Who here is happy with glass carboys?

[Schlenkerla]

I believe I am the original poster that recommended milk crates to the board.

I place an empty carboy in a crate before filling, etc. When I want/need to empty it I place it on the counter and use my autosyphon until it's light enough to lift and pour sideways...but it never leaves the crate until it's empty.

I have two 5gal glass, one 5 gal BB plus four 3gal PETS. I have two 7.9gal buckets that work as primaries. The carboys are for AW or a 2ndary.

I use HB_99's idea of milkcrates for the glass. I rarely handle a glass carboy without the crate. Its usually when cleaning. Whenever I handle the carboy I make sure to dry them and my hands. I also try to avoid using one-step with any glass. It leaves them too slippery. I'm also sober when I handle the glass as well.

I stopped getting really buzzed during brewing. Its too easy for screw-ups or accidents.

 

[Bobby_M]

When you're getting into the hobby for the first time, you have the opportunity to make first purchase choices. It really comes down to cost vs. utility. Given that Mexico stopped production, glass is the most expensive option aside from stainless. It can last forever if you don't drop it. You probably won't scratch it when cleaning. Buckets are on the other side of the spectrum being extremely cheap and most prone to scratching when cleaning if you're not careful. At that price though, you could replace it 3 times for the same cost of a glass carboy. Better bottles are right in the middle in both cost and likelihood of scratching. Unlike buckets, you can see through them and they are a lot lighter than glass.

Don't take the danger of dropping a full carboy onto your basement floor lightly. Frankly, if you carry one with your hands on the glass itself, you're a fool. A brewhauler or crate is mandatory. The argument that we do dangerous things all the time is still invalid. If you're a woodworker, a power saw is a calculated risk due to the less productive alternative. You have to ask yourself if the benefit of glass is worth the risk given the only slight advantage in utility.

I have a few glass carboys that I got for next to nothing and I only use them for ciders and meads since I can do so without moving them or carrying up and down the stairs. I have seen so many close calls that scare the hell out of me. I was walking behind someone carrying a full 6 gallon up concrete stairs when he tripped and slammed the glass into the step about 4" away from his face. The glass chipped but it didn't fail explosively like they sometimes do.

 

[Cape Brewing]

I use 3 sankes and 6 glass carboys for fermenting and I carry 'em all full all of the time.

If I end up with stitches some day, I'll end up with stitches.

 

[rsmith179]

Just wanted to add in my experience with both glass and PET bottles. I have both and actually prefer my glass carboys. Why? I just think that they're easier to move around and seem more sturdy than the PET bottles. When I move my Better Bottle, I have trouble with the bottle being pushed in slightly causing a suction in the airlock. With glass bottles, I've never found that to be an issue.

Yes, you do need to be more careful with the glass carboys, but that's just common sense. Although I have not experienced this, I have also heard that the PET bottles are somewhat weak on the bottom. I occasionally try to rouse up my yeast by swirling the batch in the carboy. This can create a crack on the PET bottle's bottom in you rock it from side to side with a full batch in there. Don't really need to worry about that with the glass carboys.

 

[Boondoggie]

I've got a new 6.5gallon glass primary with it's first batch in it right now...

But my two 5gallon glass secondaries are over 25 years old, Got them from my father's old winemaking stash.

 

[yeasty]

But my two 5gallon glass secondaries are over 25 years old, Got them from my father's old winemaking stash.

the old ones are a lot thicker.

 

[HellenicHomeBrewer]

4 glass carboys and counting. I can't see the advantage of BB until I'm 80 and can't lift them. Even then I'll get my grandson to do it!

 

[Cape Brewing]

I think the bottom line (which I've seen on a bunch of other plastic vs glass threads) is that if you're using glass, you have to be careful since... shockingly... glass CAN break and it CAN cut you. Glass is more expensive but some people don't mind the extra money because it is "more sturdy", it is less prone to infection over long periods of time due to scratching and there is zero oxidation possibility while plastic MAY contribute some over long periods of time.

