What is the best way maximize the longevity of a growler's carbonation and overall quality? A buddy in New Hampshire went to HF over the weekend and sent me a growler of Abner that I immensely enjoyed last night. I'd like to return it filled up with some delicious offerings from Cellarmaker, but from experience, I doubt the carbonation will hold up as well. I've had a couple fills from them with noticeable carbonation loss in as little as 18 hours later. What could they do to improve this? Blast with CO2? Bottom fill? Thoughts?
Bottom fill is probably the most important. I feel like CO2 just helps with oxidation. Making sure the seal is good and tight obviously helps as does the amount of carbonation the beer has to begin with.
I wish I could get some crisp Abner, I received a 750ml flip top a while back and it was really flat. Is that how Abner usually is?
What I had was 5 days old and had plenty of carb. There was electrical tape holding the swivel top down tight, not sure if that was HF or my buddy's work.
Counter-pressure filled growlers are best. Second-best option is Co2-purged, bottom-filled, with very little head space. Tipped to the side and not bottom-filled is the least desirable method. Especially if an inch or two of head space remains. Finally, the swing-top growlers are generally better than screw-top growlers. Geesh, that was a lot of hyphens!
I've never even heard of counter-pressure filled growlers. Pretty cool! Growlers are still a fairly new thing here in Dallas. Good call also on filling up as high as possible. That makes a pretty big difference too.
HF's operation was pretty amateur when I went before the renovations - I can't speak as to what their current set up is. They didn't bottom fill or blast with CO2, and they definitely didn't tape up the swivel top (or ask if we wanted that as an option). Luckily, we drank our HF growler within hours.
Dave, the tape was all me. I am pretty sure HF just blast with CO2 and then do the side fill that money does not like. I shipped 4 of them to various spots around the country and nobody complained (but then again, who would?).
Get your fills from craft and growler and they'll last for weeks if not longer. Much better option than WF or Botlle Shop if you won't drink it right away since they fill from a hose. I'm excited to see how lakewood growler turns out.
I've had the same success with screw-top as I have had with swing-top that I've personally filled. Of course, we use a screw-top lid that has a rubber gasket built in and I crank it down pretty tight so I'm sure that helps. The biggest advantage screw-top has is that it tends to be a little shorter than swing-top (especially for the puny 32oz growlers we have here in Florida).
When shipping growlers, all of the above plus sealing it off with duct tape soon after the fill. (Had much better luck with screw tops than flip tops after the fill.)
I hear ya... last year I had a growler filled of Mad Elf, a kinda expensive growler but it went flat by the next day. Doesn't help that they filled up pitchers first and then poured it into the growler. It's an awesome bar that fills growlers horribly.
At the bar I work at we have a lot of local draft only beers and we sell a lot of growlers as its the only way for people to really enjoy the beer without having multiple pints at the bar. We dont purge, but use a tube to bottom fill and I have all front of house staff fill as high as possible. Just by using these methods I found most of the time will help the beer keep better. Obviously I know this is the 'right' way but just throwing it out there that it really helps.
That's what I've been led to believe and it seems to be the general consensus in this thread. I'm not referring to counter-pressuring a growler (which would help with carbonation), I'm referring to purging the growler with CO2 before filling (which is solely to prevent oxidation).
The cheap paper backed lids that come initially with the growler should be replaced ASAP. It doesn't provide a very good seal and eventually it becomes a home for critters that make your beer taste and smell funny. Good growler fill establishments will often upgrade your cap to one of these: http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/38-mm-polyseal-screw-caps.html
Right, but if you read what OP asked he's really wanting to figure out how to prevent carbonation loss, which is why I said CO2 "just helps with oxidation". And obviously I'm not saying CO2 causes oxidation because beer comes with CO2 in it.
