This isn't specifically a homebrew question, but I do think the topic is best discussed here. Does anyone have experience getting a growler filled and then transferring the beer to bottles and capping them? Asking because there's a stout I like and I don't want to drink 64 oz. of it in one sitting. Would rather have 5 bottles and a sample, then bust open the bottles as needed. Here's what I'm thinking to reduce loss of quality: 1. Prime growler with CO2 2. Bottom fill 3. Chill growler to very low temps (reduce CO2 loss) 4. Prime bottles with CO2 5. Use funnel and slow fill bottles at 45 degree angle to reduce foaming (do this in cold room) 6. Cap with oxy caps The only other thing I could think of is using a pressurized growler to bump up the carbonation, but with a stout you might over carb it? I've sampled the results with Not Your Father's Root Beer (19.5%) - Small Town Brewery. This is only available on tap and a fellow beer fan bottled it from a growler. It was great!
I think you might be better off trying to siphon the beer into the bottles. Try a piece of thin walled tubing, it might be easier to handle. I don't think there's anyway to avoid oxygen and losing some carbonation given your set up, but you do seem to be minimizing both as much as possible. And with an abv of 19.5% a little oxidation shouldn't hurt it, it may even add tot he character. It looks like you have CO2 so I'm going to make another suggestion. You can use a two hole stopper in the growler to transfer the beer under slight pressure. You'll need a diptube for one hole for the beer and you'll feed CO2 into the other hole at a low pressure of about 3 psi. This will push the beer out of the growler under CO2 and into the bottles. Just be careful not to over pressurize the growler. Oh, make sure you starsan everything as well. Good Luck.
I've done it, and then I recarbed the beer in the bottle - I've done both force carb and adding priming sugar. Either way, it messes with the mouthfeel of the beer a bit because it's hard to figure out carbonation levels just right. If you don't do either, you'll end up with flatter beer in the bottle, no matter how hard you try. Also, despite best practices, it's hard to completely avoid oxidation, so you should still drink the bottles within a few weeks. I've done this before with good results, and with off flavors developing. I don't do it that frequently, so I don't have a good way to guarantee success, but I can say that it has worked at least part of the time.
I don't want to add sugar to the bottles because I don't want to alter the taste of the stout. It's about 10% ABV, so I think that should help preserve it some. Plus, coming from the tap this stout wasn't very carbonated to start with. The two hole CO2 "push" method is a great idea. Keeps the oxygen minimized in the growler during filling and should allow minimal disturbance. I don't have any sanitizer, but I was going to use freshly emptied bottles soaked in hot soapy water, rinsed and then baked in oven for maybe an hour or until dry.
Rinse the bottles very well if you're going to soak them in soapy water. Or better yet, use oxyclean free to clean them, then rinse well and sanitize.
You should invest in some starsan - not expensive. Adding a touch of priming sugar doesn't mess with the flavor of the stout, especially in really small quantities and if you allow the bottle to sit at room temperature for a few days - the sugar will ferment right out and turn into CO2.
How long do you plan to have this beer in the bottles? Unless the growler, bottles, growler fill faucet and hose, and growler to bottle transfer apparatus were sanitized, you risk infection if you leave them in the bottles very long.
Not keeping bottles longer than 6 months. Would I need to add yeast then or are you thinking the stout has some dormant yeast left? I'll pick up some starsan, can't hurt. I'm still going to bake the growler and bottles though. I've had trouble getting them to dry quickly. Thanks for all the tips.
Drying's not an issue. Don't Fear the Foam! I would worry that there's not much yeast left. Fresh beer tends to do better than something that's been sitting around for a long time. I wouldn't be afraid to pick up a satchel of champagne yeast and add a few grains to the bottom of each bottle before you add 1/8 tsp of table sugar. (note: use a teaspoon measure of table sugar. Don't get these swapped ).
FTW! No need to transfer the beer to another container, simply sanitize the bottle, purge with CO2, take to the fill station, fill with said beer, take straight home and blast with CO2, store cold. After a pour, squeeze the air out of the bottle, put cap on, repurge with CO2, store cold. Repeat. If the carb level is getting low, add a little more with the cap. I have a growler of La Folie last nearly a month this way.
That looks like a spiffy option! Now if my local establishment would allow fills of anything besides 64 oz. growlers.
Finally updating this. Bottling went fine and we tasted the first bottle after a month of being capped. Tasted as good as I recall on tap, no off flavors and still had the same amount of carbonation. Thanks again for the help everyone!
