Just got into trading for growlers etc. I got a growler about 2.5 weeks ago, 32 oz swing top. My fiancé had to open box and get it in the fridge bc I was out of town. When I got home I did notice some stickiness to the growler but was hoping it was just leftover from the fill. My fiancé said it smelled bad when she opened it up. This morning I removed the tape and saw it had beer missing, probably about 2-3" from the top of the growler. I opened it and it was flat. My question is do I just eat the trade of the growler? The Cherry rye tasted flat and I couldn't drink it. I know there is an assumption of risk when trading these, as there is with any trading if beer. I just know when u get a package with broken bottles the shopper is supposed to replace them. It's been a couple weeks since I got the growler but I didn't want to remove the tape until I was ready to drink it. I don't want to act like a douvhebag if its standard that if the growler is damaged or leaked traders just let it ride kinda thing so I am weighing in here. Thanks for any posts regarding this. I just want to make sure I'm not offending anyone if I contact them.
Unfortunately, growlers have a high tendency to leak, and I think you have to accept that going into a trade, and be willing to deal with the consequences. I've had bottles leak, and never asked the shipper to do anything about it. Others may disagree, but unless something breaks, I consider it a risk of the process, and just move on. (although personally, if someone told me that something I sent them leaked, I'd send them something to make up for it, but thats just me, and not the expectation)
If you had opened it up immediately and it was leaking and flat then I'd say you could ask for some form of replacement, but since you waited two weeks I don't think you really can. I know I've replaced a growler once when the leak damaged the beer, but since you can't be certain that it was the leak and not the two week waiting period I don't think you can ask for another. In related news, why on earth would you have a growler shipped to you if you're going to have to sit on it for two weeks? That's a terrible idea even if it doesn't leak.
Umm bc I hadn't had anytime to drink it??or I wanted to try cherry rye on draft not just in the bottle? The same reason people post trades for apple brandy hunahpu that was growlered like a year ago. Or pegs rarer dos or nooner growlers. It's not unheard of to get growlers and cellar them... To answer your question about the flatness, the leak is what caused the flatness bc growlers are filled all the way to the top and this one had about 2-3" missing from the top.
The growlers you mentioned are counter-pressure filled, do you know the same to be true of the Cherry Rye growler you traded for? Also if it was tube-filled then it wouldn't be filled all the way to the top, nor should it be sat on for 2 weeks.
Those are counter-pressure filled, which means they can last a lot longer than a tap-filled growler. Unless I'm mistaken your growler would've been tap-filled, in all likelihood at a bar too. You just cannot sit on those. I wouldn't sit 2 weeks on a growler that I personally saw filled, let alone one shipped across the country. Well yes, but you can't know that if you had drank it within a day that it would've been bad. Growlers leak a little bit in transit all the time, that's why you drink them quickly.
I just got two growlers in the mail this week (One on Thursday, the other Friday). One was counter pressure filled (THB's Twisted Trace) and the other not (Kuhnhenn's DRIPA). They both leaked minimally. They are both being consumed this weekend. I agree with others that you waited too long to open, especially if just bottom filled. How was this thing taped that you couldn't tell from day 1 that it was missing 2-3 inches of liquid? If you saw that it was missing 2-3 inches of liquid on day 1, you should have drank it day 1/2. All in all, there is greater risk in shipping growlers. I don't think you have any recourse though.
thanks for allthe insight guys...really appreciate it. I agree I should have drank it, but finding time was hard...just got back from my bachelor party and was busy as hell past couple weeks. I will definitely make sure next growlers I get are counter pressured before I attempt to cellar it. to those asking how I didn't notice the missing beer, there was tape along where the growler top was and the tape wrapped down along the neck of the growler and when it leaked, the tape covered it all up...
That actually sounds odd. Might have been a bad fill. Usually they don't leak but a tiny bit unless it was capped loosely or something. You'd usually only see about half to one inch missing from shipping. Sounds like the person who filled it filled until the foam was coming over the top and capped it immediately. When the foam subsided, it was about 2-3" lower than full. They sender may have seen this the next day and just taped down to below the fill level hoping you wouldn't see it or assume it had leaked. That is totally a guess on my part from shipping and receiving growlers and watching both good and bad fills happen. That said, you probably waited too long to do anything about it.
As others said, waiting 2+ weeks, you really have no recourse here. Growlers are meant to be consumed pretty much immediately, unless they are counter pressure filled. Leaking is going to happen with growlers in transit - your partner could send you 10 more and the same thing might happen 10 times in a row.
I can't sit on a growler, EVER. When they get here I get nervouse anxiety until I open it, which is usually same night. I haz growler OCD.
