i think my LHBS is lying to me {Carboy Prices GoinG Up}

GSM said:

zombie thread looks like the predictions from two years ago are a little off.

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Two years ago, 6 gallon carboys cost about $20. These days, closer to $40, wherever I'm looking online (haven't bought one in ages).

Let's go back to my original response:

the_Bird said:

Forrest (AHS) told us a little while back that the Mexican factory that makes carboys stopped manufacturing them, so the only glass carboys coming into the country would be Italian and probably cost about twice what they go for today ($40 - $45).

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....... wish every prediction I heard was that, uh... predictable!

Well, I still shy away from BBs because they scratch. Once you have the inside of one of those scratched, you risk contamination just like a plastic bucket. That's a no-go for me personally. I'll stick to glass and stainless steel until I seem something definitive that BBs are HIGHLY scratch resistant.

That's just my 2 cents......

.... well, they only scratch if you do something dumb like stick a carboy brush inside. They really just need a good Oxiclean soak, 99% of the time.

Seriously, how many folks here at HBT actually, personally, know someone who has had an artery severed by a glass carboy? (watch me be the next LOL). It's a scary thought, but does it happen enough to weigh-in? Or is it like shark attacks & plane crashes?

Don't get me wrong -- I love the BB but I put my glass carboys on a higher pedestal. I think it's just nostalgia. But damn, I don't like severed arteries either!

Ziggybrew said:

Seriously, how many folks here at HBT actually, personally, know someone who has had an artery severed by a glass carboy? (watch me be the next LOL). It's a scary thought, but does it happen enough to weigh-in? Or is it like shark attacks & plane crashes?

Don't get me wrong -- I love the BB but I put my glass carboys on a higher pedestal. I think it's just nostalgia. But damn, I don't like severed arteries either!

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Well, I personally only know one. She severed an artery and a tendon in her wrist from a 6.5 gallon carboy. I wasn't home when she called so she drove herself to the hospital. They were able to reattach everything but she has a nasty scar, and paid over $1000.

I actually really really broke mine in my pool. While no blood was lost, 5g of Bavarian hefeweisen sank Titanically to the bottom of my pool. I have pics and video. Great stuff for this forum, just need to track it down.

I'm done with glass.

Well, queue the glass vs. plastic re-thread. Always a crowd pleaser.

To each his/her own, and may all be happy ever after.. my 2c

Ziggybrew said:

Seriously, how many folks here at HBT actually, personally, know someone who has had an artery severed by a glass carboy? (watch me be the next LOL). It's a scary thought, but does it happen enough to weigh-in? Or is it like shark attacks & plane crashes?

Don't get me wrong -- I love the BB but I put my glass carboys on a higher pedestal. I think it's just nostalgia. But damn, I don't like severed arteries either!

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One of the guys at my LHBS sliced up his hand on one. Does all BB now. And my GF broke one in Jan, after seeing the wreckage I decided to go BB and haven't looked back!

the_bird said:

.... well, they only scratch if you do something dumb like stick a carboy brush inside. They really just need a good Oxiclean soak, 99% of the time.

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......and what do you do for the other 1% of the time?

knightbeer39 said:

......and what do you do for the other 1% of the time?

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I think BB recommends sliding a wet towel in there and twisting it.

Yeah, BB partly filled with an Oxiclean solution, a towel/washcloth shoved in there, and a vigorous shake.

the_bird said:

Yeah, BB partly filled with an Oxiclean solution, a towel/washcloth shoved in there, and a vigorous shake.

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Ah, that would work I guess. I've really been considering them but after 13+ years of brewing I have been conditioned to be paranoid about plastic. Guess it's time to RDWHAHB and try a BB!

I havent read the entire thread so it may have been stated ad nauseum.. Craigslist is your friend. I have a bunch of 6.5 gallon carboys from there.. a friend just bought half a dozen off there...

This makes sense to me because my local brew store has been saying they are running short on 1 -3 gallon right now. I have noticed the stock of 5 gallon isn't being replaced as fast also.

I have really enjoyed using my 6 gallon BB and just got a 5 gallon for my birthday to use as a secondary. A good 24 hour Oxiyclean soak completely cleaned out my 6 gal after my pumpkin ale which looked like this (on the right)



It was pretty dirty, but I cleaned it right after I transferred to secondary. I am interested in the PET caps, but man are they expensive compared to a carboy cap. The dry lock seems like a great idea as well.

First: I'd like to see some actual figures on two factors; how much oxygen can get into a Better Bottle, and how much damage can that oxygen do to a beer. As much as this topic has been discussed, I'm amazed I've seen NO hard info about this.

