Dangers of glass carboys

I was brewing a few weeks ago when a carboy slipped about 1" off the floor and cracked in my arms. Cut my wrist open and severed my ulnar nerve and tendons. I had surgery to join everything together, they had to open my whole arm up to round up the tendons and move my ulnar nerve to inside my elbow for more slack. $15K was the bill but luckily my healthcare covered it. I have no use of my right pinky and ive been in constant pain and nerve damage numbness since. 1 year recovery the doc says, chances are i should make a full motion and strength recovery but have sensation issues for the next few years.

Moral of the story, don't be cheap or lazy. Make wood crates or buy carry slings for all your carboys. Or even better ferment in buckets, kegs, or anything but glass. Im not here to convince everyone to boycott carboys, just realize the dangers of moving a potential butchers knife around your house. I'm making the move to sanke keg fermenters using CO2 to push the beer around.

Ouch!
I hope you a speedy recovery but i do have a few questions.
Was your glass carboy Italian made?
Or was it a chinese or mexican made one?
Have you ever put hot fluids in it?
How long have you had/used that particular one?
Finally did you beat the world record for longest newly invented curse word when it happened?

wish you a speedy recovery!

Godspeed in your recovery! Thanks for the reminder that these things are strong but can also be fragile.

Wow! Wishing you a speedy and complete recovery, man!

Hope you have a speedy and full recovery.

Holy crap, dude, thanks for the reminder! Best wishes on your recovery!

Chicks dig guys with scars. You win!

Nasty! I wish you the best in your recovery.

Get a zipper tattoo'd on that scar!

Damn....that's a terrible injury. I'm sorry that it happened to you and that you have a speedy recovery.

Thanks for the support all!

To answer the questions, it's marked brc 3008 mexican I think? Never put hot fluids in above 90-100f. I've had it for a year used about ten times. And no not a curse word more like a loud yelling noise I didn't know I could make followed by "CALL 911! Get the tourniquet!"

k1ngl1ves said:

Nasty! I wish you the best in your recovery.

Get a zipper tattoo'd on that scar!

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Best idea for a first tattoo!

Damn - that is horrible. I got lucky when I dropped my carboy and it just shattered into a million tiny pieces. Hope you have a successful recovery and are back to brewing.

emyers said:

...And no not a curse word more like a loud yelling noise I didn't know I could make followed by "CALL 911! Get the tourniquet!"

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Maybe it's just me but that bolded part reads like that wasn't the first time you have had to shout those words. Of course it could be from the fact I don't know of anyone that just has a tourniquet ready.

ordering now.....

Dang! I was rinsing my 5 gallon one out the other day after bottling my Dundalk, and it slipped in my hand over the kitchen sink. It was about 2 inches above the edge of the sink, and it bounced off the stainless steel but did not shatter. I managed to grab it, but boy did it make my heart jump a few beats. I've seen others injuries from carboy breakage on here, and I make a point of always wearing heavy work boots when handling. Feeling the need to switch to all plastic buckets, or some better bottles. Recover fast, and don't pop your stitches. (I've done that. NOT FUN)

Holy cow! That is a fearsome injury. I'm so sorry you had to endure THAT pain. I hope it heals completely and quickly.

Makes me very glad we ONLY use plastic carboys and a Speidel.

VERY scary! Wow. And I come from a medical office background. Not sure if I'd have made it through somebody walking in the door with THAT injury!

I hope you heal well and quickly. That is precisely why I will never own a glass carboy!

Sorry to hear about this man, I hope you recover quickly!

Duuuuuuuude! I was shown stuff like that to prepare me for the real world in my emt classes! I always try to catch things when they slip. I'm guessing that was your reaction as well. Thanks for the pic, now swmbo will not only ok New BB's, she'll probably order them herself.

Heal fast... You have beer to brew!

Sent from my SCH-R970 using Home Brew mobile app

Holy Crap! That is nasty looking. Glad you're OK. Lucky it didn't take out an artery.

I'll have a hard time getting that picture put of my mind. I still have a glass carboy. That sucker is gone.

Wow! Got you good. Hope you have a fast and complete recovery.
Reading that makes me want to go sign up for my obamacare. On second thought, I think i will just make a plywood box for all my glass.

Hope you have a quick recovery.

Best wishes for quick recovery for you and yours. Your tragedy has awakened me to the fact that at 74 yr old, maybe, I should stop packing those things around.

I hope you have a full recovery, really scary, thank you for posting and warning others.

I hope the journey to full health is not as bad as predicted.

Kindest thoughts

Oh, that's awful! A similar thing happened to my friend, and she couldn't find her phone and drove herself to the hospital (luckily three blocks away). She did ok, and they reattached her thumb but it was really scary.

