wide mouth carboys?

[karboy]

I have searched the forums and cannot find any source or discussion for wide mouthed glass carboys that you can get your hand/arm into to do cleaning. Does such a thing exist? Seems like that would eliminate a bunch of cleaning issues. Does anyone know if this type of carboy exists?:

 

[Brewchitect]

Ive seen people use stainless 5 gal ball/pin lock kegs with some type of pressure relief valve system on them as fermentors. closed system fermentation i think its called. most people can get their arm all the way in those, but not everyone. plus with those light isnt an issue.

 

[kpr121]

Yeah they’re called buckets.

Just kidding. I haven’t ever seen such a thing. I think that one of the major reasons why carboys are used is because the small neck limits the amount of air/oxygen exposure to the beer/wine/mead/cider you are making.

If you start increasing the width of the mouth of the carboy, you are losing that advantage and might as well go to a bucket.

That is why I usually only use carboys as secondaries and for long term aging of wines/meads/ciders and stick to buckets for primary fermenting of beer. That way there is very little to no crud for me to clean, usually only needs a good rinse and sanitize.

But carboys are easily cleaned with a nice overnight soak of a strong oxyclean or PBW solution in hot water. Any remaining crud can be easily removed with a carboy brush.

 

[NCGrayson]

/\ this. i usually don't even need an over night soak. I always just let the carboy sit in the sun with water and a moderately strong PBW dose for a couple of hours. everything inside practically falls off at the sight of a carboy brush

 

[mpcluever]

Wide mouthed carboys are out there. A quick google seaerch and this is the cheapest I found at $265.70 for a 5 gallon carboy...

http://www.amazonsupply.com/corning-borosilicate-cylindrical-solution-graduated/dp/B004DGICKM?ref_=goo_pf_B004DGICKM

 

[karboy]

Thank you for the ideas and info

 

[passedpawn]

There are very large pickle jars that might work for you.

And, I made this 2.5g fermenter from a jar I found at Target. ~$20. Build instructions here.

 

[Revvy]

Nalgene makes them for research work, and they are extremely expensive.

A few years ago one of our then active members who opened a brewshop was floating the idea of making some cheaper versions, he even test floated a couple, but last I heard couldn't find a plastics company to make them cheaply enough...I can't remember who it was who was doing it...but there was a huge thread.

 

[Revvy]

Here's the nalgene ones...$98.00 for the 5 gallon.

US Plastics Nalgene Carboys

The clear 5.5 gallon is $198.00

 

[JRems]

They sell 5-10gal ones just like those above for fuel containers. I think jegs or summit Racing sells them. They also have blue ones marked water. I would think they would be food grade if they are for potable water.

 

[Golddiggie]

This is the biggest Ball jar I've been able to locate... It's only 2-1/2 gallons, but you could make something in it. Maybe a 2 gallon batch (mead, wine, etc.)...

 

[amandabab]

wide mouth 10 liter demi johns have a 4-5 " diameter neck

 

[Golddiggie]

Just over 5 gallons (20L)... After reviewing the comments on it, might not be a good choice for brewing.

 

[karboy]

Thank you everyone for your ideas. The Nalgene ones look good but I prefer glass. Those demi john containers look promising if I can find them in the USA. They seem to be common in Europe. The 2.5 gallon jar from Target looked very creative. I may need to do that. Thanks again. Karboy

 

[sr20steve]

I just don't see what the big deal in using plain old plastic bucket fermenters...I only have one 5 gallon glass carbon and that always is the last to get used if all my buckets are tied up. I use 30L brewcraft fermenters and the extra head space is nice for violent fermentation. Plus you have a valve that you can take gravity readings from. If you scratch one it's only like $15 to replace (not that I'm even convinced that it even matters). And my beer turns out absolutely amazing.

 

[you_can_brew_it]

Karboy:

I figure such a jug isn't manufactured anymore, because there's no practical use for it. Glass isn't used in transport anymore because it's fragile & heavy (think: plastic soda bottles). Straight up glass isn't used in the scientific community also because it's fragile, doesn't handle heat well, and because it can be reactive (though you might not think so). Also, transparence often isn't necessary. I got one of those pyrex jugs second hand; the opening is only about 2.25 inches. I was able to find a perforated stopper for it, though.

HOWEVER, I've been lucky enough to come across 2 of the jugs you're looking for at a country auction (...each one a 'few' months apart. I'm patient...): one 5 gal, one 3 gal. I made 'stoppers' out of collapsible measuring pitchers from a kitchen store that I carefully freed from the frame and then used a leather punch of the right size to make a hole for the bubbler. The most probable uses of these back in the day would have been as pickle jars. A pic of the 5 gal:
http://coldsun.com/shared/wide_mouth_carboy.jpg

If you go to eBay, search for a 'wide mouth carboy', or something of the sort, and there's no suitable match, you might want to choose the "save search" option, so that if anything is listed that matches what you're looking for, you'll be emailed about it. Never tried it though - you might get a lot of emails.

I've got 5 gal carboys, each a bit different, and 2, 2.5, and 3 gal carboys, each a bit different. Making fruit & vegetable wines is a little 'dirtier' than beer, so I never really know how much liquid I'm going to end up with sometimes. I'm on a never-ending mission to decrease head space.

Good luck bro

 

[you_can_brew_it]

a shot of the 3 gal being used w/ 'stopper'
http://coldsun.com/shared/wide_mouth_carboy_2.jpg

 

[OneFeather]

Link

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/big-mouth-bubbler-6-5-gallon.html

 

[63belair]

thread from the dead!

 

[Melana]

Yeah they’re called buckets.

That's funny.

 

[Pappers_]

Link

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/big-mouth-bubbler-6-5-gallon.html

I saw that, too, in a NB emailer and thought it was interesting.

 

[fuzzy2133]

Things seem to always come full circle

 

[dyqik]

Speidel 20L and 30L fermenters are the other option (in plastic).

 

[passedpawn]

This Big Mouth Bubbler is actively being discussed over here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/wide-mouth-glass-fermentor-443946/

 

[gocards13]

I saw this post when I was looking for brew tips and figured I'd share a link to where I got mine.

http://www.beveragefactory.com/draftbeer/home-brew/SD-7340J-glass-jar.html

They have 3 sizes. I went with the biggest one so that it would have plenty of room for the krausen on a 5 gallon batch of beer. My friend got the 5.5 gallon one and the krausen would raise up and gunk up his air lock on some brews. I've never had that problem.

It's got a built-in air lock that works pretty good but you can add a stopper and an air lock to the cap if you're not comfortable with it. The straps make it easy to move. They could probably stand to be a little thicker, but I'm careful whenever I need to lift it and I haven't had any problems yet.