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I've never had a good experience with take-out beer in a growler unless it is consumed the same day.
Here in Indiana, retail/take out alcohol sales are prohibited on Sunday, except at a brewery. I drove down to a brewery in the city to have a growler filled. It was filled with a standard fill line.
The beer was fine Sunday, but I had a pint this evening and it's completely flat. The beer was opened several times to pour a pint Sunday, then the lid put back on it and stuck in the fridge.
I only paid $5.50 for the Sunday fill special, but specialty fills there can run up to $17.
Growlers are almost always higher than bottled beer of the same type for less beer. The beer goes flat quick. The growler itself is an expense, and if you want more than one beer, you'll need more than one growler. Growlers also get stuff growing in the bottom easily, and I've had to replace a couple of growlers.
Growlers just seem to be a poor value and are my last resort. Do you feel the same way?
My experience has been a mirror opposite of yours.
The day filling growlers became legal in West Virginia, I went to the brewery/restaurant that was in the news leading to the law change that legalized it. (They were giving growlers away that day if you paid to have it filled.) I bought one. Then my brother called and said he bought one too and would be leaving town, so I went and got his. The beer still had carbonation when I finished the second one a week later. I poured carefully and closed the cap tightly when I put the growler back in the fridge.
As far as cost goes, it depends on your comparison. If you compare a $15 growler fill to a $5 pint at the bar, the growler saves you $5, and you get to take beer home that is only available on tap. Legalizing growler fills has been a huge boon to the craft brewery businesses. The vast majority of small craft breweries have no bottling or canning facilities, so their beer is only available from the brewery in kegs. Growlers have increased their sales exponentially. One brewery I know is selling their IPA as fast as they can make it since growlers became legal. If you compare a $15 growler fill to a $10 case of Natural Light, your experience will be different.
If you have gunk in your growler, you aren't cleaning it properly. Most small craft breweries do not filter their beer, so there is some yeast settlement in the bottom of a growler or bottle. It is normal. As soon as the bottle or growler is empty, it is crucial to rinse it out. Failing to do that allows the yeast to dry and harden in the bottom. Unless you are a home brewer, you probably don't know how to clean it out of there once it is dried up. One of my growlers came with cleaning directions printed on the side. In WV, growler fillers have to have facilities to clean and sanitize growlers, although you can tell them to skip that stage if you take one in that is already clean. Cleaning one properly is essential if you want to use it again for beer. Soap residue will retard beer head formation and retention.
There is more than one way to fill a growler. Some places simply put the growler under the tap and fill it up. That is not optimal. They should put an extension tube on the tap so they are filling the growler from the bottom. Retailers that installed facilities specifically for filling growlers have a CO2 system to purge the air out of the growler, then filling it from the bottom while maintaining a CO2 pressure on top of the fill. That is considered the best way to do it.
You should take it home quickly and put it in the refrigerator. Temperature changes are not good for beer.
Clean your darn growler after you use it! We have several styles and never had to throw one away or get gunk in them.
Everyone pretty much summed up the reasons behind their use and popularity. We use them when breweries have special beers they aren't going to distribute in bottles or cans....or some of the great one off experiments some do. This isn't about getting the cheapest beer possible.
I love growlers! No, they're typically not the most value-conscious way to buy beer. But in the Puget Sound/Seattle area where I'm located, there are TONs of small breweries all over the area with fantastic beer, but with extremely limited distribution (i.e - only available on draft (often only from the brewpub itself), to limited 22 oz bottle availability at best). Often, a growler will be the only way for me to drink these beers at home (and it's still cheaper than drinking that particular beer at the brewery/at a bar).
Now, if a growler of a particular beer runs say, $12, but it's also available in 6 packs for $9-10, then yeah, the growler is pretty pointless in that situation.
As far as the beer going flat after the growler is cracked open, that is a legitimate reason to dislike them. That's also a reason that I prefer 32 oz growlers, over the more common 64 oz size.
I only paid $5.50 for the Sunday fill special, but specialty fills there can run up to $17.
Ahh, Fountain Square Brewery, eh? One of my favorite places to go on a Sunday. I went in there last Super Bowl Sunday and got nine growlers filled.
Seriously, $5.50 for 64 ounces of (pretty good) craft beer is a steal. That's about what you should expect to pay for one pint at most craft breweries, and you got four pints. Even at $10 bucks a fill, it's still a good deal ($2.50/pint).
I always suggest drinking a growler the same day. Fountain Square also sells bottles, if you can't handle drinking a growler before it goes flat.
Once oxygen gets in the growler you only have a very short timespan to finish it before the beer starts to taste like cardboard (oxidized).
Obviously the more beer you take out, the more oxygen goes in, and this starts to erode the taste of the beer.
Once you open the growler you have about 6-10 hours to consume it.
A better method might be to purchase two 32 ounce growlers, this way the second one doesn't even get opened until the following day.
Counterflow tap systems alleviate a good portion of the oxygen, they are more state of the art and more expensive to run.
I don't drink that often, but when I do it's usually anywhere from 96-128 ounces so I keep a good array of clean sanitized (Star San) growler sizes around for the brewery hauls.
Also the sanitization is a crucial factor in the taste of the beer, post fill.
You should always scrub the inside with a bottle brush, soap and hot water. Turn it over to dry, spray the cap with Star San, and put a few ounces of diluted star san into the growler, close it tightly and swish it around until it's ready to be filled.
Ahh, Fountain Square Brewery, eh? One of my favorite places to go on a Sunday. I went in there last Super Bowl Sunday and got nine growlers filled.
Seriously, $5.50 for 64 ounces of (pretty good) craft beer is a steal. That's about what you should expect to pay for one pint at most craft breweries, and you got four pints. Even at $10 bucks a fill, it's still a good deal ($2.50/pint).
I always suggest drinking a growler the same day. Fountain Square also sells bottles, if you can't handle drinking a growler before it goes flat.
Yeah, the Fountain Square prices are a steal. I just can't imagine paying $15+ for a growler fill on some beers. Awful.
Yeah, the Fountain Square prices are a steal. I just can't imagine paying $15+ for a growler fill on some beers. Awful.
There are beer that cost that much for a bomber (22oz).
You are lucky to have a place that fills growers so cheap......I honestly have never seen anything less than 12$....and that was a one time only special.
Never heard of them. Wonder in they're used in Md.
Back in the 50s, I recall men carrying little metal buckets down to the local bar -- seemed that there was a bar at the corner of every block in Baltimore inner city -- and having those buckets filled with draft. Of course it had to be consumed the same evening or else go flat.
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
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This is backwards. Growlers are almost always a better deal per ounce (never mind that many many beers available in growlers are never bottled or canned). And whether it goes flat or not depennds on the type of beer, the brew, and if they carb the growler before filling. I've had stouts that were great at 3 months in, and IPA that were good when carbed for many weeks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Serious Conversation
Yeah, the Fountain Square prices are a steal. I just can't imagine paying $15+ for a growler fill on some beers. Awful.
For 64 oz? That's not much. Many good bombers are $12-15.
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