Equipment Review: A Tale Of Two Growlers

Since I have begun using my kegerator more, the need to transport growlers of beer has increased.  This is especially true with any NEIPA that I brew up.  So, I have begun the process of getting more 64 oz growlers.  My wife had gotten me a 32 and 64 oz growlers a while back, but I was always chasing after them after lending them out.  So I watched Homebrew Finds, and ran into two different 64 oz, vacuum sealed, metal growlers to add to my expanding beer sharing inventory.  I got the Zell 64 oz Growler and the Swig Saavy 64 oz Growler on two different deals through Amazon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Zell, I got on a Lightning Deal.  It is normally $19.99, and I got it for $15.99.  I felt this was a steal.  I was thrilled when I read “Versatile: While sitting anywhere in any temperature condition, your cold drink will stay perfectly chilled up to 24 hours” and one of the reviews said “There was ice in the bottle for over 48 hours! NO JOKE!”.  It looked like a solid construction, so why not give it a shot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Swig Saavy was on a Lightning Deal a few days later as well.  This one was normally $29.95 but I scored it for just $17.99.  With the neoprene carrying pouch, I couldn’t pass it up.  Again, I figured it was a great deal.  People were generally happy overall when comparing this growler to others they had owned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So to test these out, I figure I would monitor the temperature of the water across time to see how well the growlers were insulated.  After all, I think the real importance of these growlers is the idea of keeping your brew cold while transporting it.  I took an equal amount of ice cubes, 8 to be exact, and running cold tap water to create my experiment.  I used my trusted thermometer and recorded the starting temp.  Please note, for this temperature reading, I did not shake the bottle to circulate the water.  In all other temperature readings, I did.  A nice 52/52.1 degrees for both!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I moved the growlers downstairs where the temperature was a nice cool 63 degrees.  I did not put the neoprene carrying case on the Swig Saavy bottle, so I would be fair to both growlers in my experiment. I waited a few hours and took my first reading.  I did notice that all my ice cubes had melted.  I was kind of surprised by this, as people talked about the ice cube staying in their reviews on Amazon.  It had been just 3 hours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I noticed an IMMEDIATE  difference between the two growlers.  The Swig Saavy actually dropped in temp, and the Zell headed up just a bit.  Reminder….I shook both bottles for a few seconds from this point forward to be sure there was a good mixing of all water temps.

 

SIX HOURS IN:

The Swig Saavy is still below the starting temp.  The Zell is above.  In the last 3 hours, both increased in temp.  The Swig Saavy went up by 1.6 degrees and the Zell went up by 1.4 degrees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9 HOURS IN:

The Swig Saavy is still below the starting temp.  The Swig Saavy went up by 1.5 degrees and the Zell went up by 1 degree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

24 Hours In:

This is the first time I find the Swig Saavy above the original temp.  The Swig Saavy has now made the biggest jump….4 degrees while the Zell only increased by 2.7 degrees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

48 Hours In:

I decided to end the experiment here.  The temperature of my basement increased from 63.1 to 64 degrees.  The Swig Saavy still clocked in below the room temperature, but had an increase of 7.5 degrees in the 2nd day.  The Zell only increased by 5.2 degrees, but had reached the room temp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recommendation and Final Thoughts

So based on the temperatures recorded, it is plain to see that I would recommend the Swig Saavy over the Zell.  The extra cost seems like it is worth it IF you are keeping the beer in a sealed growler for more than a day.  I also like the idea of the carrying case if you are going camping or hiking.  I don’t know how much the case will change the temperature consistency, but I can only imagine that it would help it keep a little lower and slow the change.

If you are looking to drop about $20 on a vacuum sealed growler, my recommendation is the Swig Saavy!