For Beer (And A Lot More): Hydro Flask Vacuum-Insulated Stainless Steel Growler

Item: 64 oz Wide Mouth Vacuum Insulated Stainless Steel Growler
Price: $49.99
Overall Impression: This is a fantastic product for keeping beer and other beverages cold — and hotter foods hot — for hours. Works like a charm.

Love. Love. Love. I love this growler. I love it for keeping my beer carbonated and chilled all the way to the party. I love it for keeping my big batch of soup hot for the potluck. I even love it for keeping my milk cozy at it turns into yogurt. I just love it. Times a million.

Characteristics and Specs: What you see is what you get here. It’s a large stainless steel jug with a vacuum-sealed double walls of 18/8 stainless steel. BPA free. The jug has a wide-mouth opening and seals tightly. It’s light-weight and easy to clean with a bristle brush.
Favorite details: The rubber grip on the lid helps you easily tighten and loosen. I also really love that it’s so light-weight — that makes it easier to carry, whether it’s on the bus to a party across town or hiking to a camp site.
Potential problems: I had some trouble getting the area clean where the neck of the jug narrows to the opening. This was only an issue with sticky foods like yogurt, and just required a little more tenacity to make sure the bristle brush reached all the surfaces.
Splurge-worthy? Yes. At nearly $50, this definitely feels like a splurge, but I think it’s something for which you’ll find endless uses and that will last for years and years.
Good for small kitchens? I did have to scratch my head a bit to figure out where to stash the growler in my tiny kitchen. It’s big and tall and doesn’t quite fit on my shelves. I ended up sticking it on shelf in the coat closet with my other picnic and outdoor supplies.

I geeked out a bit while putting this growler through it’s paces and took temperature readings of both cold and hot beverages over the course of a day. Within two hours, there was only a degree or two of temperature difference. At 5 hours, there was a 2-3 degree change in temperature, and at 8 hours, about 4 degrees. The fall-off rate is a little quicker for very cold or very hot things.

I felt like the growler did a slightly better job at keeping the hot foods hot than it did at keeping beer and other liquids cold, but not so much that it makes a huge difference to me. Regarding the gradual temperature loss, I think some amount of this is to be expected and the rate of loss isn’t significant enough to make it feel like an issue. If I’m taking a growler of beer to a party or a picnic, I’m usually planning on drinking it within a few hours anyway. The times when I might want to keep things hot or cold for longer, I’m not going to quibble about losing a few degrees of temperature.

I really love how light this growler is (when it’s not filled with beer, of course). Glass growlers get real heavy, real fast. And despite its lightness, the growler feels very sturdy, like it could take a few bumps and it would still be just fine. I’ve shaken the growler and held it upside down, and haven’t had any problems with leaking.

I think this growler is perfect for beer buffs — though check to make sure you can fill un-branded growlers at your local brewpubs (some states have laws about this). If you’re a homebrewer and keg your beers, a jug like this is perfect for bringing your beer to a party or any other event where a little beer-drinking will be happening.

Beyond beer, this growler is great for keeping any kind of beverage cold at a potluck, picnic, or while camping. It is equally useful for keeping big batches of coffee, tea, soups, or stews warm. As I mentioned above, I’ve also been using it to incubate batches of yogurt and have found it completely reliable for this task.

I think this is a solid product that performs as promises. As we head into the outdoor entertaining season and look forward to months of outdoor getaways, I think this growler will be a very handy thing to have.

Find It! 64 oz Wide Mouth Vacuum Insulated Stainless Steel Growler, $49.99 at Hydro Flask

Related: Too Much Beer? How to Save Your Beer After Opening

Apartment Therapy Media makes every effort to test and review products fairly and transparently. The views expressed in this review are the personal views of the reviewer and this particular product review was not sponsored or paid for in any way by the manufacturer or an agent working on their behalf. However, the manufacturer did give us the product for testing and review purposes.

(Images: Emma Christensen)