Beer Growlers

[Benny]

Reading the backpacking coffee thread this morning got me interested in the following post. I received an email this morning that might of interest to some of you beer drinkers out there. Here is the link to a Backpacker review on Beer Growlers Kind of cool if you can't leave home without having a beer in the backcountry.

[littlefish]

Cool! Those definitely come in handy out there!

Hate beer when it loses carbonation. I can never get a stout for growler fills. Just flat!

Hopefully http://www.growlerwerks.com will solve this!

[darrin terry]

Cool! Those definitely come in handy out there!

Hate beer when it loses carbonation. I can never get a stout for growler fills. Just flat!

Hopefully http://www.growlerwerks.com will solve this!

I want one. Now please. That is not only the coolest looking growler I've ever seen, but it is also by far the most useful I've seen. I wish I had one back when I used to brew at home.

[briansII]

Yeah, that thing is seriously cool! Sorta like a reusable mini keg, that'll keep beer fresh for days.

Speaking of growlers, a very generous buddy shared a growler of KRB, Dirty Hippie with me. Delicious!

briansII

[littlefish]

Yeah! It's pretty cool! It's still in production though. Can't wait for the day till they ship it!

I wish I had one back when I used to brew at home.

Speaking of brewing, just brewed for the second time last week. Wanted to do an all grain milk stout, but the guy at the homebrew store gave us grief about being brew newbs and made us do an extract instead. Hopefully it all works out.

[littlefish]

Speaking of growlers, a very generous buddy shared a growler of KRB, Dirty Hippie with me. Delicious!

Sweet! Going up there again next weekend. LOVE their beers. I'm usually not a fan of IPAs but got a growler of their session IPA last time I was up there. I think its called Levitation or Gravity or something. Such a fan of their Class X stout!

Speaking of breweries, has anyone been to Mountain Rambler up in Bishop?

[Papasequoia]

So, due to proximity in time and placement next to the GTW planning thread when clicking "view active topics" I was naturally thinking of these for backpacking. At a bit over 4 lbs. for the liquid, and an average weight of 2+ lbs. for the growlers and the fact that 64 oz is only about 5 beers I was thinking that it probably wasn't worth it for a multi-day trip.

I next spent waaaay too much time doing math, or at least trying to, while still on my first cup of coffee. How much does the average can of beer weigh? (360 ozs which is about 12.7 ounces, 12 of which is the beer). Now how much does the can part of that weight compared to the weight of these growlers? Etc. Hold on a sec ... I need more coffee...

...Okay, I'm back. Thank goodness for 16 oz. cups of espresso or I would never be able to get important work like this done while on summer break! So, my conclusion after doing this math (not my subject, could be completely wrong) is that these growlers are not worth it for backpacking. It's cheaper and more lightweight to carry cans of beer and sink them in a lake or stream to chill them. This is especially true since there are finally so many good beers now being packaged in cans.

But wait! [several sips of coffee interrupt my writing here] After reading the full review that Benny posted (and it is a really cool review, well worth reading) I realized the true value of these things isn't for backpacking - but they are an awesome idea for hiking, including hiking along a river or to a lake while fly fishing. Canned beers would be warm, beer in one of these growlers will still be perfectly chilled and ready to drink! All one has to do is to slip it into your fishing partners pack without them seeing you, off you go for an all day hike and at lunchtime, presto! I can't wait to try this, err, I mean buy this. Thanks for posting the review article, Benny.

Edit: Just bought the Innate Craft Growler from REI for $49.95. Friends who hike with me may want to keep a closer eye on your packs.

[darrin terry]

I am going to try splitting the posts to another thread.

BRB.

I'm back! It worked. New thread here: http://www.flyfishingaddicts.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=11860


I now return you to regularly scheduled growling…

[Papasequoia]

Another update:
So, I bought that growler back in May 2015. I was excited to bring it into the Mammoth Brewery and get it filled. They told me that they don't fill unmarked growlers, only ones that they sell with their logo. I asked if that was a state reg local reg or company reg and the person behind the bar said a little of each, but they were working on it. I went in a couple of months later and they still wouldn't do it.

So, later that summer on a visit to Kansas Mike and I went to a pub/growler fill station where I met Jeff (the one who is coming back to CA to help me lay laminate shortly) I forget how many beers they had, it was like 20 or 30 and your first 5 tastes were free, and it was a good-sized taste. So, I picked a beer, got the growler filled and left a day or two later for a trip to Wyoming. Where I couldn't get the top off. Finally using the screwdriver tool on my Swiss Army Knife I was able to break the seal and get it open. I thought maybe it had something to do with elevation change or something.

And then it sat around, partly because I forgot I had it or forgot to bring it to get filled, partly because of size/weight. Then yesterday I went up to Bishop for a check-up with the orthopedic surgeon who did my shoulder and a couple of hours fishing in the afternoon. I ended the day with a burger and beer at the new (about a year and half) brew pub called Mountain Rambler. They gladly filled my growler with their very tasty Notch IPA which I brought home. I had a half pint of porter with lunch - also excellent. Annnnnnd, I couldn't get the top off without a screwdriver. Annnnnnd, it wasn't the elevation change because I opened it three times last night and just now tonight and each time it took a screwdriver.

So, this will be going back to REI. I only used it twice and both times it did not work as it should. Fortunately, although REI recently changed their return policy to make it more restrictive, this was purchased less than a year ago so I will get my 50 bucks back. Now the question is to return it and get one of the other growlers on the review or not. I this this would be pretty cool to have if I frequently filled growlers, but I don't. So, I'm going to get my cash back and buy a bunch of beer. I can always wrap a few cans in a down jacket and keep them cold. I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who got or gets one of the others though since I still think this is a pretty cool idea.

[Packer]

Maybe you have to put it behind your knees to get it open