Carboys Glass vs Plastic

I am a new brewer and read up on this.

Glass: Easy to clean, lasts forever, heavy, no possibility of plastic tainting your brew.
Plastic: Light, easier to store, degrades, could get scratched and harbour bacteria.

I got a deal on a 23lt glass carboy which is full of betterbrew export lager where it is ageing.

Organising the large cupboard which I have taken over for brewing i nocked over a pile of empty 33cl bottles one of which bounced off the fridge and pinged in a graceful arc onto the carboy.

My carboy looks like it has beens shot. A tiny crack and beer leaking. An emergency application of plasterers sickytape has stopped the leak but it is finished I think.

Back in the day my parents made wine and the carboys were all in metal wire baskets surrounded by straw and cloth.

I think it is plastic for me from now on. Accidents happen. Gutted. Will bottle next weekend and say goodbye to my glass carboy. I hoped we would be together for many years but it was not to be.


Richard

I like glass for the simple fact that I can watch what's going on inside. It's kind of fun to see the reaction going on.

Ive also read of people converting SS Corny kegs for fermentation. Or SS boil kettles that ALSO seal up and double as a fermenter.

I've been looking around cuz im getting weary of better bottles and i think im gonna try a modified corny keg next.

MrJames said:

I like glass for the simple fact that I can watch what's going on inside. It's kind of fun to see the reaction going on.

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And you can't do that with a Better Bottle?

MrJames said:

I like glass for the simple fact that I can watch what's going on inside. It's kind of fun to see the reaction going on.

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You can do the same thing with a Better Bottle...

I have always used glass but now I have both. We had a plumber in our basement a couple weeks back and he shattered my 6.5 gallon. With all the broken carboy stories I've read about and people getting injured, I thought it be a good time to try plastic. I'm gonna brew up an American Dark Lager this week in it. Hopefully I like it.

Not sure if you knew this (I didn't) but the guy at my LHBS said I shouldn't use a brush in it to clean. Just a good soak in PBW and rinse well.

MrJames said:

I like glass for the simple fact that I can watch what's going on inside. It's kind of fun to see the reaction going on.

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Plastic better bottles allow the same thing.

I prefer glass solely for the fact that it bothers me to have a plastic carboy deform when I pick it up, off gas, and then suck air in after I set it down again

Ryush806 said:

Plastic better bottles allow the same thing.

I prefer glass solely for the fact that it bothers me to have a plastic carboy deform when I pick it up, off gas, and then suck air in after I set it down again

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Ahh the infamous noob post titled "HELP! SANITIZER SUCKED BACK INTO CARBOY". Ive been there, done that.

aryoung1980 said:

I have always used glass but now I have both. We had a plumber in our basement a couple weeks back and he shattered my 6.5 gallon. With all the broken carboy stories I've read about and people getting injured, I thought it be a good time to try plastic. I'm gonna brew up an American Dark Lager this week in it. Hopefully I like it.

Not sure if you knew this (I didn't) but the guy at my LHBS said I shouldn't use a brush in it to clean. Just a good soak in PBW and rinse well.

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That's how I clean my better bottles. I fill them with hot PBW overnight, rinse, and sanitize. It does a much better job than trying to scrub it with the carboy brush and is much easier.

Darwin18 said:

That's how I clean my better bottles. I fill them with hot PBW overnight, rinse, and sanitize. It does a much better job than trying to scrub it with the carboy brush and is much easier.

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After speaking to Better Bottle customer support, they do not recommend PBW for prolonged soaks. They say it weakens the plastic and can cause cracking.

I started with Better Bottles. Both Better Bottles lasted less than a year before the bottoms formed a crack and leaked. I would say both of them never saw more than 5-8 batches each. When I contacted Better Bottle customer support they told me to go pound sand so I decided to move away from their product. I have since moved to 6.5G plastic bucket primary and 5G glass carboy secondary.

I've had better bottles cram on the bottom as well with about a year if use. They aren't too expensive and replacing once per year isn't a bad idea anyway in case you have scratched it.

When cleaning, I used to fill them up, soak, and ten empty by picking up and pouring out. What I found is that this stresses the bottle too much and can weaken it. Now I only empty a full better bottle by siphoning.

Thats pretty ridiculous since they put the dimple in the bottom. With 5+ gallons of liquid in it, what do they think its gonna do. its gonna move up and down, even with the use of a brew hauler or milk crate. Customer service prob gets sick of getting the complaints.

Gitmoe said:

You can do the same thing with a Better Bottle...

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True. I just prefer glass. If one were to break, I'd get another.

UofMontanaAlum said:

After speaking to Better Bottle customer support, they do not recommend PBW for prolonged soaks. They say it weakens the plastic and can cause cracking.

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That is odd. I've been cleaning mine with hot PBW soaks overnight without any issues. It is certainly possible though, but with how cheap they are relative to glass it's not a big deal to replace them every other year. NorthernBrewer has been having BOGO sales for Better Bottles every six months or so.

I've been toying with the idea of having my glass carboys sprayed with Line-X (outside only) with a visibility stripe a couple inches wide down one side. It wouldn't cost that much and would be insurance against accidents or the occasional kid snafu not to mention make it a bit more resistant to accidental breakage due to slight jolts or bumps while moving it around. I've been searching around the forums to see if anyone has ever done something along those lines. I was thinking a modest coat of dark color to allow cracks to be easily visible would be the way to go and with a good solid visible line it would still allow me to see what's going on in there (yes, I'm aware the plastic bottles do this too).

