Plastic Growlers

[Lostelmbrewing]

Anyone been looking into this? After the 10th customer who said they had our growlers roll out the trunk of the car and smash into a million pieces we're curious about the idea. Thinking they would be really good for picnic, beach, festival, etc. and we have a lot of athletic and active customers who are avid mountain bikers, hikers, and campers and they always complain about how heavy and fragile growlers can be.

Would need to be amber, with a reliable sealing cap and printable with at least one color. We currently fill 32oz growlers and would like to stay that size. Also they would need to be relatively inexpensive, I couldn't bring myself to charge people for a plastic bottle. Anyone found anything like that yet?

Mike
Lost Elm Brewing Co. / Bentley Brewing Co.
Southbridge, MA

[Wayne1]

Take a look at "The Bullet" at Tap Room Supply

Tap Room Supply

[scmorgan]

We got a 20' container from Ryan, and shipped out to Aust. Send me a PM and will shoot you ryans details.

Love em', 1/3 the cost of the OI glass ones, easier to fill (because of weight and you can see into them easier) and no complaints from customers.

Scotty

[Lostelmbrewing]

This is great, I was looking at this style of growler but was only able to find them from Bottless, and there have been some extremely negative reviews about them on this board. I'm glad it's not a proprietary design. Did you guys find the caps for these sufficient? I'm a little worried about the seal on the gasket, if hand tightening is good enough. Other than that I think these things are the wave of the future, I saw one hooked up in the bottle holder of a mountain bike and thought "this is perfect." Make a great water bottle too, another cool way to have the brand out there.

I'll get in touch with Tap Room Supply, has anyone had any issue with the printing on these? We're going for a 1 color simple white, just want to make sure it's not going to flake off or bleed during printing. Thanks guys!

[martyl]

PET Growlettes 32oz

We have been using these for several months with very good reviews and have went through a lot of boxes of them. I don't think the cap seal is as good as the glass with the plastic cap but keeps carbed for a couple of days.

Question - has anyone not been re-filling the plastic growlers?

[Inthelab]

I cant remember which, but there's a brewery in WA that uses 32oz Nalgene bottles as growlers. Sexy, indestructible, and unique. Not that hard to find somebody to print on them either.

[brewmaster 2011]

Call Tap n Draft Here in Woodland Park.

[Lostelmbrewing]

We have been using these for several months with very good reviews and have went through a lot of boxes of them. I don't think the cap seal is as good as the glass with the plastic cap but keeps carbed for a couple of days.

Question - has anyone not been re-filling the plastic growlers?

If the caps aren't sealing that well I'd be hesitant. We use a bottling gun for our growler fills and they last a week or two. Is there an alternative cap that might seal better?

[TGTimm]

I tested one of Ryan Crosby's amber PET growlers by letting it sit full of IPA for two weeks at summer ambient temperatures--70-100 F ( I meant it to be one week, but got distracted). The beer had staled very little, and no other off flavors were apparent. This was a growler filled from the tap with a tube, so some oxygen was present from the start.

Unfortunately, my boss dropped the ball and we still haven't ordered any. Since lots of our summer customers are heading for the local rivers and trails, I think these would be a real asset.

[roc-craven]

Can you refill PET bottles with beer again and again?

Yes. Can you take glass to the beach or pool?

[TGTimm]

Yes. Can you take glass to the beach or pool?

Or hiking, skiing, whitewater boating, sailing, cycling, etc?

[scmorgan]

I am refilling my plastic growler every 2-3 days ... and have had some sit for a week or 2 without any ill effect.

Anyways, if you need Ryans contact PM us ...

[roc-craven]

My question was a legitimate question...not a comment.
I was asking because we have been working on a similar project for the last 2 years, and have noticed not all Propylene will react the same way when sanitizing for reuse.

Sorry, seemed like a loaded response from someone who sells glass products. My apologies.

Cross-linked polyethylene bottles better know as PET bottles are used in labs to store many strong acids including
Hydrochloric acids. So if it can handle that it should have no problem handling PAA or Idophor or almost any other sanitizer we all use. The worst thing for PET is hot liquid. It will deform the plastic.

[TGTimm]

Can someone give me Ryan's e-mail? He doesn't seem to be reading his PMs here and I'd like to order some growlers.

TIA--

[TGTimm]

Fuggietaboutit. Ryan got in touch with me.

Another advantage of PET growlers? A gal had a 64 oz glass growler roll out of her car door here yesterday, and it broke her foot! Fortunately, no mention of the S word....