Check your Brewhaulers!

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Topher79

Were you leaving the brewhauler in a swamp cooler, or did you keep it dry? I have three brewhaulers that I use to move fermenters from the garage to my storage closet. I don't trust the neck carriers when the fermenters are full, and your story scares the bejesus out of me.

I already have a large investment in glass carboys, so not going to consider switching out to plastic.

I guess milk crates are now on my shopping list unless I can figure out a way to reinforce these with some strong rope to prevent future accidents. It only takes one accident to lose access to the house.
 
I use the brewhaulers for my glass carboys and havent had any issues but this has me rethinking my setup. At the very least Ill be giving them a thorough once over to make sure I dont have any visable defects or signs of wear. Thanks for posting and glad you escaped w/o injury!
 
Pet bottles contain benzene which is a cancer causing chemical....pet bottles are porous and trap tastes and smells...pop in pet bottles have a shelf life of 90 days and glass is up to a year....think about benzene when you are drinking bottled water or pop....or watch the movie Water Wars on Netflix.
 
That's nice. Anecdotes are not data.

People drive motorcycles, even though there's a good chance that you'll be dead if you get into an accident. I suppose next we'll start talking about how everyone should drive cars.

Sounds like someone didn't get what he wanted under the Christmas tree. Lighten up Francis.

OP: sorry to hear about your loss and glad you weren't hurt. I'll raise a glass tonight in honor of the wort that never got to be beer.
 
i've been using the same brewhauler for 8 months now and i LOVE it. no signs of weakening but i do check it regularly. like most other things used for brewing, eventually it will need to be replaced.

this thread is much ado about anecdotal evidence. folks should take note of the OP's warning, but they should also know that thousands of brewhaulers are used without incident. *shrug*.
 
This thread really wasn't intended to be a platform for anyone to espouse the virtues of glass or plastic. The OP specifically asked that you keep away from that debate. No one denies the inherent risk in moving glass carboys. Some prefer plastic as a result. There isn't much use in yelling at one another about it, so please stop.

Has anyone else had a bad experience with a Brewhauler?
 
Pet bottles contain benzene which is a cancer causing chemical....pet bottles are porous and trap tastes and smells...pop in pet bottles have a shelf life of 90 days and glass is up to a year....think about benzene when you are drinking bottled water or pop....or watch the movie Water Wars on Netflix.

While it is true that PET bottles contain benzene, they won't leech the chemical until they start to break down from wear and tear. Basically its a shelf life of the product issue. I wouldn't recommend using the same PET bottle for years and years and years, but it will take awhile for a PET bottle to break down.

As far as the pop thing is concerned, Better Bottles are a lot less porous than your standard PET soda bottle, which isn't to say they won't absorb some amount of taste and smell, but its not going to be nearly what it is for a regular pop bottle.
 
Yikes! Glad you weren't hurt.

Let us know what the manufacturer says. And anyone else who has had a problem should contact the manufacturer as well. It could just be a coincidence that you had two break on you, or it could indicate a more widespread problem.
 
Bummer to lose a batch of beer. :(

But I've had good service from my two brew haulers, anything can and will eventually fail. I had the side belts go south in a Micheline tire once, but I still believe they make a good, safe product.

Rick
 
Wow that is nuts. Glad you didn't get hurt.

People with carboys should go get one of those baby holders. The ones you strap your baby to your back like a backpack lol Those should be perfect. If one of those breaks with a carboy in it, I hope someone notifies the company because a lot of parents are going to be pissed lol

That is too funny!

Like I said in my OP, this was not intended to be a pro/con thread on glass carboys vs. plastic. I just wanted people to know what happened and exercise caution when using the Brew Hauler.

I wrote them late last night (around 8:30) and have yet to hear back, but I will let you all know what the response is when/if I get it.

To answer some of the questions, the carboy size was 6.5 gallon, and this was the second time using the brewhauler. I used it in a swamp cooler, but I do not believe that had any ill effect on the Brew Hauler it self. The other threads are tight, and I beileve this was just a fault in manufacturing. If you do buy one of these check the threads as soon as it comes in, and be sure to check them periodically so you don't end up with wort all over your floor.

Also, thanks for the sympathy guys!
 
Jeez!! 6.5 gallons in glass would probably throw out my back.

NOT downing glass, I just love my stainless steel cornies for fermenting. Built on handles have eliminated my back trouble, and you could probably throw one off of a 2 story house without breaking.
 
NOT downing glass, I just love my stainless steel cornies for fermenting. Built on handles have eliminated my back trouble, and you could probably throw one off of a 2 story house without breaking.

Do you use some sort of blow off when fermenting in the cornies? Seems like a good compromise between breakable glass and scratchable plastic
 
Do you use some sort of blow off when fermenting in the cornies? Seems like a good compromise between breakable glass and scratchable plastic

It is beyond compromise. It is ideal. Now you won't get a full 5 gallons and krausen, much less 6.5 gallons in it, so maybe that is the tradeoff.

I remove the diptube and post from the liquid side. A small rubber stopper gets more or less screwed onto that liquid post and air-lock put onto that.

I keep meaning to research check valves to allow it to self carb without over carbing.
 
Busted stitching.

