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Bottling Half-Gallon Growlers?
Can you bottle beer directly in the half-gallon ( I think one gallon are available too) growler jugs with the metal screw on caps? (micro breweries seem to use them alot for take home beer)
The last brew I made I tossed some in a nifty, but overpriced flip top-ceramic-rubber gasket sealed half gallon jug, it worked pretty well, it's especially good if you plan on sharing with people, so wouldn't need quite so many small bottles.
Another note, does anyone know where you can get very large rubber seals for the large 2L flip tops? I have one I brought back from Denmark that needs a new gasket.
I wouldnt recommend it. I havent bottled in a long time, but the one time I did bottle and use growlers i had 2 bombs. I dont think they can withstand the forces of bottle carbing. Filling and capping with already carbed beer is fine.
You can do it with the flip top growlers with the gasket and it works great. I wouldn't do it with the american style crew cap unless you could find a way to seal it. Brew bups use them but they say it must be drank in a few days. I personally loved having a growler of homebrewed beer it is also great to bring to a party.
Growlers are great for transporting your kegged brew, which is how microbreweries and brewpubs use them and the reason they suggest you drink them within a few days so the beer doesn't go flat.
Not to mention the growler not being made to withstand that amount of carbonation if you did bottle in one and did not have it blow up you still have to consider this large yeast cake in the bottom of it. My buddy that just got into brewing brought over a brown ale that he bottle conditioned in a growler. After warning him about the consequences we drank the beer. The first glass each was pretty good but the large yeast sediment just got stirred into the remaining beer making it a bit on the chewy side. I guess you could pour it into a pitcher but it's just not worth the risk of blowing up a half gallon of beer all over the place.
I use growlers ALL the time to bottle. Fill to the 64 oz line, screw the cap on tight and you are good to go. Bottling time is greatly reduced. The caps need to be replaced after about three fills though. I am going to a pub to see if I can buy some from them. I have ten growlers which makes bottling a batch a breeze...not to mention clean-up. I also never had any problem with a yeast cake in the bottom...just make sure your beer is settled and bottled properly.
I just brewed a batch of ginger ale in a growler for my favorite college professor. About 24-30 hours after the last venting of the bottle it exploded in the middle of a house party he was having at his place. The explosion cut my Prof's face and cut another student's arm! I am so incredibly embarrassed. 
I used 6 oz of sugar and 1/4 tsp of yeast and and it hurt people! I was not even trying to brew alcohol...
It is not worth risking one's safety to brew with a growler. It is obvious to me now that screw-top growlers are not made to hold brewing or conditioning pressures with any reliability.
This sucks.
Best way to find out for sure is to contact company that makes the growlers, your local brew pub might even do it for you.. If I was to bottle into growlers I would add sugar according to a 5 gallon batch into bottling bucket, not add sugar or yeast to individual growlers. You can then syphon off to one growler and still bottle the rest in 12 or 22 ounce bottles. I would aim for the low side of a styles carbonation level to be safe and put growler in a plastic bin away from people and animals just to be safe. If it does explode it wil lbe in the bin. That said, I would not bottle condition in a growler. you can keg the beer and if you want to take a couple to a party you can syphon off into the growlers if you don't want to take the whole keg.
DC
I have had very good luck with transfering keg conditioned beer into growlers, using a tube and rubber bung on a picnic tap. Cheap answer to counter-pressure bottle filling, and the beer last a bit longer than just a few days. Well, it would if it stayed around that long.... As to bottling in one, I am a long way from college, but I sure wouldn't want a prof looking for my blood like that... But I got to admit. Great story.
I've had mixed results. But maybe my own fault....
Upon first hearing you couldn't bottle in a growler b/c the screw caps don't hold carbonation, and on my first homebrew batch, i took some yeast cake and dregs from my primary fermenter, added some honey and set it in the basement.
Woke up to a loud bang one morning. didn't know what it was until a day later went to the basement and smelled beer and found shards of glass ALL over the place. There was hardly anything in the box where the growler had been, and a flex duct in the ceiling was ripped twice and littered with glass shards.
Well, now knowing that a screw cap CAN hold the carbonation and seeing some brewery-bottled growlers with 30+ day date codes (not filled at the tap), i tried the next batch following bottling sugar rules, and mixing the whole 5 gallons with sugar, then capping tightly. (and storing inside protection).
Several batches later I have had no troubles and do about two growlers per 5 gallon batch. Sometimes it's hard to UNscrew due to the carbonation, and occasionally i have a bit of over carbonation. And I now try to reduce the bottling sugar for larger containers, as some sites suggest. (As when i'm experimenting with bottling directly into mini-kegs).
I think the reason brewpub-filled growlers don't last long is b/c they aren't pressurized. (imagine unscrewing a soda bottle until pressure equalized and resealing. the carbonation in the liquid would diffuse into the unpressurized air gap, especially if you drank some). Some better filling systems require fancy caps and employ a pressure/capping system. If you bottle condition, the pressure keeps the growler carbonation and shelf life like other bottling methods.
I have done nothing but bottle 1/2 gallon growlers. I always follow the rule of 3/4 CUPS (not pounds) for a 5 gallon batch and after many many brews have never had an explosion. I end up with moderate head retention and tasty homebrew. Also, I work at a brewhouse and the reason you should drink kegged beer within 24 hours of pouring into a growler is due to the fact that it has come in contact with oxygen. It rings true of any beer that has been opened and exposed to the air. If you are concerned, put it in a plastic tub and lid. If it does pop you will have minimal damage. As for yeast cakes, you will get some sediment just because of the larger size but pour it careful and slow and it shouldn't affect the beer.
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