Buckets VS Carboys

Yikes -- that does sound scary..

bensyverson said:

Yikes -- that does sound scary..

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Yeah just like never grab the hydromiter by the skinny part and try to shake the sanatizer off it. they don't last long whe you do that.

I do buckets and then glass carboys ... I have only 2 carboys at this time, but I think I will be going with better bottles ... I had a close call about a month ago.

Or, skip the secondary and just rack from the primary to the bottling bucket or keg. I have had success both ways..

Yeah, I think I might replace my armada of carboys with two 6 gallon Better Bottles. I'll primary in them until reaching terminal gravity, then rack into Cornies w/ priming sugar and let them sit for bulk conditioning.

bensyverson said:

Yikes -- that does sound scary..

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Y'know, it's really all about excess of caution. You probably could get away with lugging a fiver around by the neck, and some folks have for years, but when you've got 40 pounds of liquid wrapped around shrapnel that's perfectly capable of killing you if you drop it, you've got to give it some serious respect. It's like carrying a Glock around with a round in the chamber.

Catastrophic carboy failures are really very rare, even among those that are abused (boiling water dumped in after vessel is brought in from 20-degree weather, lugged about full by the neck, etc.) -- we've all heard the stories but most everybody we know uses the things and most of us don't know a single person who's gotten hurt. Still, most of us don't know anybody who's been hurt in a gun-handling accident either, and that doesn't stop us from handling guns with extreme caution.

In other words, don't overpsyche, but do be careful. That's the Rev. Finn's sermon for the day.

Finn said:

Oops, crap! Thanks for the correction. Yes -- right hand gripping handle, left hand under the base. Dramatically reduces possibility of glass slipping out of your grip and eliminates any need to "squeeze" the bottle to hang onto it.

Unless, of course, you're carrying two at once. In which case, grab the handles, lift with your back and start rehearsing your acceptance speech for your Darwin award ....

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Now I don't care who you are THAT'S FUNNY!!:cross:

I think it's extra credit point towards the Darwin award if you start the act with "Hey ya'll watch this!"

i only use glass...

I've been using glass carboys for primaries (6.5 gal) and secondaries (5.0 gal) and have to admit that the breakage stories are scary.

What I'm wondering is if the carboys could be modified a bit to make them safer.

I'm considering getting some clear contact paper and wrapping it around the carboys (on the flat side area) to contain any shards in the event of a disaster. This is a somewhat similar concept to automotive safety glass. The bottom and upper area of the carboy could of course still shatter but I think the contact paper (which is really plastic) would lessen the risks greatly.

I like having my bucket for primary. It's easy to carry around and really easy to pour into after cooling the wort. It's not hard to clean either.

I have plastic bucket for primary, and glass carbouy for secondary. I'm moving to BB for secondaries though, due to the risk of breaking the glass. I've had mine slip a few times, and more than once hard enough to make me surprised it didnt' break.

I'll likely be usin the glass carbouy for winemaking (apfelwein!) or mead or lagering, but I'm going to get one of those bottle straps for carrying. You know you can't use them while washing an sanitizing, when your carbouy is most likely to be slippery.

Don't carboys fit in milk crates or something that they could be moved in to make them less unruly/slippery?

If you feel that your carboys are too dangerous, I can help. Wrap and pack them securely and send them to me, along with a $20 disposal fee.

But seriously folks, just treat them with respect and care, like a car. I may hoist a few pints while brewing, but NEVER when I'm going to handle a carboy. I'll rack from bucket to carboy, put the carboy away, THEN I'll get to brewing and the pints.

Funny, some will obsess over glass, but think nothing of hovering over a burner powerful enough to put a small satellite into orbit.

It's not a complete solution but I made a square rolling platform about 16" on a side out of 2X3s with heavy duty castors. So the only time I need to lift my carboy, that's all I'm doing - lifting. I never have to carry it around from place to place.

Here is the description: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=20779