Tag Archives: growler werks

Chestnut Brown Ale (Homebrew) – Brooklyn Brew Shop

by Mike

Steve and I have finally finished our second successful all grain home brew.  Once again we used his Brooklyn Brew Shop brewing system that he was given as a gift.  We used the Chestnut Brown Ale mix that comes with everything you need but the optional chestnuts.  We were unable to find chestnuts so brewed the beer as per the package.

The brew went down without a hitch and his little one was even able to help in her first ever brew.

The beer sat for two weeks to ferment and then we transferred our Growler Werks Ukeg‘s to force carbonate.  We set the Ukeg’s to 15PSI for three days agitating multiple times a day.  Today was the day to try the carbonated beer.

The beer poured a deep brown colour with a brown head (different lighting on both photos).  The aroma consisted of caramel, nuts, sweetness and a hint of fruit.  The flavour was of toffee, caramel, nuts, earth and some medium bitterness.  While this beer does not stand up to commercially made craft beer I could taste no off flavours and it was quite enjoyable.  If Steve and I could do our first two batches without off flavours and a pretty darn good flavour I would have to say that I would highly recommend the Brooklyn Brew Shop system.  It is also nice to be able to force carbonate your beer if you have the ability as bottle conditioning can be a crap shoot.  Our first batch 50% of the bottles were way over carbonated.  With the Ukeg it was perfectly carbonated.

Growler Werks uKEG 64 Copper Plated

by Mike

Thank you so much Steve for purchasing this growler for me!

The Growler Werks uKeg started as a Kickstarter project but is now available publicly.  You know you have an idea people like though when you are asking for $75,000 in backing and end up raising over $1.5 Million!  This was a serious success.  There were some problems during production that held this product up but its now fully available on the market.

growlerwerks-004

Growler Werks is located out of Portland Oregon.  They produce two versions of the growler in two sizes.  They have a straight stainless steel growler and this copper plated version.  They produce a 64oz and a 128oz version and they are double walled to keep the beer cold for longer.  With it being winter I have not actually tested how long these growlers will keep the beer cold.  I will have to follow up in the future.

Some of the features of this growler on top of the tap and it being insulated are as follows:

The growler lid has a regulator and holds the CO2 cartage.
There is a pressure gauge at the bottom of the tapping system.
The tapping system can have the handles changed out for customization.
There is a sight glass on the front of the tap system that shows how much beer is left.
This system uses low cost food grade CO2 cartridges.  Depending on the size of your growler there are two sizes of cartridges.

The Instruction Manuel gives a recommended CO2 pressure for different types of beer.  For the following these are the recommendations:

Stouts, porters, cream ales, barelywines 3-6psi
Brown ales, ambers, reds 5-10psi
IPA’s, pale ales, wheat beers, other ales 7-12psi
lagers, pilsners 12-15psi

The real test with any of these tapping systems though is how well do they pour.  I did not know what to expect as I have had varied success with my two systems.

To say that this growler pours well is a serious understatement.  This system pours better than some taps at breweries.

I will likely never use my old tap systems again unless I decide to do a side by side test of the taps.  This one by far takes the cake as the best system and it is not difficult to figure out.  All you have to do is turn the dial on the lid to the point that the pressure is what you want and it will keep it there during your enjoyment of your growler over the next few weeks.

Currently the standard version costs $199 ($139 USD) and the copper version costs $229 ($159 USD) for the 64oz.  The Stainless 128oz version is $279 ($199 USD) and the copper version is $319 ($229 USD).  That price difference covers the following “fluctuating currency rates, shipping, brokerage and duty into the country”.

Purchase your own here in the USA.

There is a Canadian website where you can purchase your growlers without having to cross a border.

Growler Werks Canada.