The Innate Stainless Steel Growler – function & fashion with craft beer
The Innate Growler – Durable, Insulated & Stylish
The term ‘growler’ is a fairly recent addition to the dialect of British Columbians. More that a few years back the word would have local Brits snickering and others simply imagining the barking dog next door. Today the word is synonymous with craft beer and many BC pantry shelves are lined with glass growlers awaiting their next fill at the local brewery.
In all the excitement around brewery fresh beer a number of growler-esque products have emerged improving the limited functionality of the (newly) traditional glass growler. One such leap in beer-transport technology is the Innate Stainless Steel Craft Growler. A shift from glass to an insulated-steel package offers a number of benefits beyond looking stylish walking down main street.
The Innate Growler offers insulation which keeps beer cold longer. After hours sitting out at room temperature the precious cargo is left cold and ready for consumption. This fact alone makes is great for hiking, skiing or any other outdoor adventure. Also, the stainless steel design is impact resistant and lacks the danger of a breaking a glass growler in the outdoors. The third benefit comes in the form of beer quality. While glass is debatedly the best material for preserving the brewery-fresh taste of beer in a growler, traditional glass bottles suffer by the design of their lids and potential air-leakage. The Innate growler features a flip top, heavy duty rubber seal to keep carbonation long after filling.
The inert nature of glass will have the least impact on the flavour of beer in the short term (light is not an issue here) but the Innate Growler’s food grade stainless steel design seems to no no adverse affects. Compared to standard glass growlers the taste is consistent through testing. Plus, carbon dioxide retention is significantly improved over a glass growler resulting from the superior lid design.
The only complaints in testing came from breweries themselves. There are a few disadvantages in this innovative design. Most breweries either use a sealed growler filling station or an extended tap system. The Innate Growler will not fit in some growler filling stations due to its shortened height and over-sized opening. Because of this fact it must be filled direct from the tap. Whether a brewery uses a standard or extended tap design the stainless steel structure also limits visibility when filling. The filler must peer down into the container through the top in order to judge the fill-level of contents.
These disadvantages are by no means a deal breaker. Never once has filling been impossible and the beer has always remained fresh and carbonated prior to drinking. While an oxygen purged glass growler may last up to 90 days before opening it is recommended that you consumer the contents of the Innate Growler within 2 weeks – if you can wait that long…
The Innate Growler is a fantastic product from a local, Vancouver based company. The two-finger handle is easy to hold on to and the screw top gives an excellent seal. Whether you are hiking, skiing, camping or heading to the beach this is a great product that will keep your beer cold and safe before it is time for a drink. The 32oz/.95 litre version of the Innate growler was tested here but if a 64oz/1.9l is more your size do not fret – that is available as well. For more information on the Innate Growler visit innate-gear.com
Innate Growler – Hightlights & Specifications
- Double wall vacuum insulated construction for maintaining beer at optimal serving temperature.
- Unique two fingered carry or pour handle with integrated lid and a cam bump. Cam bump locks lid in place to prevent it from flipping forward when pouring or drinking.
- Airtight insulated lid with stainless steel insert to avoid taste pickup.
- Premium 304, 18/8 food-grade stainless steel body.
- Comes in a 1.9L [64fl oz] or a 1L [32fl oz] size.
Craft Growler 32oz:
- height: 17cm [6.7″] – base diameter: 12.5cm [4.8″]
- 0.95L [32fl oz] weight: 630g [22oz]
Craft Growler 64oz:
- height: 34cm [13.4″] base diameter: 12.5cm [4.8″]
- capacity: 1.9L [64fl oz] weight: 850g [30oz]
How are the prices of these growlers? Super expensive?
Mike, The retail for the 32oz is $44.00. A little more than your traditional growler but not a bad price for the quality.
That’s not that bad. Good to hear they are local!
1000% is a little?
I’ve been told by breweries in Kelowna that they aren’t allowed to fill growlers that aren’t printed with their brewery name and info, is that correct? I’d love to own a smaller growler as I can’t drink 2 liters at once on my own and it doesn’t tend to keep well.
They are feeding you bullshit or the person was ignorant of the laws. In BC you can fill any growler in one of a few standard sizes. Breweries can choose to not fill say 1L growlers but you can bring one from Scotland and fill it here. Alberta and Ontario are different and require the brewery to exchange growlers not fill on site.
Mike is correct. A brewery in BC can fill any growler. They are required to apply some sort of label for the growler identifying the product that it has been filled with. This can be a sticker, tag or some other device.
My growler is a 2 L stainless steel similar to the one above from the tree beer Institute in Kelowna.
It also comes with a insulated sleeve (like a beer cozy) and a strap. Look it up online and maybe do a review if possible.
Comment from Innate, the makers of the Craft Growlers: Thanks so much to BeermeBC for the great review! To all posters on this review, note that 64oz (1.9L) growler is a standard growler size, so it shouldn’t pose a problem to you all when filling up at the local brewery. The 32oz is a 1.0 L size and, while it might be shorter in height, the width of the mouth makes it fairly easy for most servers to fill. Please contact us at customer(DOT)service(AT)innate(DOT)ca and let us know if we can help answer anymore growler questions!
I assume you mean “purged with carbon dioxide” and not oxygen, unless you want cardboard flavor.
Hey Frank_Z you miss read his post. The growler is purged of oxygen not purged with oxygen.
Hi Mike, it seems “purge” has at least 2 meanings. II wasn’t aware of the meaning “purge of/from”. Until now I knew only the meaning “purge with”.
Hey Frank. Its all in the wording. Crazy english language and is many meanings. Haha.