than most places.
     
    #12 clayfu, May 9, 2015
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  13. TheMagnanimous

    TheMagnanimous Initiate (0) Mar 16, 2011 Vermont

    Just curious - do you put your growler in a cooler immediately? Has your decade of growler-fills been in the same region?

    I've filled hundreds of growlers myself as well, from all over the country. New growlers, Old growlers, clean and not as meticulously cleaned....

    I've had screw cap and swing-top growlers that have lasted over 3-4 weeks as well. I've also had growlers that were noticeably diminished within 24 hours.

    The only consistent result I've gotten is from breweries that purge CO2, hence the thread. That is not to say carbonation can't be maintained without purging CO2, but I think without doing so, extra care has to be taken to fill very slowly with a good seal so that there's no agitation and oxidation.
     
    #13 TheMagnanimous, May 9, 2015
  14. Xul

    Xul Pooh-Bah (2,139) May 18, 2008 California
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Societe purges with CO2 but they do not counter-pressure fill. Purging with CO2 is a big help, but it's only a subset of the benefits of a true CPF system. As someone mentioned earlier, Modern Times does use a CPF for growler fills. There may be one other brewery in San Diego who has a counter pressure filler, but they're generally somewhat of a pain to setup and get properly tuned, so a lot of breweries shy away from them.
     
    #14 Xul, May 9, 2015
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  15. HeavySpeedway

    HeavySpeedway Initiate (0) Jul 8, 2013 California

    Not just a pain, but a cockstaggeringly big pain.
     
    #15 HeavySpeedway, May 9, 2015
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  16. TheMagnanimous

    TheMagnanimous Initiate (0) Mar 16, 2011 Vermont

    My bad not clarifying - I'm interested in any brewery that purges CO2. I understand a true counter-pressure fill is expensive/annoying.

    Since I had not (yet) seen any bay area breweries purge w/ CO2 before filling, I had wondered if there was a safety regulation or breweries just don't want to use up their Ctanks. There's no doubt it extends freshness/carbonation.

    Appreciate the tip on Societe, love their beer.
     
    #16 TheMagnanimous, May 9, 2015
  17. ryno09

    ryno09 Pundit (835) May 1, 2010 California

    Rip Current purges with CO2 before fills.
     
    #17 ryno09, May 9, 2015
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  18. MiScusi

    MiScusi Pooh-Bah (1,803) Feb 12, 2005 California
    Pooh-Bah

    I keep my growlers cold at all times. I usually will take a cooler with me if I'm going to fill something up, unless I'm going straight home after filling it and live within say an hour or so, but even then I like to have a cooler. Mostly filled growlers around So Cal but also ones up in Nor Cal and in AZ. All types of growlers. I like the screw top ones better than the Stone/Russian River type swing top jugs because I can put electrical tape on them and make the seal even better, but generally the swing top have always worked just as well for me. It's weird how we've had different experiences..
     
    #18 MiScusi, May 9, 2015
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  19. HopHead84

    HopHead84 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,268) Nov 29, 2006 California
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Purging with Co2 is not the same as counter pressure filling. What you're referring to in your post is just purging with Co2 and not counter pressure filling. The only brewery I know of in Southern California that counter pressure fills is Modern Times.

    *edit* I see you and Xul addressed this above. Ignore my post.
     
    #19 HopHead84, May 9, 2015
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  20. TheMagnanimous

    TheMagnanimous Initiate (0) Mar 16, 2011 Vermont

    Appreciate the response, I often forget a cooler, but with a CO2 purge quality has been maintained even with the temperature fluctuating, so my anecdotal experience has found oxygen to be the more important variable. Nonetheless, I should be more diligent about bringing a cooler with me. Cooler + clean growler + oxygen purge seems like a foolproof method.
     
    #20 TheMagnanimous, May 10, 2015
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