Carboy brewing accident

Last night was an eventful night. I was sterilizing a couple of glass carboys to use for second fermentors. While I was draining one of them into the sink the carboy gently bumped the side of the sink and broke in my hands. I was surprised how little it took to break and even more surprised by the size of the gashes it slashed in my right hand. I had to rush to the emergency room. I ended up with 15 stitches in my palm and middle finger. There doesn't seem to be any nerve damage but I did manage to severe a tendon, which will require the recommendation of an orthopedic surgeon. Becareful with glass carboys. I am making the switch to Better Bottles, as I am a little freaked out by how easily the carboy broke.

Ouch. So sorry to see this. Glad you're switching to BB. I did too after breaking my first glass one.

That's pretty close to your wrist. I guess it could have been worse.

Wow! I only have 1 carboy left, and it stays in its milk crate.
I am so sorry to see that happen, I hope it heals well!

Now you will have to think up a much cooler story of how you got the scar. Like a knife fight defending your wife's honor or something.

I have two glass carboys that sit on the shelf in the brew room. Seen how easy they break. I have this thing when ever I am near broken glass I bleed, sometimes badly. I have buckets now, easy to clean and cheap.
Thanks for posting this, the glass are wonderful but scary as all heck.
Sure hope you heel up good.

As much as my injury sucks, I do feel pretty lucky. It only got one hand and it could have easily taken a finger or slit my wrist. The frustrating part is, I still have 10 gallons of fermented beer sitting in the primary and I can't figure out how to get it into the secondary with one hand. The primary is too heavy for my wife...she can't lift it to a higher spot so that we can siphon it into the secondary. I guess I'll just have to wait until I can get some help from my brother.

wow, sorry

I broke my first Carboy yesterday and wound up spending an hour cleaning up my driveway. It shattered into a million tiny pieces.

What type of sink do you have? I wash mine in my basement sink (resin?) and it bumped a bunch of times. I think I'll be much more careful now!! Glad to see youre all right!

You must have a cast iron sink. I'm fairly rough on them and bump mine around in stainless sinks all the time. I would be very gentle with concrete and cast iron though, stainless at least gives a little.

Wow that sucks. The thickness of a carboy makes them strong. Maybe yours had a weak spot and your hit it. I bump mine and never had it break. I have seen one break but it was tripped over. Was enjoying a homebrew part of the cleaning phase?

In my short time on the boards I've read about glass carbons breaking a few times and it never ended well. I think I will be switching to BB now.

It's an old concrete sink, no give. I was trying to becareful, and it just barely tapped the side. It was enough to crack the carboy, then, I think the weight of the fluid inside caused the crack to quickly continue up the side until the bottom of the carboy broke off in my right hand then slid out of my right hand while I was still holding the rest of the container with my left. The top half of the carboy stayed in tact which saved my left hand, but the bottom half fell apart ruining my right. My mistake, but not a difficult one to make.

Hope you heal up well....
Whenever im messing with carboys,bottling,basically anything with glass.......i wear some cheap work gloves.Figure it can't hurt.

I like the glove idea. I also always drape an old heavy folded bathtowel over the edge of my deep sink before rinsing the carboy out over it. That said, BB are looking better all the time.
I'm not sure how I'm going to get that purchase past the wifey seeing as I just ordered a grain mill while I was working a slow overnight tonight. But .... better to ask forgiveness than to be denied permission (or something like that!).

Glad to hear that your injuries weren't more extensive.

Lifting a homebrew to your healing! I think you'll be happy with Better Bottles, they are pretty handy, only complaint would be not being able to flame the opening and capacity - wish they had a 6.5 gallon one.

I'm going to steal your picture for the next thread in which someone asks about carboys vs buckets.

damn brother, sorry to see that!

Wow really scary. Makes me want to switch to better bottles. Right now I have one glass carboy and I make sure to only transport it in a milk crate.

Glad your OK man!!!

I got my self with a carboy on saturday. 8 stitches near the webing of my pinky and ring finger. My pinky is half numb, but the hand surgeon said my feeling should come back. Luckly, no tendon damage. My 3 6 gallon Better Bottles just came in yesterday after ordering them monday...

I broke one too. I still don't have feeling in my index and middle finger, and thumb.

BTW, I now ferment in stainless steel. The glass carboys are collecting dust.

SFSpencer said:

Hope you heal up well....
Whenever im messing with carboys,bottling,basically anything with glass.......i wear some cheap work gloves.Figure it can't hurt.

