This helped us filling growlers

[beerguy1]

All of us just hate watching staff fill growlers and just letting it flow out due to foaming issues. We use the hose into the growler method and was still having lots of waste due to foam. So, I asked the staff to try cooling the growler so here is how we do it. If a customer brings in a growler we put it in the sink and let cold water run into to it for several minutes to allow the glass to cool then fill as normal. If they are buying the growler from us we have 6-8 capped growlers sitting empty in the cooler at the bar we grab one of those and fill it up.

I have no hard figures but watching the overflow pitchers I bet we have cut our losses at least 50%. its simple and costs us nothing. Hopefully it will help with your foam over waste.

[graymoment]

How much water would you estimate that you use for each growler cooling? Because you are letting it run for several minutes, is there any reason why you wouldn't just put the growler in the fridge/freezer for a similar period of time after a quick rinse?

[beerguy1]

How much water would you estimate that you use for each growler cooling? Because you are letting it run for several minutes, is there any reason why you wouldn't just put the growler in the fridge/freezer for a similar period of time after a quick rinse?

They let it run under the water for about minute guessing around 2 gallons of water. I think running it under water cools it quicker and when things get busy they want things to move along. Just another note they didn't like the idea of taking extra time but hey found out it was less mess and actually took less time.

[bwalden234]

Growler waste

If you are already putting a hose in to the growler, could you adapt a drilled stopper and semi counter pressure fill?

[finecreek]

If you are already putting a hose in to the growler, could you adapt a drilled stopper and semi counter pressure fill?

This is basically what I do. I chill the growler after sanitizing, dump out the rest and have a hose with a stopper to plug the growler lightly. maintaining a similar pressure in the growler by plugging it with the stopper keeps the foam down from the initial bit of beer filling the growler and the rest fills like normal with much less foam. It would be great to figure out a purge with this since it's much less hassle than a counterpressure filler.

[TGTimm]

We have glass rinsers installed in our drip trays--something like this: http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-...d-MM-5821.html but intergral to the tray. The water is chilled to the same temp as the beer either by a length of copper tubing in the cooler or a glycol-chilled HX under the bar. We use these for the growlers as well as glasses--even those coming clean from the cooler.

Not only does chilling the glass help prevent excess foaming, but the wetting of the glass and removal of any tiny enucleation centers--dust, etc, helps greatly.

We've been using tubes to fill growlers for fifteen + years, but the glass chillers about double the effectiveness.

There's also something that customers find comforting about watching their glass--growler, schooner or pint--being chilled and rinsed before filling.