The Bottom Fell Out!!

Left it in the sink over night to soaking went to clean it and noticed that no water was inside.

Sand the edge, put a light in it and hang over the bar.

I agree with Mongrel. and at least it was in the sink & not full of beer in a closet!

Another reason I don't use glass, just imagine the tidal wave of wort if that thing cut loose while full...no thanks!

IMO, you got lucky that thing retired itself early and in a nice tidy manor.

I have heard that some of the cleaners like PBR or Oxy degrade the glass. I think I saw a thread on it, and a guy at our homebrew club meeting had the same experience. Or maybe that was the plastic better bottles?

14 years and hundreds of gallons in the same glass with no problems...


lets not turn this into another "Glass is bad, m'kay?" thread. too many already exist.

Wow - you are lucky it happened the way it did. Glad you were not moving it when that happened.

Did it go from cold to hot, or perhaps it had a hairline crack in it from being bumped or something. I don't think PBW or Oxy would be the problem if everything else was ok... Seems unlikely to me. Either way - count your lucky stars.

I'm glad there was no beer or blood loss.
+1 turning it into a lamp.

It's only 2 months old.

I'm to early in the brew hobby to shy away from glass.

Luckily I got in on some plastic PET deals so I'm not without.

I'll probably call AHB and see what they say, maybe they will replace it.

I have found that the 6 gallon carboys with the ridges are weaker than 6.5 gallon smooth ones. I had a ridged one break on me while cleaning it with a carboy brush.

Almost seems like there might be some truth to that rehlgood. Pop used a smooth carboy for years with no problems. Interesting that it was the eve before the day Prohibition ended 80 years ago...

Am guessing it was bumped/stressed at some point accidentally, likely unnoticed. I had one carboy full of fermented pale ale break on me - during allergy season up in MI 15 years or so back, was moving the carboy to siphon off for bottling....sneezed big time, carboy gently bounced on our basement floor, and I had a royal mess.....LUCKILY, our basement had a drain in the floor, so cleanup, as bad as it was, was much easier than it would be for most folks....and for I as well in our southern home. I still swear by glass, though. Can't blame the glass for my misfortune.

Strange that the bottom would just kinda "drop off" in the sink. The lamp idea sounds cool from here



<edit> scurrying now to check my carboys for any cracks/defects......I've brewed 100's of 5 gallon batches in glass, and only had the one accident. Don't give up on glass...

A break like that shows the glass was too thin in that ring. I am wary of these cheap glass carboys. I only secondary in them and am sure to transport them full only in milk crates just in case.

So clean, almost looks like a thermal difference break.
We use hot water to break the bottle after scribing it with a cutter.

'da Kid

The10mmKid said:

So clean, almost looks like a thermal difference break.
We use hot water to break the bottle after scribing it with a cutter.

'da Kid

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I agree. Looks to clean. Do you have a dishwasher attached to that sink that you ran at that time? Sometimes they back up into the sink, maybe there was a hot water back up?

Or did you have it soaking in hot water? Maybe you turned the sink on to rinse something else, or the same water backup issue happened with cold water?

Really does look like a thermal stress break

+1 on the lamp. That baby is big enough to make something really cool for lighting.

wilserbrewer said:

IMO, you got lucky that thing retired itself early and in a nice tidy manor.

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......except, as was mentioned, that the manor wouldn't have been so tidy if that thing had let go full of wort on a shelf or in a closet.

rico567 said:

......except, as was mentioned, that the manor wouldn't have been so tidy if that thing had let go full of wort on a shelf or in a closet.

Click to expand...

but... as the quoted reference of yours mentions, he is lucky that it was tidy.

P.S. love the bubs avatar. I was watching some old strongbad emails just last week. TROGDOR!!!!

Very strange that the bottom would just break off uniformly like that. I be that there was a defect in the manufacturing for this particular carboy. You're very fortunate that you were not carrying that, or that it was full of beer. You should probably go buy a scratch off because you're very lucky at the moment.

I've just had my 6.5 carboy break in the exact same way. I had just finished painting gal and half gal marks and left it on the floor for the paint to dry. Was having dinner with my 2 year old son when heard a loud crack, went to the kitchen to see what it could have been, touched the carboy when the top just fell over (was able to grab it to keep it from shattering every where) and 6.5 gal of water went all over the kitchen. The water that was in it was about average temp (probably around 80ish).

Think I'm going to stay away from glass carboys for now; with a little guy running around last thing I need is to worry about glass shards laying around for him to step on or even worse eat.

Ohh and one other thing I figure I should mention is that where the carboy broke the bottom seemed to be much thicker, and it was definitely heavier than the rest of the carboy. I have strong feeling that might be the reason it broke in that area.

If/When I get to use the 6g glass carboys, I am planning on using the strap deals that wrap around the bottom for you to carry it. Don't want a bottom falling out on me or dropping the carboy full of beer

Yeah I had one of those, still broke around the bottom.

I love glass, but like all glass, dishes, tree ornaments... accidents happen. For a few dollars and half an hour, every carboy I have gets one of these.
Cheap, machine washable, slips on and off with no buckles.
Won't keep your floor from getting sticky when one gives up the ghost though.

Buy a Better Bottle!

Billy-Klubb said:

14 years and hundreds of gallons in the same glass with no problems...


lets not turn this into another "Glass is bad, m'kay?" thread. too many already exist.

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Let's see if you still feel the same after a visit to the ER.

rclinetx said:

It's only 2 months old.

I'm to early in the brew hobby to shy away from glass.

Luckily I got in on some plastic PET deals so I'm not without.

I'll probably call AHB and see what they say, maybe they will replace it.

Click to expand...

I decided against glass before I even started brewing. That was also before I found HBT and read the horror stories. I did make the decision based on weight though... I am no spring chicken anymore.

I've read somewhere that a crate for milk bottles work really well for carboys. It gives you handles to transport, protects the bottom, and keeps you from lifting at the neck. I've never tried it but might be a cheap way to protect your carboys.