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If I used glass carboys I would get kevlar of steel mesh gloves and chainsaw chaps!

mvcorliss said:

I like the glove idea. I also always drape an old heavy folded bathtowel over the edge of my deep sink before rinsing the carboy out over it. That said, BB are looking better all the time.
I'm not sure how I'm going to get that purchase past the wifey seeing as I just ordered a grain mill while I was working a slow overnight tonight. But .... better to ask forgiveness than to be denied permission (or something like that!).

Click to expand...

Show her the picture in the post and explain the cost of an ER visit, surgeon, rehab, physical therapy or worse!

kh54s10 said:

Show her the picture in the post and explain the cost of an ER visit, surgeon, rehab, physical therapy or worse!

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Exactly what I was going to suggest. Once she sees the picture and consequences she will be sold.

I've broken one, I was barefoot when it happened so stepping on glass was unavoidable and painful. I was lucky to avoid major injury. Plastic buckets and corny kegs are all I use now.

TheMan said:

Exactly what I was going to suggest. Once she sees the picture and consequences she will be sold.

I've broken one, I was barefoot when it happened so stepping on glass was unavoidable and painful. I was lucky to avoid major injury. Plastic buckets and corny kegs are all I use now.

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I have handles at the top
Of my carboys has anyone broke their carboys around the
Openings because
Of the stress it puts on the top of the carboy from lifting
It?

Kbreitwieser said:

I have handles at the top
Of my carboys has anyone broke their carboys around the
Openings because
Of the stress it puts on the top of the carboy from lifting
It?

Click to expand...

YES! Only use those handles at the top for moving empty carboys. I've seen a number of threads where they break at the neck.

Use a milk crate or Brew Hauler for full carboys.

TyTanium said:

YES! Only use those handles at the top for moving empty carboys. I've seen a number of threads where they break at the neck.

Use a milk crate or Brew Hauler for full carboys.

Click to expand...

Ok thanks

I've read many stories and shared my own but a picture says it all... Glad you're relatively OK!

I just had 28 stitches from a 5 gallon glass carboy breaking in my hands. I will be using plastic from now on also!

Sorry to hear that PistolaPete. I just finished brewing with the better bottle and it worked well. The light weight and fearless handling, made it much easier to clean and sanitize. Especially without full use of my right hand. I start physical therapy on my hand Monday. Hope your hand heals well.

I'm suddenly considering a move to Better Bottles. I'm paranoid with my glass carboys and only move full ones with a Brew Hauler. Anytime I'm cleaning them or emptying them, I use a siphon. Still...the idea of an injury that leads to a bunch of expensive medical bills really gets me.

The hand should be displaying the extended middle finger, in a clear message to all glass carboys.

Sorry man... That looks terrible

Every time I touch my carboy I think of this thread. I am going to stop using glass soon.

Off to buy me a couple more brew-haulers today! I generally wear gloves and clean my carboys on my driveway sitting on a soft rubber pad. But every time I pick up a full one without a brew hauler, it does scare the crap out of me thinking about "what if this thing broke right now?".
Milk crates work also, but they aren't very space saving when you're fermenting in a chest freezer.

On the bright side though, at least when it broke it wasn't full of beer. Then it would be an ultimate tragedy!

Hope the healing goes smooth!

I made the switch to Better Bottles after reading this thread a few times. I've got two batches left in glass, one of which is getting bottled tonight.

This weekend, I put my first batch into Better Bottles and feel so much more comfortable now.

wow that's terrible! like you said though, could have been a lot worse. i use glass, and i'm seriously thinking of switching to buckets. I have a couple of BBs for secondary already

Being the ultimate snob that I am, I was set on glass only till I read a thread like this. I can't work if I had stitches in my hand, and the disability insurance doesn't kick in for 3 months. That's a huge financial risk for minimal reward. I use BB, and for beers I am keeping in secondary to age, I am going to stay using the relatively affordable stainless steal cornys. I am convinced that at the homebrew level, no one can really taste the difference between a few Weeks in a BB verse glass.

The only time I'll use glass is for aging cider, mead or vinegar. The carboys sit on a countertop where I can fill them and siphon from them without ever moving them. But still I'm afraid one day there will be a disaster while I clean one of them.

I've run across a number of people that brew sours in Better Bottles. That was what convinced me that I wouldn't live to regret it.

That sucks.. I opened this thread expecting to see a bunch of glass and a tragic loss of beer. that makes my teeth hurt just looking at it. It could be a good opportunity to meet a neighbor; ask one of them to heft those remaining two and make a brewer out of em!

Here are some pics from my accident. I feel I should admit that I was handling the carboy in a way I shouldn't have been.





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