Now understand the draw of glass

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Tactical-Brewer

Tactical-Brewer

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Yup, my SWMBO has made plenty of batches of wine in glass carboys, but I've never used one for beer.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1465918212.423668.jpg

All those proteins and gas bubbles shooting around! Had no idea fermentation was so violent lol! Freaking awesome seeing it what it is!

Used some Liberty ale yeast I built up from some bottles for this Irish red for a "what the heck" and man its booming. Had my first blow off too lol.
 
I know, it's mesmerizing, isn't it? It looks like there's a little motor inside the carboy, blowing everything around, but it's entirely biological! Nobody I've ever shown this to in person has found it as fascinating as I have. :) They all just go, "Huh, yep, would you look at that. So which keg is the IPA again...?"
 
I presume you're talking about dropping them and shattering them?

I ain't skeered. But of course I'll use common sense and safe practices handling them. That would suck though.

It is cool as all get out! I've never had one bubble this much! I've got the blow off tube in a big beer mug and its just chugging along. I guess that liberty Ale yeast is a beast lol.

It's wild to think about. Kind of taming nature on a small scale, guiding it to do what we want.

Oh and is it bad I can't keep my nose out of the beer glass smelling it as it chugs along lol
 
Tactical-Brewer said:
I presume you're talking about dropping them and shattering them?

I ain't skeered. But of course I'll use common sense and safe practices handling them. That would suck though.

It is cool as all get out! I've never had one bubble this much! I've got the blow off tube in a big beer mug and its just chugging along. I guess that liberty Ale yeast is a beast lol.

It's wild to think about. Kind of taming nature on a small scale, guiding it to do what we want.

Oh and is it bad I can't keep my nose out of the beer glass smelling it as it chugs along lol
Click to expand...

There is a thread on this site somewhere of people who weren't skeered !!!!

Many graphic pictures of stitches, torn tendons, severed nerves, and reportedly a DEATH from shattering carboys.

Take the danger seriously!!!

I am not saying do not use them, just don't be flippant!
 
kh54s10 said:
There is a thread on this site somewhere of people who weren't skeered !!!!

Many graphic pictures of stitches, torn tendons, severed nerves, and reportedly a DEATH from shattering carboys.

Take the danger seriously!!!

I am not saying do not use them, just don't be flippant!
Click to expand...

Broken Glass Carboy Horror Stories Compendium

Haha. I do think people should be careful with them as well. People who are careful can use glass carboys without any issue at all. However, I think if you like to drink while brewing, you should consider plastic (PET) carboys. Or if you're clumsy, like this guy <---.

[edit] kh beat me to it.
 
Lol, oh I get the hazards, no doubt about it.

It's just one of those things you have to be careful of and respect. No different than if you worked with wood and worked with table saws, miter saws, skill saws, etc. Or firearms, or cars.

Accidents definitely happen, that's for sure. I've got enough scars to prove that lol.

Eventually I'll get some of those big mouth bubblers as I can already see this thing is gonna be a pain to clean vs my plastic bucket I usually use.

But no, I'm definitely not underestimating it's ability to totally ruin my day that's for sure :mug:
 
Yep, respect the glass, for sure. I always wear leather work gloves when handling mine, and always transport them with both Brew Hauler straps and a milk crate. I've only ever broken one (knock on wood), but it was while my back was turned (tipped over while filling) and I was uninjured. But I got to see the incredibly diverse size and shape of the shards of glass those suckers can produce. Cleanup was a *****, but imbued me with a healthy respect for the vessels.
 
I love glass, hate plastic. I have, however, started packing my carboys around in milk crates. Just in case.
 
Being insanely careful isn't necessarily going to save you. I used glass carboys for a pretty long time until I was just picking one up the same way I always do and the bottom just broke right off (cut clean around in a perfect circle like a ninja had sliced it off - still have no idea what caused it to happen to this day), dumping 5-6 gallons of fermenting mead into my cool brewing bag.

I've never used glass since then.

Well, technically that's not true. I've used a 3 gallon glass carboy twice since then, but I never bought another 7 gallon glass carboy and I haven't used my 5 gallon glass carboy since then. Other than the rare use of my 3 gallon glass carboy, I only use HDPE and PET fermenters now.
 
Tactical-Brewer said:
I presume you're talking about dropping them and shattering them?

I ain't skeered. But of course I'll use common sense and safe practices handling them. That would suck though.
Click to expand...

