Broken Glass Carboy Horror Stories Compendium

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Thought I'd share these. I was washing a glass carboy at the sink when it shattered and broke on me. It got me right across the wrist and cut the artery, nerves and tendons. Paramedics had to put a tournequet on my arm to stop me from bleeding out because the cut was so deep. After three years of recovery, I still cant feel most of my hand and three of my fingers because of the nerve damage. Glass sucks. Don't play with glass.

2010-08-09 09.24.47.jpg


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2010-08-09 09.23.28.jpg
 
Holy cuss words I am so glad I sold all my glass carboys and went to fermenting in kegs before any of this happened to me.
 
junior said:
Key word solution, 1 oz ss 4 gal water wise guy!
Click to expand...

Actually, what he was saying is that you don't need to fill a carboy with StarSan to sanitize it. If you put in a quart and slosh it around, it does the same thing but puts a lot less stress on the glass.

I'm still having a hard time picturing how the bottom falls out on a brew hauler.
 
I have 2 6.5 gal and 1 5 gal glass carboys, plus a pair of 6 gal BBs.
Knock on wood, I haven't broken any of the full size, but I did drop and break a 1-gallon jug I was using to propagate wild yeast (damn that smelled good all over the basement floor...)
Part of the reasons is that I don't do primary fermentations in the carboys - I've done it once or twice but it's too much of a pain to clean out (I may look into the wide-mouth ones and change that)
When I do move the glass ones, it's always in milk crates, I wear long pants and shoes, and if I have to handle them alone, I use my leather-palmed work gloves - they give a good grip even on a wet carboy.
I do have a healthy respect / fear of the big glass ones, from such pictures as these, but the benefits do outweigh the risks with secondarys.
 
bleme said:
Actually, what he was saying is that you don't need to fill a carboy with StarSan to sanitize it. If you put in a quart and slosh it around, it does the same thing but puts a lot less stress on the glass.

I'm still having a hard time picturing how the bottom falls out on a brew hauler.
Click to expand...

If I am making a 4gallon batch of stan star why not make it in carboy and sanitize carboy,then dump in bucket to use for other equipment for brew day, then I will have left over san star in bucket to use for another batch and bottling, and yes the bottom of carboy cracked,broke,shattered,fell out will carrying it in hauler.
 
junior said:
If I am making a 4gallon batch of stan star why not make it in carboy and sanitize carboy,then dump in bucket to use for other equipment for brew day, then I will have left over san star in bucket to use for another batch and bottling, and yes the bottom of carboy cracked,broke,shattered,fell out will carrying it in hauler.
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Because you're now having to man handle that 4 gallons to dump it out of that wet, slick, glass container. Unless of course you siphon it out.

I would guess that carboy got bumped/damaged prior to the bottom dropping out.
 
I've seen a lot of posts on the spontaneous combustion of carboys in this thread. Anyone had experience or suggestions for how to inspect them? As impact full as these horror stories are, I think something that would help folks identify when to retire a carboy would be just as helpful.

While I'm not going to stop using glass in the near future, I'm sure as hell going to change how I handle the carboys. I just bought another set of heavy duty milk crates off amazon. I'm also going to make sure anything my wife helps me with is in plastic. I never want one of these to break on her when I'm not home.
 
choosybeggar said:
So I'm looking around for mik crates to more safely handle carboys. I found this on Amazon. No sure if it's sturdy enough to carry a carboy, though. Can anyone link to a product they purchased and are happy with?
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The farmplast ones on amazon are pretty heavy duty and meant for things like carrying carboys. They're not cheap, but if you're going the milk crate route, avoid the steralite and other "home organization" brands.
 
brewguyver said:
The farmplast ones on amazon are pretty heavy duty and meant for things like carrying carboys. They're not cheap, but if you're going the milk crate route, avoid the steralite and other "home organization" brands.
Click to expand...

If you're spending the money on a glass carboy and milk crate plus shipping, you should look into finding a keg off Craig's list. It would probably be cheaper, and fermenting in stainless kegs is so much better.

I sold off all 12 glass carboys that I had. Now for 5gal batches, I primary in 1/4 kegs, and I age in 1/6 or corny. For 10 gal, I either split the batch or primary in a 30L keg. It's one of the best choices I made. And I felt that way before I saw this post. Even with danger aside, once the novelty of seeing the beer ferment is over, I see zero benefit of fermenting in glass, or plastic, over stainless.

Doing forced transfers in a sealed system is amazing, but even a simple orange cap and blow off tube works.
 
I have one glass carboy that I have been using as a secondary, and I just retired it. Last time I cleaned it I found a ring of little cracks all around the bottom. Scary stuff. The replacement is a 20L Spiedel. That's a nice piece of plastic.
 
