Would YOU use this carboy??

I bought a old 5 gallon seltzer carboy from the flea market for $5. Only problem is there is a lot of scratches/gouges around the neck. The inside seems to be in good shape however. Would YOU store your precious liquids in here???

I don't see why not. If you are that worried, you can do some sour experiments in it.

I don't know much about glass but I assume glass is glass, food safe or not. As long as you thoroughly clean the entire carboy often, I don't think it would be a problem. I would often use oxi clean and a scrub brush, then use starsan on top of that, before I put any wort in there. As long as you feel confident nothing could still be living in those gouges, then I think you should be just fine. A five dollar glass carboy is a great deal!

Yeah, I'd use it. You might want to take some sandpaper to it to smooth everything out.

That third picture shows a definite sign of cracking at the top. Don't ever pick this carboy up by that top ridge.

I wouldn't ever use a carboy cap on this thing either. That might also crack the top off. Use a rubber stopper.

Thanks for the replies. I thought it would be ok, but wasn't sure. Also, it doesn't appear to be cracking at all. There are a lot of superficial surface scratches on the outside. I think this thing has been well used. I wonder how old it is. It looks like the company started in 1925...

looks like someone took a dremel or something like it to the top to smooth out the chips. I wouldn't have a problem using it. A stopper should seal just fine.

Copperpots_Brewing said:

As long as you feel confident nothing could still be living in those gouges, then I think you should be just fine.

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You will never kill everything in those gouges.

mpcluever said:

You will never kill everything in those gouges.

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The gouges aren't in the liquid level so I wouldn't worry about it too much. Starsan it and fill it up!

nope.
cleaning it and keeping the scratches sanitized is EASY.
those neck chips and the (possible) surface neck crack means its had a hard life. sure you can grind the stress risers out but the time and effort isn't worth it.

I'd cycle it out if it were mine. carboys are cheap and last almost forever. this one has seen forever and is a few batches on borrowed time.

Ya carboys are cheap enough that I wouldn't use this. With enough effort, you CAN sanitize it, but bacteria will burrow into the deepest crevices and it's very difficult for sanitizer to get all the way back there to reach them. As soon as the krausen reaches the scratches and falls back in, it doesn't matter if the scratches are above or below the liquid line. We all take risks, just a matter of when and where.

Only way to find out is to put something in there. Make a relatively simple, inexpensive session beer and see what happens. It will probably be fine.

mpcluever said:

With enough effort, you CAN sanitize it, but bacteria will burrow into the deepest crevices and it's very difficult for sanitizer to get all the way back there to reach them. As soon as the krausen reaches the scratches and falls back in, it doesn't matter if the scratches are above or below the liquid line.

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If sanitizer can't reach into the "deep crevices", what makes you think that the beer can?

I would use it...but I would put a bunch of duct tape around it just in case it breaks....the duct tape will help contain giant chunks of glass.

I have one that looks exactly the same with a little less damage to the top. It was used as a piggy bank and has all kind of chips and scratches at the top. No infections yet....knock on wood. I wouldn't be concerned about infections with yours more than if it will seal with a plug.

Nierika said:

Would YOU store your precious liquids in here???

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Nope

The difference between scratches in glass vs scratches in plastic is... Scratches in plastic 'seal' back up when the edges of the scratch get pressure on them (say from cleaning)... In glass it just stays as a grove and can be sanitized.

mors said:

The difference between scratches in glass vs scratches in plastic is... Scratches in plastic 'seal' back up when the edges of the scratch get pressure on them (say from cleaning)... In glass it just stays as a grove and can be sanitized.

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It's more than that.

Plastics are built from molecules that lipids can bond to very strongly.

So strongly that removing that bond chemically risks damaging the plastic.

This is the same reason why you can't reliably make a meringue in a plastic bowl.

Lipids - this is to say fats and oils - stick to plastic like magnets. On a large plane your sanitizers and surfectants have a good angle of attack, but in a scratch they can't easily get all the way down in there, and the lipids provide a haven for bacteria.

Now you are going to say, there are no fats or oils in your brew. Well, you're wrong. The amount of fat in your brew is vanishingly small, but it's more than none.

There are oils in the hulls of the barley, and some of that makes it into your brew. More than none. I have a friend with a mass spectrometer and an electron microscope who can prove it.

Not to mention the lipids on your skin, on the surface of your rubber gloves (transferred from your skin), etc. Not much, but more than none.

If you have an autoclave, and the plastic is autoclavable, you can rest assured that straight potassium lauryl sulfate with pressure and heat can do the job. But you don't have an autoclave.

Glass can provide a little valley for the lipids to collect in, but not the ideal bonding area for a lipid the way that a plastic can't avoid providing.

I did not read all of the replies, but some lab glass is not smooth and can be sanitized. It can be easily cleaned even if it's not smooth. The biofilm that most people miss is often on smooth surfaces, not always scratches.