Eco Vessel "The Boss" Triple Insulated Growler

Beer to go...

It's my opinion that any self-respecting Beer Guy (or Beer Gal) should have at least one empty growler within arms reach at all times. You know, for emergency purposes. It's like normal people make earthquake kits--I have a beer emergency kit in the trunk of my car. I wasn't always so well-prepared, but I finally got my shiz-nit together. I have growlers stashed everywhere! No...not there! Come on! Keep it clean!

What are the qualities of a great growler, you ask? Here you go:

1) It must keep air out. Oxygen kills beer; makes it flat. Nobody likes flat beer, except slugs and snails, and I'd prefer to NOT use fine, expensive craft beer for snail bait. Therefore, a good, solid, airtight seal is muy importante!

2) It must keep beer cold. This is important if you're taking your beer with you to the park or the beach...or my house. It's also nice to be able to drink the beer you purchased at the growler-fill shop immediately after you get it home. 

3) It must be durable. Those old-school glass jug growlers break, so you can't just leave them rattling around in the trunk of your car.
4) It must keep light out. Light is not a good friend of beer. Of course, you're not going to store beer in a growler for any significant amount of time, but still, beer prefers cool, dark, places.

Today, I'm trying out the Eco Vessel "The Boss" 64 oz. triple insulated growler. It's made of premium stainless steel (in China--sorry 'Murica) and contains no BPA and no liners. It's label boasts that it can keep stuff cold for 36 hours and hot for 6 hours. The Boss can be purchased at the Eco Vessel website for $54.95 and comes in three colors: stainless steel, black and blue.

Check out the infuser!

One unique and awesomely cool thing about The Boss, is that is comes with a removable infuser. How neat is that? You can use it to make tea, or perhaps infuse beer with some fresh hops...hmmmm, what would I rather try? Come on! I'll have some fresh Cascades pretty soon. I can't wait to try that infuser!

I really put this growler through it's paces--on one of the hottest days of the year so far in Portland. I had The Boss filled with 64 ounces of Culmination Brewing's IPA I. The growler has a nice, wide mouth and the beertender remarked that he appreciated how easy it was to fill--no need to insert a hose of unknown cleanliness into a tiny-mouthed growler. That always bugs me.

It seemed like a pretty tight seal when I locked the lid down. The Boss actually has TWO openings. There is a tiny cap on top of the big cap. My only caution here would be to make absolutely sure you have both caps tightened down. I can foresee an issue where the growler fill person could perhaps loosen the top cap while tightening the big cap. 

I let that growler sit out on my kitchen counter overnight. When I got up in the morning, I cracked it open. A nice hiss sounded from the cap. Hey! That beer was still cold! Impressive! Of course, I couldn't just leave it at that. They said 36 hours and I had only given them 12. I left that growler sit for another 10 hours, while I went to work.

Amazingly, the beer was still chill enough to drink when I got home today. More impressive! It got up to almost 80 degrees today and my wife is stingy with the air conditioning. I'll finish off that beer before I go to bed tonight. 

Everything about this growler seems solid. We'll see how it holds up to the abuse I'm going to heap on it. If there are any issues, I'll update, but so far, it's a nice jug! I recommend!