It is a simply matter of personal preference.

I don't buy all of the doom and gloom about glass exploding and impaling you with massive shards that will slice you in two. YES, I've personally seen glass carboy cuts... a guy in my club ended up with something like 15 stitches when he dropped one... but the way I look at it... How many chefs have sliced a finger pretty good on a nice sharp cooking knife?? probably a bazillion.... does that mean chefs shouldn't use sharp knives any more??

IF you like plastic.. use plastic... if you like glass... use glass and jsut be carefull with it. Like I posted above... I have three sankes and six glass carboys. I carry 'em full all of the time, using nothing more than the orange carboy handles and I carry them up and down stairs. Am I an idiot?? Probably. But i've been doing it for a few years now and I've never had a problem and I'm not going to stop because one might explode severing my head clean from my body.

 

[conpewter]

Back when I brewed outside on the back porch I changed how I was doing things to avoid carrying a carboy down the stairs. I would have done the same for buckets or better bottles though, less carrying is better for the back (I only got one, gotta live with it forever). I would gravity drain down into the basement, this helped the CFC performance as well. Now that I brew in the basement I put it on a rolling cart to move the full carboy to the fermentation freezer. I do have to lift it in to the freezer still, but I have brewhaulers on them for that.

 

[Munsoned]

I have:

1 glass carboy (6.5 gal)
3 better bottles (6 gal)
1 plastic bucket (7 gal)

I use all of them but for different applications. The glass carboy is used for longer term fermenting/secondarying or with high gravity brews. The better bottles are my "normal use" fermenters. The bucket gets used for ciders only (very little clean up required which reduces the risk of scratching, keeps the apple smell/taste to one fermenter).

In sum, I've "hedged" my bets, cost/benefits, what have you...

 

[Arkador]

<- still using my first glass carboy 30something batches later.

 

[BADS197]

I have 3 and all have served me well.

I'm gentle with them as with all glass products and no chips/cracks etc..

Glass I'd imagine would clean up better than plastic in the long term as plastic tends to stain/haze over. I could be wrong but glass works for me.

 

[springer]

I have one that came with my first kit. I still use it but very rarely do I move it except to clean it

 

[MNBugeater]

I use both Better Bottles and Glass Carboys, although i will not buy another glass carboy. If I buy a small fermentor again it will be better bottles, but my next purchase will be stainless steel 10+ gallon fermentors.

The one argument I hear alot of that I just don't get is that "Glass are easier to clean". That one escapes me. If by easier they mean they can scrub them, then to me that is Harder!

Here is my cleaning technique for Better Bottles
1. Fill Partly with water, slosh, dump out yeast/trub
2. Put in 3 scoops of Oxyclean
3. Fill to overflow with water
4. Walk Away, Drink Beer
5. Return in 24 hours, Empty, Rinse, put away

Oh..and its the same for glass, stainless, etc.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

I use all glass or buckets. Don't even own a better bottle.

 

[osagedr]

I've got around ten glass carboys and so far no problems *knock on wood*. I use a Mityvac to degas my wine; apparently I could not do this if I used better bottles. To be honest, if I was just starting out and only making beer, I probably would go with better bottles--to me having something lighter, cheaper and safer makes a lot of sense. Having said that, I won't be getting rid of my glass carboys anytime soon.

 

[ifishsum]

A friend of mine gave me two older glass carboys when she found out I started brewing (she used to brew). I love using them for secondaries, but I don't ever have to move them far or up/down stairs. They are always in a milk crate when full, I would never try moving them otherwise (except when they're empty). As someone who used to be accident prone (2+ trips a year to the ER for stitches) I've slowed down a lot and pay a lot more attention to potentially risky situations - not because I'm afraid of stitches, but ERs have turned into community health clinics and I don't like waiting 5 hours to be seen. :cross:

 

[Roman Brewer]

So you have some extra work to do to clean a carboy, . You go thru all the trouble of brewing the beer, the hours of mashing, sparging, boiling, sanitizing, bottling, waiting....