I have several glass carboys I never use, but I wouldn't sell them to anyone. When the time comes to clear up that space I'll toss them in the garbage. I wouldn't want to see another post in this thread that came from a glass jar I once owned. I ferment in buckets, but I have a few Better Bottles and lend them out to new brewers so they get to see the fermentation happen.
 
I stepped on a piece of carboy glass this year and it sucked but I still love my glass carboys and carboy handles. I question plastic. I know that there are different grades and what not but I like that I can see that the glass is clean and I don't have to worry that it leaches anything or something like that. When I have broken them it was always my fault. I clinked two together... it happens.. and I had one slip out of my hands... so I got carboy handles for all of them. These injuries seem like worst case scenarios. Brewing is dangerous though for sure. Heat, sharp objects, boiling liquid, wet floors, propane gas, hoses, pressurized bottles. Safety glasses seem appropriate and getting your hand underneath the carboy when you hold the carboy handle could help. I hope that no one else gets slashed or punctured including me. I'm in the glass group.

This is what concerns me more than getting cut.

http://www.npr.org/2011/03/02/134196209/study-most-plastics-leach-hormone-like-chemicals
 
virginiawolf said:
I stepped on a piece of carboy glass this year and it sucked but I still love my glass carboys and carboy handles. I question plastic. I know that there are different grades and what not but I like that I can see that the glass is clean and I don't have to worry that it leaches anything or something like that. When I have broken them it was always my fault. I clinked two together... it happens.. and I had one slip out of my hands... so I got carboy handles for all of them. These injuries seem like worst case scenarios. Brewing is dangerous though for sure. Heat, sharp objects, boiling liquid, wet floors, propane gas, hoses, pressurized bottles. Safety glasses seem appropriate and getting your hand underneath the carboy when you hold the carboy handle could help. I hope that no one else gets slashed or punctured including me. I'm in the glass group.

This is what concerns me more than getting cut.

http://www.npr.org/2011/03/02/134196209/study-most-plastics-leach-hormone-like-chemicals
Click to expand...

Hey we should all question anything we consume out of, but remember almost every food product we buy in the store is packaged in plastic... take a look at plastic can linings for food and beer, milk, bread, meat, juice, yogurt, etc and etc....heck even the food shipments to restaurants are in food grade buckets. Next time you go food shopping take a look at what's in your cart and see how much of it is packaged in plastic.Really if you think about how much food that we buy touches plastic, do you really think your home brew in a glass carboy is gonna make the difference for you health wise?
 
Vigo_Carpathian said:
Thought I'd share these. I was washing a glass carboy at the sink when it shattered and broke on me. It got me right across the wrist and cut the artery, nerves and tendons. Paramedics had to put a tournequet on my arm to stop me from bleeding out because the cut was so deep. After three years of recovery, I still cant feel most of my hand and three of my fingers because of the nerve damage. Glass sucks. Don't play with glass.
Click to expand...

This scares the **** out of me. I brew a batch a week, sometimes more, and use 6 gal glass carboys. I am always very careful with them so i don't think there are any spider cracks that will lead to breaks but who knows?

I usually grip the Carboy from the bottom with my left hand and the neck with my right hand. I walk it into my basement and lift it onto a shelf about chest height.

I like using the glass carboys because I can observe the fermentation better. My question would be how do i handle them safely so i don't get injured? Should I buy some of those handles that fix to the carboys neck? That way if it does break while i carry it, at least it will be away from my body. I guess i won't be placing my carboys on that shelf anymore.
 
Those neck handles should be taken off the store shelves. Picking up a full carboy with one of those is just a disaster waiting to happen and will probably happen faster than just using your hands to pick it up.
 
grem135 said:
Those neck handles should be taken off the store shelves. Picking up a full carboy with one of those is just a disaster waiting to happen and will probably happen faster than just using your hands to pick it up.
Click to expand...

I love them. They really help with rinsing/dumping. Never pick one up by it though.
 
i think a homebrewtalker's version of hell would be delivering water like they did in the 1940s
 
BeerGrylls said:
Has anyone considered duct-taping the bejesus out of these things, so god forbid, they do shatter, that it might be contained?
Click to expand...

That is actually really f'in smart. You would not have to even use an S ton of tape. I am thinking 3 long strips each laid neck to bottom to neck. So you have 3 bands each separated by 60 degrees. Of a circle.

Of i can't find milk crates I'm going the duct tape route.
 