Second: I'm a plastic bucket brewer, pure & simple, and I can't see the basis whereby anyone's going to convince me that a glass or PETE carboy is going to somehow be better. The only thing I'll accept is that some people just gotta watch "The Brew Channel" in their carboy. I'll admit I can't do that with my buckets.

Third: I admit the utility of carboys for secondary, but even that is becoming enough of a rarity with me (most beers = primary only) that I'm questioning giving shelf space to my four carboys (2 glass, 2 BB). The ONLY thing I'll use one of my glass carboys for is a long-term secondary- I've got a barleywine in one 3+ months, thinking about bottling.

My conclusion: Glass carboys had their day, and in that day they were ideal for fermenting beer, but there IS such a thing as progress.

If I had not gotten my carboys so cheap I would just use buckets also. I got them way cheaper than I can even buy buckets for however.

rico567 said:

First: I'd like to see some actual figures on two factors; how much oxygen can get into a Better Bottle, and how much damage can that oxygen do to a beer. As much as this topic has been discussed, I'm amazed I've seen NO hard info about this.

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Those numbers absolutely exist. I couldn't quote them to you today, but I've seen hard-and-fast numbers for glass, for Better Bottles, and for regular Ale Pail buckets. The latter have, by a good margin, the highest O2 permeability. No big deal unless you're doing LONG term aging.

BB's, IIRC, were closer to glass than to buckets, although they too have some degree of permeability.

I'll have to see if I can find the actual numbers; the data does exist.

check your local craigslist. Ive found them for $20.00. Also garage sales and antique shops can be a place to look, have found them also

i'm still a little paranoid about the bb, even tho i use a 5g bb for short clearing secondaries, but i don't really secondary much. on the rare occasion i do secondary for a while, i use a glass 6.5

<---- is happy there's plenty of bucket factories still in business.

Plastic buckets=scratches=infections. That's my problem with them. It's just a personal choice, when those things get stained and I can't use any abrasive or elbow grease to clean them, because the scratches will harbor bacteria, it just isn't worth it to me.

I fear the BB for the same reason. It's sanke keg fermentors, carboys and demijohns for this dude until I can feel more comfortable about a BB.

knightbeer39 said:

Plastic buckets=scratches=infections. That's my problem with them.

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That'd be why I don't scratch my buckets.

knightbeer39 said:

It's just a personal choice, when those things get stained and I can't use any abrasive or elbow grease to clean them, because the scratches will harbor bacteria, it just isn't worth it to me.

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Stains are cosmetic. I can't see 'em when the bucket's full of beer.

knightbeer39 said:

Plastic buckets=scratches=infections. That's my problem with them. It's just a personal choice, when those things get stained and I can't use any abrasive or elbow grease to clean them, because the scratches will harbor bacteria, it just isn't worth it to me.

I fear the BB for the same reason. It's sanke keg fermentors, carboys and demijohns for this dude until I can feel more comfortable about a BB.

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I may have been lucky but I have never had an infected beer and I use only buckets. I'm not as paranoid about cleaning them as others are either - I guess the lack of infections over the years has made me a little lax on that but I scrub them lightly with a regular washcloth and oxyclean then sanitize as normal for the next batch. Some of my buckets have a dozen or so batches through them. The stains I tend to ignore as long as they have been cleaned and sanitized. As you said though - personal choice. A good infection one day may change my opinion...

Ziggybrew said:

Seriously, how many folks here at HBT actually, personally, know someone who has had an artery severed by a glass carboy? (watch me be the next LOL). It's a scary thought, but does it happen enough to weigh-in? Or is it like shark attacks & plane crashes?

Don't get me wrong -- I love the BB but I put my glass carboys on a higher pedestal. I think it's just nostalgia. But damn, I don't like severed arteries either!

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I have had a glass carboy explode during blow off when the blow off tube inexplicably clogged up. Thankfully it occurred at like 3-4am and everyone was asleep so nobody got hurt, but we were pulling glass shards out of the ceiling from the kitchen and the two rooms adjoining it for the next couple of weeks.

Put me off homebrewing again for YEARS.

I haven't had an accidents with my carboys, but I'd put the number of first-hand accounts I've read from HBT members at somewhere north of forty and probably south of 100. It's not inevitable, it's not going to happen to everybody... but it's not all that uncommon, either. I still use some glass because I have them, but I don't see myself BUYING any more carboys in the future.

I sure do like glass. I sure do like my buckets and BBs. I see the chance of injury (based on your testimonies here) from glass is nothing to be dismissed. Maybe nostalgia must step aside for plastic?
Interesting thread.

A local water bottling company sells the glass 5 gallon carboys for $20. They are used water jugs, but they have more on stock "Than I could ever use in my life". I would go all glass if it wasn't for needing the extra head room for beer in the primary. I just use the 6.5 gallon buckets for anything that is likely to form a large krausen, or is a little over 5 gallons.