Does the extra work really make it that intolerable? I think not. The benefits of sturdy, durable glass outweigh the extra attention they need to keep them clean, IMO . Scrub 'em during the mash!! No added time to your brew day if you can multi-task a bit.

I've not dropped a carboy yet, but I don't handle them with wet hands either. Dry hands, and some muscle should be enough to keep you from dropping a carboy.

Over the long haul, when properly used and maintained, glass will pay you back in kind.

Cheers.

Roman

 

[Bobby_M]

but the way I look at it... How many chefs have sliced a finger pretty good on a nice sharp cooking knife?? probably a bazillion.... does that mean chefs shouldn't use sharp knives any more??

Again, chefs use dangerous sharp knives because there is no viable safer alternative. I agree completely with the personal preference thing.

 

[brrman]

I have 3 glass primarys, 2 glass secondaries...

I love that they come clean so easily. I am very careful with them and I realize there is a risk, but I try to only ferment in glass and stainless.

Ditto on all this. Love my glass - just gotta be careful is all.

 

[MeatyPortion]

I have a 5 gal and two 6 1/2 gal carboys. No problems yet.

 

[noble13]

I started with a glass carboy 20+ years ago to make wine. I used it for my first brew primary when I started making beer. I still use that carboy as a brite tank for beer (I usually ferment in plastic) and for making wine. I recently bought two 3 gallon carboys and have largely dedicated them to making apfelwein. I think the glass is cool and I accept that some caution is needed when hanlding them.

 

[jmiracle]

I carry 'em full all of the time, using nothing more than the orange carboy handles and I carry them up and down stairs. Am I an idiot?? Probably. But i've been doing it for a few years now and I've never had a problem and I'm not going to stop because one might explode severing my head clean from my body.

I know you said you're not going to stop, but those handles (if you mean the kind that go around the neck) are specifically meant for assisting the transport of EMPTY carboys, so it might be worse than if you were just bear-hugging the thing with dry hands.

 

[Cape Brewing]

I like to live on the edge... I'm a renegade.. a maverick!

Nah, I appreciate it... I know you're just trying to save me from bleeding a lot and I do appreciate it. I don't see me learning my lesson until it actually happens though. I've been carrying them for years that way and I've never had a problem.

 

[McKBrew]

So what everyone is saying over and over again.....

It's a matter of preference.

Some people have glass carboys for years and never break one.

Some people break them and go to the ER.

No one has ever been injured by a Better Bottle or Bucket.

In the end, it's all a matter of preference.

 

[davesrose]

Well I have 3 glass carboys for primaries and secondaries. I recently got a better bottle, so we'll see what I think of that. For now, I'm a glass carboy person. Like seeing the ferment and rinse right after siphoning means easy cleanup.

 

[springer]

No one has ever been injured by a Better Bottle or Bucket.

In the end, it's all a matter of preference.

Ummm not quite true ....



Just say to SWMBO that she missed a spot while she is carrying the mop and bucket

 

[drayman86]

Have brewed for over two years, using nothing but 6.5 gallon glass carboys.

Wouldn't consider using anything else.

Plastic = porous = ideal bacterial growth media.

Check out a Brew Hauler to move full carboys.

 

[WorryWort]

I use glass mostly, and I don't secondary. Never broken one. They are super easy to clean with Oxiclean.

Plastic buckets are good for dry hopping with leaves. It's much easier to pop the lid and toss them in. Or to put a bag in there.

my 2 cents.

 

[Moose777]

I appreciate all of your replies everyone. I use my bedroom as my fermentation room as it is kept coolest do to crappy apartment insulation. The bedroom is also considered the "nursery" so the last thing I need is glass shards flying into my daughters crib. I am just concerned about unexplained explosions.
__________________

I assume you take necessary precaution on venting all the C02 from fermentation? I can't believe you ferment in the baby nursery next to a crib..that just seems wrong man.

 

[WilliamstonBrew]

... I have seen the Pyrex ones, way too expensive.