Anyone not familiar with Line-X... it's a spray on plastic/rubber coating most frequently applied to bedliners but you can obliterate a cinder block for example with it coating it and the Cinder block will keep it's form and stay in one piece.

MrJames said:

True. I just prefer glass. If one were to break, I'd get another.

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Hopefully if you break one and buy another there is not a trip to the emergency room in between.

For me #1 = way to dangerous and close behind at #2 = way too heavy.

I have been using my first Better Bottle for 2 years now and have gotten another 2. about 36 batches in them so the first one probably has done at least a dozen brews. I expect these three will last many more years. Maybe even outlast me.

Darwin18 said:

That is odd. I've been cleaning mine with hot PBW soaks overnight without any issues. It is certainly possible though, but with how cheap they are relative to glass it's not a big deal to replace them every other year. NorthernBrewer has been having BOGO sales for Better Bottles every six months or so.

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I wonder if some of these problems, if really related to cleaners, is due to the often reported over concentrated solutions. I have read posts where Oxyclean users complain of residue then state that they use one cup or more in five gallons. I use about 1/3 scoop and it works fine. Maybe 1/4 cup.

I got my second and third 6 gallon BB's using the BOGO.
When I need to replace or add more I hope they continue this practice.

kh54s10 said:

I wonder if some of these problems, if really related to cleaners, is due to the often reported over concentrated solutions. I have read posts where Oxyclean users complain of residue then state that they use one cup or more in five gallons. I use about 1/3 scoop and it works fine. Maybe 1/4 cup.

I got my second and third 6 gallon BB's using the BOGO.
When I need to replace or add more I hope they continue this practice.

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I suspect that you're right, and that over-concentration is more of a problem than the cleaning solution itself.

kh54s10 said:

Hopefully if you break one and buy another there is not a trip to the emergency room in between.

For me #1 = way to dangerous and close behind at #2 = way too heavy.

I have been using my first Better Bottle for 2 years now and have gotten another 2. about 36 batches in them so the first one probably has done at least a dozen brews. I expect these three will last many more years. Maybe even outlast me.

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Emergency room? Wow, that's stretching it a bit. Sorry, not giving up the glass carboys for the off chance it breaks and I am right there. Point noted. Heavy, perhaps. I have Brew Haulers for all of my carboys and use em even when empty.

MrJames said:

Emergency room? Wow, that's stretching it a bit.

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Not really, search the forum a bit. You'll find multiple reports of ER visits due to glass carboys.

ajlee said:

Not really, search the forum a bit. You'll find multiple reports of ER visits due to glass carboys.

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This is true. There are several threads of people out there who have seriously injured themselves when they've dropped their glass carboy or had them inexplicably shatter.

Darwin18 said:

This is true. There are several threads of people out there who have seriously injured themselves when they've dropped their glass carboy or had them inexplicably shatter.

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Even one story of death.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/broken-glass-carboy-horror-stories-compendium-376523/

World is full of sharp corners. I've hurt myself many times with a simple screwdriver. The message here is to be careful. Since drinking makes me clumsy, I got rid my glass carboys a long time ago.

Like anything "news worthy", you only hear the sensational stuff. Not many of the more common stories about, "I moved my carboy from the fridge to the counter today." Like driving a car, motorcycle or even gun control. When tragedies happen, people like to blame something. It's often misplaced rather than admitting it was preventable if they'd only used a little common sense. Then they feel they have to tell the world about it in a "this could happen to you" story, as if that will somehow take the blame away from them.

iBrewR said:

Like anything "news worthy", you only hear the sensational stuff. Not many of the more common stories about, "I moved my carboy from the fridge to the counter today." Like driving a car, motorcycle or even gun control. When tragedies happen, people like to blame something. It's often misplaced rather than admitting it was preventable if they'd only used a little common sense. Then they feel they have to tell the world about it in a "this could happen to you" story, as if that will somehow take the blame away from them.

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Well said.

iBrewR said:

Like anything "news worthy", you only hear the sensational stuff. Not many of the more common stories about, "I moved my carboy from the fridge to the counter today." Like driving a car, motorcycle or even gun control. When tragedies happen, people like to blame something. It's often misplaced rather than admitting it was preventable if they'd only used a little common sense. Then they feel they have to tell the world about it in a "this could happen to you" story, as if that will somehow take the blame away from them.

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I get the needless risk aspect though. I also understand that it is a tradeoff though. The Line-X thing is one I'm seriously considering (I have cheap means of having it done so long as I don't care what color it is) and while it isn't ideal I'm thinking it will minimize my risk nicely and still allow me to scrub the absolute piss out of the inside with virtually anything reasonable without worrying about scratches. Alternatively, I'm thinking about asking my Aunt who made me a fantastic Carboy hauler out of an old tow strap to make me one with a zip up opaque outer shell that would both prevent light from passing as well as protect from injury resulting from accidental breakage. I'd love to get it made out of that "knife-resistant" material they make the filleting gloves out of but I simply don't know where I'd get something like that and I haven't thought of a good alternative which is why I haven't done it yet.

Stupid on my part, but putting hot wort in a Better Bottle will result in the top caving in. Another reason for me to go back to the plastic bucket.

On cleaning better bottles, I use oxyclean free and HOT water. No need to soak, usually just put in a gallon of hot water and a couple tbsp oxyclean. Shake it good upside down for a minute. For stubborn gunk, stuff in a couple paper towels or rags and swirl them around on the gunk. Rinse several times w hot water. PBW rocks but oxy does almost the same thing and SO much cheaper.