Here's to a full and complete recover!

thanks everyone!

Best wishes and prayers for a fast and full recovery.

I'll never own a glass carboy.

Damn..... im glad i went with BB off the bat. im not the most gentle person and it would be only a matter of time before i ended up like that if i went with glass.

Feel better bro.

Good news my pinky is starting to move fully. Only thing is the muscles and skin are are tied together at the scar so my skin and everything at the cut move when i move my pinky, painful. The occupational therapist warned of this happening so hopefully i can work it back to near normal. Luckily i have a good brewing apprentice and was able to make a 11 gal hopfenweiss clone and 5 gal amber lager this weekend with help. Back to the fermenting bucket for 5 gal batches and i moved up to sanke kegs with a rubber carboy cap and airlock for big batches.

Sooo...it's safe to say you didn't finish the batch when it broke?

I've only broken 2, one of which resulted in stitches on my arm but no nerve damage like yours. I still have 4 glass carboys but replaced the broken ones with BB's. Both times I broke them I was cleaning them out after brewing (and drinking while brewing). Hope you have a speedy recovery.

Sooo...it's safe to say you didn't finish the batch when it broke?

I've only broken 2, one of which resulted in stitches on my arm but no nerve damage like yours. I still have 4 glass carboys but replaced the broken ones with BB's. Both times I broke them I was cleaning them out after brewing (and drinking while brewing). Hope you have a speedy recovery.

Sounds like you can honestly tell people your beer was brewed with BLOOD, sweat and tears now!

+1 for a speedy recovery.

+100 for plastic buckets and plastic carboys. I used Culligan water jugs.

Holy.. yikes!

I broke a nice Italian carboy that I'd had for over 20 years. I lucked out.. I was picking it up and clipped the edge of my tile counter. The glass spider-webbed but held together. I took it out to the garbage bin, and as I lowered it into the bin, the entire carboy just crumbled into a shards.

I still have a few glass carboys but I've been using buckets instead lately - not so much for safety concerns but more for the ease of cleaning them.

Speedy recovery to you!

Ummm... ok seriously want to get rid of my 5 Pyrex carboys now... Real deal Pyrex is a lot stronger than normal carboy glass... right? I know it is thermally... but is it against shock?

Wow. Speedy recovery dude. Has this changed your views on brewing? I think I'd be a little too traumatized to brew for awhile. However I have to admit that you are my inspiration for ordering a new 6.5 gal plastic bucket fermenter, which should be delivered sometime today. I plan on brewing a kolsch on thursday.

OP,
You Know, after seeing your pix etc, and realizing the pain and how your life has and will be changed for a while, I'm looking at my line up of glass carboys through a different lens. I am on blood thinners so a wound like that would put me in the ground. Thanks for the wake-up call. I have Better Bottles but really don't like them. I'm one of those folks that have a real aversion to plastic. I am in the process of wrapping my glass carboys in epoxy and fiberglass tape. The first one is an ugly thing, but the inside is still glass. We'll see what it's like to ferment in soon.
Again, thanks for the post and the heads up to the community. And, again, wish you a quick and full recovery.

Update. Pinky opens and closes for grip but I can't spread or close my ring and pinky. Left hand has 120lbs of grip 33 on my right. My wrist is super tight when flexing and extending. Back at work on light duty. The doc said my nerve is growing back at a good rate. I get tons of compliments on the scar lol.

And to answer the question about brewing. Ive brewed 5 batches so far. I still haven't made the batch of skeeter pee I was making at the time.

sudbuster said:

OP,
You Know, after seeing your pix etc, and realizing the pain and how your life has and will be changed for a while, I'm looking at my line up of glass carboys through a different lens. I am on blood thinners so a wound like that would put me in the ground. Thanks for the wake-up call. I have Better Bottles but really don't like them. I'm one of those folks that have a real aversion to plastic. I am in the process of wrapping my glass carboys in epoxy and fiberglass tape. The first one is an ugly thing, but the inside is still glass. We'll see what it's like to ferment in soon.
Again, thanks for the post and the heads up to the community. And, again, wish you a quick and full recovery.

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And I wonder why modern science can't come up with a process where they coat a GLASS carboy in a clear plastic covering just to keep these accidents from hurting people.

Seems like SOMEONE ought to be able to come up with a solution to this problem...

I use plastic for most beer ferments, because I don't think the proper plastic vessel is going to leak enough O2 to cause a problem in the short time most beers ferment.

But, I do use my old glass carboys for some things like wine and mead and I'm always careful to use a brewhauler or plastic milk crate and to make sure my hands are free and clear in case it breaks.

OP That is a nasty gash! But at least it's a cool scar. Look on the bright side; now you can use that nickname you've always wanted: Frank!