I'm a relatively new brewer (1.5 months, 3 batches) and have been browsing the forums... I just came across this and jumped for joy! I had no idea about the Pyrex carboys. I looked online and saw a 5 gallon one listing for $150.

Here's the story... I got into homebrewing when my brother-in-law gave me all his equipment. He had never used it. He got it from a friend who moved out of the country and couldn't take it with him. That guy had used it a few times. He worked in a chemistry lab... you see where this is going...

In the bundle came three carboys: a standard 5 gallon, a 6 gallon, and a 5 gallon Pyrex no. 1595 solution bottle. I never thought to research it.

I've not used it yet since it has a huge bung hole (snicker) #12. I ordered a couple of stoppers and they just arrived in the mail today. I plan on using it for Apfelwein.

Here's a pic... You can see my new drilled stopper on top and the labels the previous owner had on it.

 

[Brewpastor]

Carboys are great. I have 3 7 gallon carboys, a couple 5 gallon jobs and one 3 gallon carboy. They are heavy, and yes they will break, but they certainly can carry out a great fermentation.

 

[Hammy71]

I have 4 and have never had a problem....(knock on wood....). Like most things...you take care of them....they'll take care of you....

 

[gxm]

Plastic = porous = ideal bacterial growth media.

Right. And metals are hard. Well, except for those that aren't, such as lead, mercury, indium, gallium...
I know everyone has their own preferences, but as a former material scientist, this sort of statement just annoys me. There are many thousands of different types of plastic, just as there are many thousands of different types of metals. Some plastics, such as the PET used in Better Bottles, aren't porous to the size molecules we deal with in brewing. </rant>

If you like glass, great, use glass. Just don't make stuff up.

 

[Bobby_M]

All is fair in the this vs that debate. I'll close my contribution to the thread with this link: Broken Carboys - Lustreking Brewing

 

[Schlenkerla]

All is fair in the this vs that debate. I'll close my contribution to the thread with this link: Broken Carboys - Lustreking Brewing

I stopped looking at this thread because it was more and more of the same.

Bobby M - The thought of sliced up tendons makes me want to cringe.

I hadn't heard that it got that bad....

 

[Tonedef131]

I can't believe that people are actually suprised when their glass carboys break. These are glass people, if you drop them of smack them into something yes they will break. I have never broken one because I am extremely careful when handling them and personally I think they are rad. You can see everything, you can be 100% sure they are clean and they have no oxygen permeability...these are more important to me than the downsides that glass has.

 

[Jumbo82]

I have about a dozen glass carboys. Other then my Fermenator, they are all I use. I'll never switch to BBs, my set up is ideal for glass. The advantages far outweigh the negatives, IMHO. I've lost a few over the years due to accidents, but none lately. One died from my neighbors dog knocking it over in the barn, one my dad dropped while cleaning, and one I killed by pouring hot cleaner into a cold carboy. Lessons were learned, they shouldn't happen again. Cost of doing business as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Tim27]

I don't exactly know what I did, but I have two 6 gallon carboys with almost identical hairline cracks. As far as how this thread was going and who was happy I am one who is not happy with my carboys. I never put hot wort in either of them. I always had a gallon of water in them to dissipate what ever heat shock there may have been. Could it be that I carry them by hand? I always was careful with the necks. Somehow the bottoms cracked. Maybe it was letting them sit in a tiny apartment sink overnight with a full 6 gallons of water and Oxyclean? Was the concave design of the sink enough to stress the glass exactly wrong? All I can say is I am pissed. I just don't know what I could have done differently. Maybe the Italian carboys are better constructed. . I just get nervous about the scratching of better bottles. I knew with the glass I would have almost no chance of scratching.
I don't know. Now all I have is my bucket which has a funk I couldn't get out after my first batch. Which is why I wanted glass in the first place.

 

[Tim27]

Being unemployed I can't afford to brew now let alone buy new fermenters. Now i find out my fermentation bucket is made from No.7 plastic, which is supposedly not safe because of a certain chemical that leeches into the contents of the container. No brewing for a long time for me now.