Time frame for growler fills?

[buckrogers71]

I was at Manayunk Brewer saturday and had my german growler filled.
My question is this, how long will the beer stay "fresh" if not opened and if opened, what would be a acceptable time frame to drink the beer before it went flat?

Thanks

[steveh]

I've heard that, unopened, the beer should keep a week +/-.

Once you open it, drink it soon -- it will probably go flat in a day.

I've had some luck, depending on how much beer was still left in the growler, with re-capping, giving a good shake to raise the head, and just letting some gas escape by releasing the cap -- just enough to purge the oxygen from the growler to keep it from staling the beer.

Uh, German growler?

S.

[buckrogers71]

I assume that's what it is, at least thats what Victory Brewing calls it. Its a 2 liter w/ a ceramic flip top with a rubber gasket/ seal. Big ole metal handle on it as well.

I have a few other growlers that I have gotten from DFH, Flying Fish and Manayunk.

If you'd like, I can try to post a pic of the two side by side.

Here is a pic of it, granted its in a growler jacket but....you kinda get the idea
http://www.victorybeerstore.com/ProductImages/Growler%20Cover.jpg

[cul8rv8]

They say it's good for about a week unopened. That being said....

I had a birthday party at my house back in the first week of May for my cousins birthday, and we got a Sanke keg from the local brewpub for the fiesta. We had a lower turnout than expected, and thus had a large amount of good, craft beer left in the keg. Not wanting the beer to just be ruined and go back to the brewer to be dumped and wasted, we decided to take all of the growlers we had between my cousin and I and try to save the beer. We figured that if it was going to be thrown away anyways, we might as well try to save what we can and if it didn't work, we'll throw it out anyways.
We filled around 15 growlers and finished off the keg. Fast forward to about 2 weeks ago, I still had 3 or 4 growlers in my fridge, my cousin still has 2 or 3. It had been in there a while, we just had gotten tired of drinking the same beer all the time. So I was thinking it would just need to be thrown out, but rather than waste it, I dumped a growler into a pot to make some bratwurst. Much to my surprise, when I dumped it into the pot, there was carbonation and head coming up! I had figured after nearly 3 months the carbonation would be gone, but I was wrong. I went ahead and opened another growler and poured myself a glass, still as good as it was taste-wise when we had the keg as well. Now, once it was opened, it maybe lasted one or two days, but with a tight seal on the cap, it stayed good.

I still have one growler left in the fridge to drink, maybe I'll crack it open tonight.

~edit: These were almost all in the traditional twist-cap growlers, though we did have a flip-top growler just like what you picture above that stayed good as well. We drank that one about 3 or 4 weeks after the party, though. It was handy when we went out to the desert to watch some baja-style racing in Caliente, NV.

[buckrogers71]

C, that is good to know. I am maybe hoping not to open it this week and take it on vacation w/ me.

[newportstorm]

Much depends on how it was filled and what type of seal is attained. Screw tops have been fine with me - there are several types of caps with thick polyseal caps being the best, imo. Many homebrew shops sell them for <$0.75/ea. They're worth the investment as they can be reused many, many times without fear of a failing gasket, rust, etc.

Fill high. Cap on foam. Screw on tight. Wrap lip of cap and jug neck with electrical tape. Keep cold. I've held onto them for more than a month with no noticeable degradation of the beer.

Once opened? Drink it the same day. If you can't finish 4 pints in a day, don't open it.....or get some friends. ;) Few growlers I've filled survive to day #2 in great shape. One RIS and one Oatmeal Stout are the exceptions. Shaking the beer to raise a head might help expel some O2 but it'll also help bring the CO2 out of solution, thus flattening the beer. Slightly oxidized vs. undercarbonated/flat. You pick the less of two evils.

[steveh]

Originally posted by buckrogers71
I assume that's what it is,[/IMG]

Yeah, those are becoming more popular -- I have one that was a gift from Chaz, but I don't know if they can be attributed to Germany. After all, Grolsch is from Holland and Fischer from France -- heck, I have some old liter bottles from Sprecher with flip-tops!

S.

[steveh]

Originally posted by newportstorm
Shaking the beer to raise a head might help expel some O2 but it'll also help bring the CO2 out of solution, thus flattening the beer.

Yeah, that's why I mentioned the level of beer in the growler and being careful to allow just enough gas to escape -- don't want to lose all of the carbo. Too little brew in the bottle won't be enough action to expell all the oxygen, may as well drink it or dump it.

S.

[buckrogers71]

Originally posted by steveh
Yeah, those are becoming more popular -- I have one that was a gift from Chaz, but I don't know if they can be attributed to Germany. After all, Grolsch is from Holland and Fischer from France -- heck, I have some old liter bottles from Sprecher with flip-tops!

S.

Like I said, I am going by what Victory had said and I saw at weekend brewer that they were listed as "german". At any rate, it has a better seal than the capped ones that I have.
Thanks again for the info!

[newportstorm]

Originally posted by steveh
Yeah, those are becoming more popular -- I have one that was a gift from Chaz, but I don't know if they can be attributed to Germany. After all, Grolsch is from Holland and Fischer from France -- heck, I have some old liter bottles from Sprecher with flip-tops!

S.

Well, some are at least made in Germany. As for the history of growler types.....I dunno.

http://koch-usa.com/

[steveh]

Well, considering the term "growler" is U.S. in origin, perhaps even directly derivative from Chicagen... ;)

S.