Carboy Lesson Learned

I've been brewing pretty steady for several years now. I mainly brew 5 gallon all grain batches using the batch sparge method and glass carboys as a secondary fermentor. I have 4 carboys and some time ago I noticed that 2 of them had roughly 2" cracks in the bottom. I couldn't figure out why but still had 2 good ones.

Then in last December after cleaning one of the good ones and storing it for a short time I went to pick it up to use it and got a big surprise. The very bottom of the carboy stayed where it was and I was holding the rest in my hand! https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54651&stc=1&d=1332980006I couldn't believe it. So I decided I was going to do something different. I looked into conical fermentors both plastic and stainless steel but wasn't ready to invest quite that much money. Instead I bought two 5 gallon Better Bottles with the ports and racking attachments so I wouldn't have to siphon anymore.

Fast forward to this past Sunday. It was a busy day as I brewed a batch, kegged a different batch and did some other clean-up of other brew stuff. The batch I kegged came out of one of my Better Bottles and I mixed up my normal batch of PBW (according to instructions and adding water before the cleaner) and set it aside while I did other things.

Of course I forgot all about it until the next day when my wife told me something was leaking in the room. Right away I knew what it was. Sure enough, the bottle developed a good crack in the bottom and it was leaking out. I had it setting on a painted metal stool and I was surprised to see that it had taken the paint off that too! I'd read somewhere about PBW causing cracks and didn't mean to leave it set so long but I forgot. My bad.

For the heck of it I sent an email to the makers of Better Bottle telling them what happened and I got a very quick response from them confirming it was the PBW that likely did it and why. I wrote back asking about patching it but it wasn't recommended. I also mentioned that I would probably go back to glass carboys and got another response insinuating that PBW can also affect glass the same way, which I never thought it would/could. Maybe that answers the mystery of the cracks in my glass ones because I always let them soak with PBW in them.

So that's the lesson I learned. I'm not sure what direction I'm going to go from here yet. Not use PBW in anything but my stainless steel brew pot and use Oxy Clean? More Better Bottles or glass? A conical stainless steel fermentor?($$$) Not sure yet. Time will tell.

I've left OxyClean in my Better Bottles for several days. I hope that I am not compromising the integrity of the plastic. I will still buy Better Bottles any day rather than take a risk of a trip to the ER.

OxyClean is, I believe, God's gift to brewers! I use that stuff practically everywhere except on my aluminum pots. I typically buy a large container when I'm at Sam's.
tom

kh54s10 said:

I've left OxyClean in my Better Bottles for several days. I hope that I am not compromising the integrity of the plastic. I will still buy Better Bottles any day rather than take a risk of a trip to the ER.

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Check the Better Bottle web site for their recommendations on using caustic cleaners.

http://www.better-bottle.com/technical.html

click the "Technical" tab, then "Wash/Sanitize"

I like glass. A lot. My one glass carboy was aquired from a friend. He had used it for years, so it shows signs of neglect and wear. The neck is cracked (a lot), and is slightly stained in those cracks, which makes me overly cautious.
The weight kills me, so I'm planning on buying 2 more BB carboys (I already have 1 BB), on top of purchasing one new glass carboy.

Cleaning the Better Bottle is not as quick as cleaning glass, IMO. BBs are easier to clean, though, and require less solution to do so. You just need to be dedicated to "rocking" the carboy for a while in order to get everything out, dissoved and clean.

TomRep said:

OxyClean is, I believe, God's gift to brewers! I use that stuff practically everywhere except on my aluminum pots. I typically buy a large container when I'm at Sam's.
tom

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I've been using the generic, Wal*Mart oxy for about four years in my Better Bottles. No problems so far.

Buckets... hated my carboys now I have a spigot, no worries about light struck, better insulated, no more sprained back and if it cracks I'm out $10