Uh, considering that your picture shows no milk crate or other proper carrying device, then I would disagree with the idea that you are using common sense and safe practices.
 
AK7007 said:
Uh, considering that your picture shows no milk crate or other proper carrying device, then I would disagree with the idea that you are using common sense and safe practices.
Click to expand...

No worries. He looked through the horrors thread. It's hard to see those stories and not have some trepidation the next time you lift a glass carboy.
 
I do miss watching that blizzard of activity inside. I could sit there half the day watching it...

:eek:
 
AK7007 said:
Uh, considering that your picture shows no milk crate or other proper carrying device, then I would disagree with the idea that you are using common sense and safe practices.
Click to expand...

Common sense as in not picking it up with wet, slippery hands, etc, etc...
 
I would not pick them up with my bare hands at all. And I *love* my carboys. They're always in either Brew Hauler straps or a milk crate (or both) when being moved. During cleaning, I always wear thick leather work gloves when picking them up to dump out water.

I would say common sense isn't just not picking them up with wet hands, but not picking them up with bare hands at all. Not worth the risk, in my opinion. These things can do serious damage.
 
kombat said:
I would not pick them up with my bare hands at all. And I *love* my carboys. They're always in either Brew Hauler straps or a milk crate (or both) when being moved. During cleaning, I always wear thick leather work gloves when picking them up to dump out water.

I would say common sense isn't just not picking them up with wet hands, but not picking them up with bare hands at all. Not worth the risk, in my opinion. These things can do serious damage.
Click to expand...


I'll definitely be wearing some leather gloves from here on out for sure.
 
I was going to go all glass when I started, but then was swayed by the negatives. Got a plastic Better Bottle, a Fermonster, and a Spiedel. The wide openings are really nice for cleaning, there is no danger of broken glass, plus you can have spigots.
 
I used glass for a long time without issue but then one day Midwest sent me an email with a deal on 4 big mouth bubblers and I bit. Never going back.

I've had no weird flavors, cleaning is so easy, and I can still watch the magic happening. Plus dry hopping is much easier now.
 
IMO, the Mexican carboys from yesteryear are superior to current production Italian. The only thing better is US made glass like O-I.
 
I hate glass and hate is a strong word. Get a better bottle and watch it though the plastic. My dog just cut a pad on some glass, I HATE IT! And I think a lot of people shove their hand and arm through the broken carboy as it breaks, and that's what cuts them up.
 
Tactical-Brewer said:
Yup, my SWMBO has made plenty of batches of wine in glass carboys, but I've never used one for beer.

View attachment 358600

All those proteins and gas bubbles shooting around! Had no idea fermentation was so violent lol! Freaking awesome seeing it what it is!

Used some Liberty ale yeast I built up from some bottles for this Irish red for a "what the heck" and man its booming. Had my first blow off too lol.
Click to expand...

After a few hundred batches, you get over it.
 
First time seeing the activity of the blow off tube in a large bucket at a local brewery was amazing. It looked like it was boiling! But yes, I do like watching the active fermentation.
 
mikescooling said:
I hate glass and hate is a strong word. Get a better bottle and watch it though the plastic. My dog just cut a pad on some glass, I HATE IT! And I think a lot of people shove their hand and arm through the broken carboy as it breaks, and that's what cuts them up.
Click to expand...

I not only hate glass, I hate the carboy form factor. I switched from carboys to buckets about 12 years and 300 batches ago and I'd never go back. There is no downside to the buckets.
 
There are plenty of negatives to buckets. Scratch-prone, O2 permeable, unreliable seals, suck-back if you pick up a full one with a blow-off or 3-piece bubbler attached...there's likely more.

But you can work around most of them - or simply ignore them - all in exchange for knowing they can't actually kill you...

Cheers! ;)
 
day_trippr said:
There are plenty of negatives to buckets. Scratch-prone, O2 permeable, unreliable seals, suck-back if you pick up a full one with a blow-off or 3-piece bubbler attached...there's likely more.

But you can work around most of them - or simply ignore them - all in exchange for knowing they can't actually kill you...

Cheers! ;)
Click to expand...

Have you personally encountered any of those problems? I haven't.
 
I've had batches infected by scratched buckets, and I've encountered the "suck back" problem when picking up a bucket. I've also had a bug make its way into a bucket a long time ago. Hasn't happened with carboys.
 

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