Has Ben & Jerry's Ever Sold Its Ice Cream By The Gallon?

There's nothing quite like a pint of ice cream, especially if it's a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. In a Mashed survey of more than 27,000 people around the world, nearly 40% picked Ben & Jerry's as the best brand of ice cream, ahead of the likes of Haagen-Daz and Baskin Robbins. The only problem with a pint of ice cream is just that—it's only a pint, which ends up empty far too quickly. Seriously, is there anyone who can't easily finish a pint in one sitting? Which brings up a very good question: has Ben & Jerry's ever sold its ice cream ... by the gallon?

One Redditor raised this very question after seeing a scene in a "Gilmore Girls" episode that had something unusual. "Saw this Ben & Jerrys massive tub in 'The Break-up Part 2' – any info on this? Need it. For reasons." In the scene, Rory Gilmore drowns her post-breakup sorrows in a giant tub of ice cream. Only in this case, it was a giant tub of Ben & Jerry's. And now we're curious too. Here's the truth about Ben & Jerry's gallon-sized containers. 

Several commenters on the previously mentioned Reddit thread were able to confirm that indeed, super-sized versions of Ben & Jerry's have existed in the past. "Costco used to sell giant tubs of Ben & Jerrys. Not sure they were this big though," wrote one fan. According to another, "I feel like they had this back in the day at the Ben and Jerry's ice cream shops."

It turns out, you can still get Ben & Jerry's in sizes bigger than a pint. Gillette Creamery in Gardiner, New York — one of the original distributors of Ben & Jerry's — still carries 2.4-gallon tubs of select flavors (via Gillette Creamery website). Sadly, fan-favorite Half Baked is not one of the flavors available in 2.4 gallons, though Peanut Butter Half Baked is, along with other popular flavors, Phish Food and Cherry Garcia, are available. Quart sizes of Cherry Garcia and Cookie Dough are also available in certain outlets, according to a response by Ben & Jerry's to a Facebook post asking about the possibility of a gallon size. And for fans in the United Kingdom, it seems that 4.5-liter tubs, or just over a gallon, of Ben & Jerry's were available at Heron Foods, at least as of 2020 (via Mirror). We're getting our spoons ready!