brewskibob

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Today was my worst. I had just finished pitching the yeast in and aerating my colonial ipa in a glass carboy. So I put the airlock & stopper in, and go to put it in my brew closet. Well my closet was full of kegs and a c02 tank, so i set the carboy down and pick up the tank to move it, and i barley tap the carboy with the tank. GUSH. It broke the carboy. Very depressing, but i have learned my lesson, I am going to be 100 times more careful with carboys from now on.

SavageSteve

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Ouch, that sucks. Sorry to hear of it-- I bet it was going to be a great beer, too.

I have yet (knock on wood) to break a carboy, but I'm going to be switching over to Better Bottles before I do.

If it helps, I once had to dump 10 gallons of beer (two batches) because they became infected. 10 gallons of beer and a few tears, all down the drain...

-Steve

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On Deck: Jamil's Vanilla Robust Porter
Fermenting: Orange Blossom Mead
Kegs: Element 56 Pale Ale, Ron's Belgian Blonde, Summer'n Saison, Furloughktoberfest '09, Grateful Pale Ale, Sam Adams Cream Stout Clone, EdWort's Apfelwein
Planning: n/a

BrosBrew

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or put a towel underneath the area where you're gonna put your carboy to give a little cushioning. Sorry though, that sucks.

brewskibob

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thanks guys. Yeah the towel thing wouldn't have helped me though, because my tank hit the side of the carboy.

Jimbob

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I have banged carboys so hard I knew they were broken. Sure enough you hit one just right and it cracks. That sucks man...I feel your pain

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If only I could quit my job, get the two year old twins to carry a carboy, I'd brew everyday!!!

brewskibob

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by the way jimbob, is the blonde ale your brewing very alcoholic? ive been thinking of making one, but im in college so alcohol content is a very big deal to me haha.

BearsWickedBrew

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I just purchased a kit that included a 5gal glass carboy for secondary...I wanted to swap it out for a better bottle...and the owner said sure, come back in a week when I get it in stock. A week has gone by..and prior to reading this post...I said f it..I'll just stick w/ the glass....I am now reconsidering.

Jimbob

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LMAO...I can't remember off hand but I think it was about 4-5%. One thing you can do to bump the alcohol content is by some kind of booster. You're local Homebrew shop probably has something like that.

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If only I could quit my job, get the two year old twins to carry a carboy, I'd brew everyday!!!

Cape Brewing

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broken carboys suck... could be worse though. A guy in my brew club who I would definitely call and "expert brewer" tapped a carboy and broke it about a month and a half ago. Worst part is he was in flip-flops and a large chunk of glass came down and sliced his foot open right next to his achilles. He took about a dozen stitches.

It sucked pretty bad when it happened but now he sees it as a badge of honor... now he's got actual a "brewing scar".

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Why the eff not... everyone else is starting a nano!!! I wanna!!! www.bogironbrewing.com

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulthenurse I'm pretty much a douche in real life, too.

Winston_Smith

Recipes 

Put your carboys in milk crates, makes them easy to carry and you can't smack the side and have them shatter to easy.