joenads
Well-Known Member
I joined the broken carboy club yesterday and I'll tell you it was not an initiation I ever want to go through again. I believe I got away with a bit less than some of the other horror stories I've read about today, but I still have to make an appointment with a hand specialist.
As I was cleaning my 6.5 gallon carboy towards the end of my mash, it decided to slip from my hands while I was trying to put it on the carboy drying stand. A nice shard of glass caught my pinky finger near the webbing and started bleeding real good. I made a fist and due to where it was cut, I was able to keep it from bleeding any more. I ended up doing the quickest sparge (maybe even considered a no sparge) in order to get the wort off the grains. I figured if I let it sit, it would break down the grains and give me some nasty tannins. Collected my 14 gallons in the boil kettle, then my neighbor drove me to the ER. I ended up with 8 stitches around my pinky, and as far as I know, no damaged tendons. Might have gotten some nerves as my pinky now feels like when your hand falls asleep, still can feel stuff but a bit numb to the touch. Like I said, I still have to go see a hand specialist.
I came back and manage to get my boil off and also had to free up another carboy, so I also bottled my belgium dubbel. It was in my primary for only 3 weeks, but it tasted pretty good and I know the gravity was steady.
For this batch, I was shooting for an OG of 1.057 but ended up with 1.051. I figure that's good enough given the circumstances and I believe I saved my beer and my finger! I split the batch up for an oktoberfest and a dampfbier, so I was pretty excited to get these beers made...
As I was cleaning my 6.5 gallon carboy towards the end of my mash, it decided to slip from my hands while I was trying to put it on the carboy drying stand. A nice shard of glass caught my pinky finger near the webbing and started bleeding real good. I made a fist and due to where it was cut, I was able to keep it from bleeding any more. I ended up doing the quickest sparge (maybe even considered a no sparge) in order to get the wort off the grains. I figured if I let it sit, it would break down the grains and give me some nasty tannins. Collected my 14 gallons in the boil kettle, then my neighbor drove me to the ER. I ended up with 8 stitches around my pinky, and as far as I know, no damaged tendons. Might have gotten some nerves as my pinky now feels like when your hand falls asleep, still can feel stuff but a bit numb to the touch. Like I said, I still have to go see a hand specialist.
I came back and manage to get my boil off and also had to free up another carboy, so I also bottled my belgium dubbel. It was in my primary for only 3 weeks, but it tasted pretty good and I know the gravity was steady.
For this batch, I was shooting for an OG of 1.057 but ended up with 1.051. I figure that's good enough given the circumstances and I believe I saved my beer and my finger! I split the batch up for an oktoberfest and a dampfbier, so I was pretty excited to get these beers made...