Do You Trade growlers Poll?

Reverse C02 or GTFO!!!

 

Being close to Town Hall, I've probably sent 30-40 growlers of Masala Mama out over the years. A bit different because they're purged & bottom-filled so they're more like sending bottles, but I never heard a whisper of anything but good about Town Hall's growlers.

Filled from the tap is trickier. I've only traded a few, but I make sure the cap is on super-tight before I even leave the store & tape the cap out of it right when I get home. The tap-filled growlers I've rec'd that have had similar treatment have been fine - I've only had one leak (years ago) & we just cracked it right away & it was fine.

Tap-filled growlers are riskier. All depends on if you trust the place that's filling it.

 

I have shipped out quite a few growlers of 10 Barrel's Berliners... They are all capped on foam/tap-filled with a bottom tube and I have heard no complaints about carbonation.

I have received growlers and only one has ever leaked... but it was bad enough that FedEx tossed the growler and allowed me to pick up the rest of the box.

Flip-tops are far and away the best. Also many places are offering stainless steel thermos types now, but generally they are expensive.

 

I have sent out some. Having second thoughts over whether a week in transit is having a negative impact. Especially since the last two I sent from our favorite brewery wasnt filled to top.

 

I don't always ship growlers,but when I do I make sure I use plumber's tape....

I have shipped out growlers of NEBCo's Fuzzy Baby Ducks w/no issues at all.

On a sour note,I once traded for a 32oz. growler of Alesmith Vietnamese Speedway.Leaked,and received it w/almost half left.

Total mess......

Cheers

 

I received 2 howlers in a trade filled at a bar/growler fill place. One was fine but the other leaked about 1/4 of it so I drank it that night. It was ok but it was only coming from Ohio & I have no frame of reference for whether the beer was ok or not but the carbonation seemed ok

 

Word to the wise - those 32 ounce growlers almost always leak. Best not to send those.

 

If you ever come across the strawberry saison from Town Hall on tap let me know and I would love to work out a trade. I went back for about 5 pours of it at the Great Taste last year, something about it I just loved.

 

I usually only trade for growlers with previous trading partners because I know the beer will be fresh and properly packaged.

The exception is Hill Farmstead. I'll usually roll the dice for Hill Farmstead growlers because they're filled with wonderful Hill Farmstead beer.

 

When I first started trading a shipped a ton of HF growlers (over 100). Mostly 750s as the 2L are just a pain to pack. I've had exactly 1 750 break, and 1 2L that leaked a little but was still perfectly carbed according to the recipient. I have received plenty of growlers as well and have only had 1 incoming growler leak, a 2L Bruery growler of BeRazzled that was barley carbed at all. Everything else has arrived safely.

I don't trade growlers much anymore though.

 

I have mailed out many, many growlers and have never had any issues. These are the FL-standard 32oz swing-top growlers. To unsure that they don't leak, simply tape the swing top down really well and ship upright.

I have never had a trade partner complain about carbonation or any other QC issues. Before i ever shipped a growler i tried saving several for several months, and never experienced any issues myself. CCB is my bread and butter, and they CO2 purge, bottom fill and cap on foam. And now they sell 32oz "Crowlers" (just like Oskar Blues, in fact the OB logo is on the cans...), which are freaking awesome. They are cheaper to buy ($1+fill for can as opposed to $6+fill for glass), and are cheaper to ship as they are substantially lighter.

I love receiving growlers as well, because i like the ounces. When i drink just to drink, i'm drinking my local shelf beer. When i get stuff in the mail, i typically drink it at a tasting, or just a group in general, so the larger format really goes hand-in-hand with that.

Also as @cavedave mentioned in the OP, there are so many great beers that are now growler-only, it's a great way to get unique stuff across the country.

 

What are your thoughts on this:



I bottle a lot of stuff in swing tops, and will crown cap them if I plan on storing them or shipping them. I have thought about capping growlers before I send them out. I think that if filled properly and kept cold I shouldn't lose much CO2 when I pop the top and press on a sanitized crown cap. I may have to experiment with some regular trade partners before I use this regularly.

 

I received a screw top growler of OTWOA and it was fine, maybe a little light on carbonation. Just sent 4 swing top 1ltr growlers of assorted Kane beers to Florida. Wrapped each in a trash bag, then upright in styro shippers. Arrived safely, fully carbonated

 

i get all the reasons why people don't trade growlers, but honestly.... my experience has been uniformly good when i used to trade. i sent out quite a few taped up growlers, and received several as well. carbed fine, drank fresh and delicious. no complaints from trading partners.

i mean, YMMV, and it's probably not best practice. still, i was not burned by it.

also, weirds me out that people still trade such that "trade value" is still a thing. beer in your local store in 2014 is too good... i mean, if anything, i'd be trading growlers more now. most of the great stuff sees good distro nowadays. trading is for getting stuff outside of your distro area, not for imagining that some bullshit some guy from alaska made 6 years ago is better than that unbelievably good BBA stout you bought at whole foods last week.

 

I almost exclusively ship 32 oz growlers and never have leak issues. If they're flip tops I electrical tape the hell out of the gasket area and then masking tape the hell out of the metal cage so it's going nowhere. If it's a screw top I electrical tape the lid like a whirling dervish and then drop it in a big ass zip lock, wrap it in a bushell of bubble wrape, and stuff it in a box within a box. If they're almost always leaking, you need to refine your methodological mojo.

 

Not a personal attack, but I've never understood this line of thinking. In my mind, fill method and seal method are entirely unrelated. A purged or counterpressure filled growler will a bad seal will leak liquid or exchange gas just as surely as a tap filled growler. And the best seal in the world can't add any CO2 or remove any oxygen that was introduced in a bad fill.

IMO, a good growler for shipping will have been filled in a way that maintains CO2 in solution and doesn't introduce oxygen and has a reliable seal (ideally swingtop with a gasket in good condition, but a quality screwtop seems almost as good).

 

I agree, so I'm not sure what we're in disagreement about...maybe the tape comment? If so, that's just to ensure the cap doesn't move in transit, I think we all know tape doesn't do anything except keep the cap in place. Or maybe it's just too early.

 

I guess it sounded like you were drawing a distinction that you didn't mean to. When you said that you take extra precautions on the caps when you get non-bottom fills, I interpreted that as an implication that you thought the seal mattered more for that type of fill. Guess I just misunderstood your comment.