[Bel Air Brewing]

What is your experience filling growlers, and shelf life?
I have been giving away beer to neighbors, using 64 oz growlers. They are always advised to consume the beer soon as possible. Maximum 24-36 hours.
How long will beer normally stay fresh after being bottled in a growler?

My personal experience is a growler would be consumed on the day of bottling.

[BrewBama]

My personal experience agrees with yours. IMO a growler is designed to take a few pints back to the house to consume that evening after all the driving is done. Have a pint with a pizza and take a growler to go.

[tommymorris]

If you flush it with CO2, I think it can sit in the fridge week before being opened. Once opened I say finish it in one session or 24 hours max.

[Bel Air Brewing]

Gave my neighbor a growler of 5D. He really liked it, offered to buy a 6 pack!
I told him if he would help me lift the SS Conical Fermenter out of the freezer, the beer would be free.

But they let the beer go flat, consuming half one day, and then drinking the rest a couple days later.

Next time I will flush it with CO2. This was just bottled straight from the tap.

[chinaski]

I believe that the CO2 flush prevents or slows oxidation until the growler is opened; after that the beer is both losing CO2 and staling.  A number of companies make mini-keg type growlers that keep all of the beer under CO2 pressure- but they are expensive.  Another option is putting beer into smaller growlers so its easier to finish in a day.  I've got some nice 1L flip-top bottles that work well for sharing beer.

[Andy Farke]

I think it depends on the style and the care used to fill the growler. I've had many beers last pretty well for a full week or beyond.

I find the following help ensure longevity of a growler...probably no surprises here for many people, but I write it out in case it is helpful.

• I check the growler to ensure it is completely clean -- friends who return well cleaned growlers are more guaranteed of getting future growler fills. A growler with dried beer on the bottom or grunge on the sides is no good. And surprisingly common.
• I spritz the inside of the growler with StarSan.
• If I am being extra careful, I'll chill the growler to fridge temperature.
• I use a growler filling adapter on my beer faucet, with a length of clean silicone tubing to ensure that the growler is filled from the bottom up.
• Before filling the growler, I run the beer briefly to ensure only the freshest beer is in the line (if I haven't used the particular faucet on that day).
• I fill the growler completely to the top. As the growler starts to run over, I slowly pull out the filling tube, so that the growler has as much beer as possible. Headspace is the enemy.
• I cap the growler, rinse off the outside, and put it into the fridge immediately.
• Once the growler is opened, it gets finished that day.

As mentioned above by chinaski, smaller growlers can be useful...I prefer those, because they are a more rational size for many of the people I share beer with. Most of the issues around growlers that I have experienced concern either filling a dirty growler or not filling it completely or filling the growler down the side rather than from the bottom. I don't bother with purging, partly because my system isn't set up for it, and partly because I don't think it's essential if the beer is stored cold and consumed relatively quickly.

[reverseapachemaster]

Depending on the care taken to fill the growler I would consider keeping an unopened growler in the fridge for up to a week but once opened no matter the care it has maybe two or three days max. Best is to take it home and drink it within twenty-four hours. You can point to the peak of growler fads around 2014-ish where people were going as far as trading growlers of beer because it was the only way to get tap-only beers to other markets but I don't think that's ideal or something that should be encouraged. I will admit to having bought one of those Rogue Dead Guy growlers like twelve or so years ago at a grocery store and it was fine but not the same as a growler filled at a tap.

I generally don't let beer leave my house in a growler unless it's for me to drink because I don't want to give people beer only to have it be flat and oxidized by the time they drink it. You just can't control what people do once they take your beer out of your sight.