Growler Brew Lifespan

So, for you beer aficionados...

One of my goals this summer is too drink as much local beer as possible. OK, that came out wrong. Not to drink as much as possible, but to drink local beer as often as possible WHEN I'm buying beer. I thought investing in growlers would be a good way from keeping me from visiting Old Town to buy the latest offering from Dogfish or Bells (although there is nothing wrong with OT or those very, very tasty brands).

My question is this - how long does the beer in a growler stay good? If the lifespan is not that long, there's the possibility that my first statement might come true - that I'll be drinking as much local beer as possible. And that's not good. [Yes, I realize there is not that much beer in a growler...]

Thanks in advance.

I get growlers all the time from Cumberland Brews since that's the only way to take it home, love love love their beers. I suggest drinking it all in one day/night with friends, IMO it just isn't as good on day 2. I'd say 2 days in the fridge is the max, I occasionally get one late on a Friday or Saturday in the fall for early football games the following day, otherwise just have a pint or two there.

Agreed, I have bought growlers at BBC and carried them on the 11hr. journey to V.B. Once I open them two days max for best quality.

Just what they said. Keep it cold and sealed and you can get quite a bit of time. As soon as the seal is broken on the growler, you will lose carbonation and also start to see some oxidation of the beer after the first 24 hours. Get a growler to share with a friend, or for one heck of a night by yourself!

on a slightly related subject Dogfish head just released a mix twelve pack of 60,90 and 120 min. Price 49 bucks. Not sure it can be got in the great state of Kentucky but if it can the 120 is crazy.

Ditto.

Last weekend I refilled 2 growlers of BBC Hell for Certain on Sunday. We finished all but about a pint, which I resealed as best I could and took home. On Tuesday, after a long day at work, and realizing I was out of bourbon, I poured the last pint. It was drinkable, but there was a definite loss of quality and fizz.

I think once you unseal, the 24 hour rule is pretty fair. Price-wise, you can't beat it though. You can get multiple varities of BBC, including HFC and Nut Brown for $5.99/growler (Bourbon Barrel Stout for $7.99) at Bombay, or fill one there and cross the street and have Cumberland fill another.

$12 for a gallon of good beer can't be beat. Just make sure you clean your growlers well between uses.

I actually just saw this on Cumberland Brews (website now has it listed as "Cumberland Brewery" - small name change?). Anywho, on Mondays from 4pm to 2am, they have 1/2 price growler refills.

Cumberland Brewery is the name of the production facility located in a semi-secret location on Poplar Level Rd. We would have prefered CumberlandBrews.com but as you can imagine it wasn't that available. If your planning to visit us next Mon. please be patient we have staffed an extra employee, however last Mon. we filled 70+ growlers and that takes a little time to do it correctly.
Thanks,
Mark Allgeier

I've nothing much to add. The advice here so far is valid in my experience.

Yeah,

The key to growler lifespan is keeping it sealed and unopened. Everyone does it differently, but at my brewery, we always used a tube so that the beer flows from the tap to the BOTTOM of the bottle, thus not exposing the beer to oxygen. As the growler fills, some CO2 is being released, thus just above the surface of the beer there is a protective layer of CO2. Then, when it is nearly full, we'd "cap on foam." So you really have little or no oxygen in the growler. It is really very similar to a regular bottle of beer at this point (the only difference being that the growler had oxygen in it originally, whereas many bottling lines will pre-evacuate the bottle prior to filling).

Still, an un-opened growler should last fine for up to a week or longer. The stronger the beer, the better the shelf life. Hops also help.

Once you open it, all bets are off. Besides losing carbonation, the oxygen will gradually start to produce off flavors. So I'd agree with the 24 hours being about the lifespan. It'll be drinkable much longer, but not as tasty...you'll also find that a 3/4 full growler will last longer than a 1/2 full one, etc......but c'mon folks, drink up! (the sharing with a friend advice is good)

Cheers,

-Nimbus