Here I am, friends, your friendly neighborhood Bruguru, pushing the envelope once again to test the limits of the crowler as a vessel for packaged beer. The crowler, of course, is a lot like a growler, except it’s a can, and better sealed than a big glass jug. It’s really a lot like a big can, in most cases holding 32-ounces of fresh draft beer. I’ve always wondered how long a crowler will keep beer fresh, and so in that spirit I hung onto my crowler of Burnt Hickory Order of the Owl Chocolate Orange Stout for a few months.

Specifically, I bought in on June 16^th of 2018. I popped the top on it on September 23^rd of 2018. So, for just over three months this crowler sat in my refrigerator. The benefit of the crowler, of course, is control. The can was filled with fresh draft beer when I bought it, and it went straight into the fridge when I got some, so it has been kept cold for that entire period.

Burnt Hickory does not have an entry for Order of the Owl Chocolate Orange Stout on their website. The label says it is both 10% by volume and 8% by volume in alcohol strength. A bit puzzling, that, though I am running with the 10% because that is what Stout’s Growlers had it listed as. I paid $10 for my 32-ounce crowler. Total Wine sells it for $10.99 for a 4-pack in cans. I would porefer six cans for that price, but you can’t have everything. Burnt Hickory is located in Kennesaw, where the Owls are the local college sports team for Kennesaw State University.

Burnt Hickory Order of the Owl Chocolate Orange Stout pours to a jet-black color with a light creamy tan head and cinnamon and orange in the nose. Taking a sip I get the chocolate in a medium to full body, spicy cinnamon, marshmallow fluff, and juicy orange and bitter orange rind. Orange citrus pops in the roasty finish and the beer finishes warm with alcohol.

This is a very tasty beer indeed, one I very much enjoyed. It was a perfect candidate for my little experiment, and the beer tasted as fresh as the day it was canned. Or crowlered, as the case may be.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled, canned

(D)=Draft

 

 



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