I have and use 3, 5 and 6 gallon Better Bottles/Bubblers, but I still use milk crates. I found some nice heavy duty ones from the container store. I'm not worried about breakage, but the milk crates are nice to prevent warping and flexing of the plastic as it's picked up. It also makes it easier to pick up a full fermentor from the ground.

All that said, I still have a lot of glass around. Tons of beer bottles and growlers, as well as 1 gallon jugs for small batches. One time I had a jug slip from my hands as I was cleaning it. It landed on concrete, but somehow didn't break. I had one of those split moment images of blood and gore going through my head as it was falling to the ground. I'm thankful nothing happened, but its really scary how fast things can get away from you. One moment you have complete confidence and control, and a split second later, frayed nerves and chaos.
 
i've thought about spraying my carboys, or at least the bottom, with truck bed liner.
 
iaefebs said:
Any talk of using milk crates seems to ignore the number of times that glass is broken while cleaning. Starting with the first picture in this thread.
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I'm constantly amazed by the number of people who feel that they shouldn't have to take responsibilities for their own actions.

Regardless of the circumstances, if you break a carboy, it's because you were careless. Period. Carboys don't break themselves. They break because of something the handler did while not paying attention to his surroundings and what was happening.
 
bja said:
Regardless of the circumstances, if you break a carboy, it's because you were careless. Period.
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I agree that they won't break all by themselves, but I believe unseen past damage can lead to eventual catastrophic failure during otherwise safe use. How many people got carboys used, or were careless and bumped it but it appeared undamaged at the time? Anyone's SWMBO, kid, roommate ever kick one when under a table or push it back on the shelf until two clink together?

Switching to a vessel that will hold up to the abuse of an average homebrewer in an environment with limited controls, is as responsible a choice as taking extra special care when owning glass. As is milk crates, brew haulers, etc.
 
PaintedRat said:
I agree that they won't break all by themselves, but I believe unseen past damage can lead to eventual catastrophic failure during otherwise safe use. How many people got carboys used, or were careless and bumped it but it appeared undamaged at the time?
Click to expand...

What is "unseen past damage"? If glass is damaged, you can see it.

Anyone's SWMBO, kid, roommate ever kick one when under a table or push it back on the shelf until two clink together?
Click to expand...

A perfect example of being careless. Put them somewhere that no one can get to them. You're blaming an inanimate object for your carelessness.

Switching to a vessel that will hold up to the abuse of an average homebrewer in an environment with limited controls, is as responsible a choice as taking extra special care when owning glass.
Click to expand...

If you're not comfortable using glass, then by all means, don't use it. But DO NOT try to tell me I'm not being responsible because I prefer and choose to use glass carboys.
 
bja said:
You're right. I misread that part of his reply the first time.
Click to expand...

No one needs to act defensively in this thread. I created this thread as a means to remind everyone about the potential danger of the glass carboys, and not with the intention of eliminating them.

It's easy to say "der, everyone knows glass can break". I say not everyone - consider the pics.

Many brewers drink while brewing -> drinking causes carelessness -> carelessness causes broken carboys -> broken carboys can cause injury. IMO, if you can't brew sober, you shouldn't use glass carboys. That would be MY message if I were going to state one, but I won't :)
 
Here's a link to a post where someone used PlastiDip and tested a carboy half-full of water with a hammer. Long story short, they had to really TRY to break the carboy and even when they did, it mostly stayed together, even though it wouldn't hold water any more. No large jagged pieces to cut the crap out of you like in the pictures at the beginning of this thread.
 
passedpawn said:
IMO, if you can't brew sober, you shouldn't use glass carboys. That would be MY message if I were going to state one, but I won't :)
Click to expand...

I am usually drinking when brewing. I use glass carboys. Love them. Scared of them now after seeing your thread. I never considered them breaking on me.

I will still brew while drinking and handle the glass.

The amazing thing about homebrew is the quantity of beer at ones disposal. Drinking at least 4 of these a day will help one not be drunk while brewing and drinking at the same time.

All humor aside I'm glad I saw the pics. I'll be more careful and aquire equipment to help me handle the glass more safely. I love my glass.
 
bja said:
What is "unseen past damage"? If glass is damaged, you can see it.
Click to expand...

By unseen past damage, I mean small chips, scratches, tiny cracks that are missed by casual inspection, or underestimated by a reasonable person.

bja said:
A perfect example of being careless. Put them somewhere that no one can get to them. You're blaming an inanimate object for your carelessness.
Click to expand...

We don't all live in a locked bubble. Putting carboys somewhere no one can get to them is unrealistic for anyone who lives with other adults. When I damage something, or make it LIKELY to occur, it's carelessness on my part and my fault. When others do it it's not carelessness on my part.
 

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