Both let you take draft beer home. The difference is the container, how it is sealed and how quickly you should drink what is inside.
A growler is a refillable beer container, most often glass, though stainless steel and ceramic versions exist. The common size is 64 ounces, and a 32-ounce version is sometimes called a half growler. Breweries fill them from a tap, and you bring the same container back for later refills, as long as it is clean.
The cap is the weak point. A basic growler is sealed with a screw or swing-top closure that does not hold pressure the way a pressurized keg does, so the beer inside is exposed to whatever small amount of air was in the container at filling and whatever leaks past the cap afterward. That is why growlers have a shorter shelf life than most people expect.
If you are looking at taking beer home from our to-go service, this is the container to think of for sharing among a few people.
A crowler is a 32-ounce aluminum can filled at the brewery and sealed on the spot with a seaming machine. The container is meant to be opened once. Resealing a crowler is nearly impossible, so it is typically rinsed and recycled afterward.
Aluminum blocks light completely, which helps protect hop flavor, and a good seam traps carbonation. Crowlers are also lighter than glass and easy to chill quickly. The tradeoff is that you commit to drinking what is inside once you open it.
Side by side. The two containers solve the same problem differently. Pick based on how many people are drinking and how soon.
Shelf life is where sources disagree, and for good reason: freshness depends on the beer, the fill method, the seal and how cold you keep it. Treat any published number as a rough guide, and ask the brewery how the container was filled.
| Growler | Crowler | |
|---|---|---|
| Common size | 64 oz, sometimes 32 oz | 32 oz |
| Material | Usually glass, sometimes steel or ceramic | Aluminum can |
| Reusable | Yes, if cleaned | No, single use |
| Light protection | Depends on color or material | Complete |
| After opening | Can be recapped but goes flat | Drink soon after opening |
Oxygen speeds up the staling of beer, dulling hop aroma and adding papery or cardboard flavors over time. It also lets carbonation drift out. The fill method decides how much oxygen gets in.
Filling straight from the tap is the simplest method, and it creates foam, loses carbon dioxide and exposes the beer to air. A better method uses a filler tube that fills from the bottom of the container, and the best approach is a counter-pressure filler, which fills under CO2 pressure to push air out. Some brewers purge the container with CO2 first. Draft Magazine notes that beer filled this way can stay fresh far longer than a splash-filled growler.
For a basic, tap-filled growler, plan on drinking it within a few days. Sources commonly describe a window of several days for an unopened, chilled growler, while a pressurized, counter-pressure filled growler can last many weeks. Crowlers are usually described as lasting a couple of weeks, though some sources give longer or shorter windows, which is why we avoid promising a specific number.
Opened containers change the math completely. Once the seal breaks, carbonation begins to escape and oxygen enters. Beer left in an opened growler tends to go flat within a day or so, so plan to finish it the same day. Keep it cold and capped tightly in the meantime.
Hoppy beers fade fastest, because hop aroma is delicate. Darker, stronger beers tend to hold up a bit longer. Either way, the practical rule is fresher is better.
A few habits stretch freshness. They apply to any container and to beer in general, and our storage guide covers the reasoning.
Choose a crowler for a one-time share, a gift or a picnic, where an unopened can will be finished the same evening. Choose a growler if you like the idea of refilling the same container, or if you plan to drink over a short stretch and keep it cold. For a crowd, look to a keg instead; keg sizes explained shows the options.
Whatever you pick, laws on to-go sales, container types and who may fill them vary by state and sometimes by county. Ask us what applies where you live.
Filling quality varies from place to place, so a few questions are worth asking at the counter. How is the container filled, and is it purged with carbon dioxide first? Was the beer packaged recently or has the keg been on tap a while? Is the beer a hoppy style that fades fast, or a sturdier one?
The answers help you decide when to drink it. A hoppy IPA filled by a simple tap pour is a same-weekend plan. A stronger, darker beer filled carefully may be more forgiving. If the staff cannot say, assume the shorter window and drink it soon.
Finally, bring a clean container if you use your own, and expect that some places will decline containers they cannot verify. Cleanliness affects flavor, and an unclean growler can spoil an otherwise good fill. That is one reason some breweries prefer to sell their own containers or use crowlers.
Most are sold at 64 ounces, with a smaller 32-ounce size also found.
Not in any practical way. It is a single-use can, so plan to finish it once opened.
A growler cap does not hold pressure like a keg, so carbonation escapes gradually and faster once the seal is broken.
Often it keeps longer because the seam is tight and aluminum blocks light, but the fill method and storage matter as much as the container.
Tell us what you are planning and we will reply with what we can offer and what we need to know next.