First screw up... boy.. with pic

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My condolences to the OP. I use glass too and I love it and will never switch. +1 on the milk crates, they work great and offer a little barrier to protect from subtle bumps. I often think about tragedies like this when I am shuffling mine around as my fermentation freezer is in my garage 100 yards away from my house. Every time i carry on there or back, it gets heavier and heavier and I fear one will slip out of my hands some day. :rockin:
 
Am I the only one with a fleeting suspicion that some of these glass horror stories we hear about are fabricated by the Better Bottle makers to drive up sales?.

Nope. You are not. Sometimes I wonder too. There are so many people in the online product promotion business these days.
 
Aaaand Thats why I dont use glass!

I actually dropped one of my BB's while it was full of wort and it just bounced. I lol'd
 
Sucks man!

I feel your pain. I'm testing out better bottles right now, just wish they had a bit large capacity as the 6.5 gallon glass carboys have!

Glad you were not hurt in the accident.
 
I'm betting thermal shock. Wort was still pretty warm, right? and the water in teh cooler was already icy, right?.... yeah, don't do that

I was thinking this as well. The inside of the cooler wouldn't be like hitting on concrete or something. What was the temp difference between the wort and water in cooler?

I just picked up an old 5 gallon water jug for 5 bucks. It's from the Minehaha water company. The glass seems really thick compared to carboys I've seen. Haven't used it yet.
 
I don't understand why one would want to use better bottles instead of a plastic ale pale? Plastic buckets are... well...plastic, just like BB's and are WAAAAY easier to use all the way around and are less expensive.
 
I don't understand why one would want to use better bottles instead of a plastic ale pale? Plastic buckets are... well...plastic, just like BB's and are WAAAAY easier to use all the way around and are less expensive.

It's like ice cream; some like vanilla, some like chocolate, I like rocky road...

I always had problems with my bucket lids breaking at inopportune times, not being able to keep SWMBO from using the bucket for something else "just this once", and no matter how gently I tried to clean it, it always got scratched. :drunk:

I've had none of these problems with better bottles, plus the ported versions make transfers and bottling a breeze. I can purge the air out of my secondary with CO2, and transfer from my primary with little or no oxidation risk. Look here under "Closed Loop Racking" :mug:
 
JH,

I understand. However, I don't see how one can scratch a bucket while cleaning but not a BB. Not trying to get into a pissing contest, just apples to apples.

I use a terry cloth hand towel to clean my buckets. The two I did manage to scratch early in my brewing career are now used for weighing and grinding grain on brew day.

With the better bottle there is a way to clean with a cloth (push a small hand towel in there and shake it around) but it's no easier than cleaning a bucket with a towel. With a bucket I just use hot water from a utility sink ( I understand everyone doesn't have this option) to rinse the trub/yeast cake and kruesen ring out, then add PBW or Oxi to a couple quarts of hot water and wash with the cloth. Rinse good with cold water and turn upside to dry.

With all of that being said, I have been using 6 gallon glass carboys to ferment in on my last 12-15 batches. I place them in plastic milk crates that I bought online. I try and do all I can in the milk crates but at some point it has to come out (for me) for cleaning, sanitizing etc. and there in will always be the risk.

I am not saying glass is safer or even safe, because it isn't. You can be as safe as you want, but that's why an accident is called an accident and not an "on purpose". I'm just saying that if you want to go plastic, buckets are cheaper, easier to maintain and easier to move around.
 
Milkcrates rule!
beer006.jpg
 
I do my primary in a bucket, then tranfer into a glass carboy for the secondary.


I'll probably look into the milk crates now though. So far knock on wood haven't had an issue with the glass. I figure I shouldn't have any issues due to varying temps with my method. Just have to be carefull not to slam anything down.


 
Milk crates look like a good option but for an old guy like me picking it up off of the floor looks a little difficult. I just bought brew haulers for my carboys and I like them alot.
 
Not to be morbid, but, for your own health, switch to a plastic bucket. Easy to clean, use, etc...

My brother was killed by a glass carboy!:mad:
 
I took my one week old wort in a glass carboy out of the kegerater to shake up the yeast because it wasn't eating up the sugar anymore. I had a harness around it, that I thought was impenetrable. I was only holding it about 3 feet above my apartment floor when it slipped out of one of the harness loops. My immediate reaction was to try and kick-save it. My (almost) bare foot took the brunt of the 5.5 gallons of liquid and glass container. Then it shattered on my foot and left me with nice slices all over.
Most of the liquid went under the sink, dishwasher, cabinets. And the neighbors thought my dishwasher had overflowed!

I am still using glass carboys, but I respect them now And do not use that stupid harness.
 
I took my one week old wort in a glass carboy out of the kegerater to shake up the yeast because it wasn't eating up the sugar anymore. I had a harness around it, that I thought was impenetrable. I was only holding it about 3 feet above my apartment floor when it slipped out of one of the harness loops. My immediate reaction was to try and kick-save it. My (almost) bare foot took the brunt of the 5.5 gallons of liquid and glass container. Then it shattered on my foot and left me with nice slices all over.
Most of the liquid went under the sink, dishwasher, cabinets. And the neighbors thought my dishwasher had overflowed!

I am still using glass carboys, but I respect them now And do not use that stupid harness.

Kick-save just got added to my vocabulary. Thanks!
 
Kick-save just got added to my vocabulary. Thanks!

Never knew the official term for it, but that is my reaction too, when I drop something breakable. I instinctively try to break the fall with my foot. Not sure about a carboy full of wort though.
 
I was thinking this as well. The inside of the cooler wouldn't be like hitting on concrete or something. What was the temp difference between the wort and water in cooler?/QUOTE]

There wasn't any water in the swamp cooler yet, it was dry. I really think i set it down to hard in the cooler, and i had an air tight stopper on the carboy, which may have caused some built up pressure. The wort should have been in the upper 70's in terms of temperature since i chill my wort before i bring it inside.

I went with the BB over plastic buckets because i only use primarys (no secondaries) and i have been warned that buckets are not good for long primaries due to potential air leaks. Not sure if that is true. I generally leave all my beers in the primary for 4 weeks.

NJTarHeel, i'm sorry to hear about your brother, truly tragic.
 
cincydave said:
Never knew the official term for it, but that is my reaction too, when I drop something breakable. I instinctively try to break the fall with my foot. Not sure about a carboy full of wort though.

Yeah, I kick-save everything. I was so unprepared for that thing to fall I yielded to my spinal cord reflex. Thankfully, energy dissipation of the carboy breaking saved me from a broken foot!
 
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