I wonder what kind of thread they use to stitch the nylon. Cotton can break down over time when exposed to acid. Nylon and other plastic based materials will eventually break down when exposed to UV.

I am going to check mine tonight.
 
hard to know if this was a manufacturing defect or is a design flaw.
 
All, I have a response from the manufacturer:

Dear Chris,

I am indeed concerned. The failure of our product is very rare and I don't want to loose ANY confidence, for Any reason.

I will compensate you for your costs and send a new Brew Hauler for you to try again

Please send your address.

Tom Raich
President
Brew Hauler, Inc.

I must say that I was not expecting that! It is also nice to hear that what happened to me is not an everyday occurrence. I must say that a company standing behind the product is a rarity now days, and hopefully my new Brew Hauler will not fail as I am lifting the carboy into the milk crate.
 
Thats a quality response and says alot about the company if not the product. I'll continue to use my brewhaulers but like you I'll be using them to move my beloved carboys into a milk crate.
 
Glad to hear OP was not hurt, though sorry to hear about the incident. I also have a brew hauler that I've been using for close to two years now, though I only use my glass carboy roughly every other batch (I've got 1 glass and up until recently had 1 better bottle, just added a second). I haven't had a problem with the brew hauler, though I will be a little more cautious with it - and I'm also a little more glad that I just stumbled across a couple milk crates over the weekend...
 
All, I have a response from the manufacturer:

Dear Chris,

I am indeed concerned. The failure of our product is very rare and I don't want to loose ANY confidence, for Any reason.

I will compensate you for your costs and send a new Brew Hauler for you to try again

Please send your address.

Tom Raich
President
Brew Hauler, Inc.

I must say that I was not expecting that! It is also nice to hear that what happened to me is not an everyday occurrence. I must say that a company standing behind the product is a rarity now days, and hopefully my new Brew Hauler will not fail as I am lifting the carboy into the milk crate.

I wonder why he didn't pay you to return the defective product. The only way to diagnose and avoid the same defect is to examine the ones that failed.

I doubt it's as rare an event as he is intimating. But he could have just ignored you, so there is that.
 
After some Googling there have been other broken haulers. So I don't think it is isolated. Keeping a close eye on mine.
 
I"m wondering how i can reinforce my hauler. I'm afraid additional stitching would make it weaker.
 
Hm, and I was just about to add one of these to my next NB order. I currently have a neck handle on my 6.5 gal glass carboy, but I'll stick to using that only when it's empty from now on.

I like the rope carrier idea and I'm interested to hear if anyone else has other suggestions on how to transport these safely.
 
I agree that it might happen more than he is leading on, and that he should have asked for the old one back, but then again he didn't have to buy me a new carboy, either. He just sent another email that stated everything would be out in the mail tomorrow, so you can't beat that.

I think the product is a great idea, but I believe that better QC needs to be in place. I ordered two from the same vendor, and one had a strap that was almost completely unraveled right out of the package. I guess this one was the same way, i just didn't notice it, and I got lucky that I wasn't hurt.

I"m wondering how i can reinforce my hauler. I'm afraid additional stitching would make it weaker.

I sewed the hauler strap that was almost completely unraveled, and have had ZERO issues. I did make sure to use a synthetic thread though.

I am also glad that I posted this thread, as it seems like a lot of you are double checking your Brew Haulers....trust me, it's not worth this:

image.jpg
 
A glass carboy and a Brewhauler doubled up on my sister and knocked her up (true story). Now, I think it's obvious that we can't really know which one did it, but they split and neither one is anywhere to be found. I'd stay away from both if I were you. Just sayin'
 
I have six glass carboys and six brew haulers. Been using them for a year and never had a problem. I move my full carboys across carpet and tile to my fermenting closet off our bedroom. I'm pretty sure that if I dropped a full carboy in the house my wife would not be too happy.

The milk crate idea sounds good -- maybe with a hand truck to move the whole lot.
 
Unraveling (poor stitching) is much different than a strap actually breaking. I could see faulty stitching being a factor but I can't conceive of a scenario where a strap would tear/snap.

I always worry about one slipping out, or the snap coming lose. Come to think of it, there could be a LOT more webbing for the price being asked from us.
 
I have one (1) glass carboy because its' the only thing that will fit in my keezer when there are 2 kegs in there. I hate it otherwise. I have a brew hauler and thought I was safe, but now I'm even less enthused. I might start brewing 4-gallon batches in the summer so I can ferment in a keg.
 
All, I have a response from the manufacturer:

Dear Chris,

I am indeed concerned. The failure of our product is very rare and I don't want to loose ANY confidence, for Any reason.

Hopefully they tighten that confidence.
 
I just wanted to give an update. I called my LBHS today to tell the owner about my experience, and he said that even though nothing was his fault, he would be willing to give me the ingredients that were wasted in this incident for 1/2 price...woah!

I've only been in this hobby/addiction since June, but the community of people that I have dealt with both personally, and on this forum have been awesome and eager to help in any way possible. I have also noticed it has rubbed off on me too...as I recently gave 48+ bottles that I had just peeled to a guy short on funds
 
I have a brewhauler, but I have been using milk crates (with carpet inserts) and the wheeled garden cart for moving all my fermenters.
 
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