Broken Glass Carboy Horror Stories Compendium

I have 2 5 gal plastic carboys available for $25 total, local pick up in VA if anyone is interested (bungs included). I still use one glass carboy, but its sitting in a plastic milk bucket to protect against breakage.

Sheldon

Sheldon said:

I have 2 5 gal plastic carboys available for $25 total, local pick up in VA if anyone is interested (bungs included). I still use one glass carboy, but its sitting in a plastic milk bucket to protect against breakage.

Sheldon

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There is a For Sale forum for these posts.

its posted there, just threw it into the conversation.

This thread scares the crap out of me as I think it's intended to do. I've been pretty lucky with how I handle mine but seeing some of the damage and life long effects these thing can do, I will start treating these things with a little more respect. I make a living using my hands and actually like the way they are now. Thanks for the posting this thread to aware others of the damage these things can do.

Crate... Crates.. and more Crates!! come on everyone. Knives are sharp to.. but you don't go around carrying it by the BLADE end... do ya? Same with glass. Treat it like a sharp edge knife. All my glass is easily carried with milk crates. Cheap and easy. Walmart carries them. I had one that popped its bottom while I was shifting things around. This carboy was only 3 months old. Had it not been inside a crate.. that heavy bottom would have busted a toe.. or cut it clean off. I lost my beer and got my feet & legs wet.

This is giving me a mild anxiety attack lol. I've long known the dangers of glass carboys... but christ!! Might have to sell all my 6 and 12 gallon Pyrex carboys now... i like my figers and toes

TheCanisDirus said:

This is giving me a mild anxiety attack lol. I've long known the dangers of glass carboys... but christ!! Might have to sell all my 6 and 12 gallon Pyrex carboys now... i like my figers and toes

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I'd buy em.

grimzella said:

I'd buy em.

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Oh man i'd sell 'em if i could get stainless in the equivalent sizes for what they cost (few hundred a piece) lol. But seriously... i treat my glass with respect... but will be doing it with even more so after this compilation thread.

TheCanisDirus said:

Oh man i'd sell 'em if i could get stainless in the equivalent sizes for what they cost (few hundred a piece) lol. But seriously... i treat my glass with respect... but will be doing it with even more so after this compilation thread.

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You need to go here... $125 a piece, but to me its worth the cabbage...
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f41/vessel-7-1-gallon-stainless-fermenter-472846/

This is a great thread for raising awareness, thanks to everyone who contributed.

I'm surprised no one has attempted to tally or otherwise list which types of glass carboys were involved in there horror stories. It seems relevant.

Here are a few of my observations.

- The 6.5 gallon ones are high risk due to the inherent stress involved with moving so much weight.

- The Mexican/Chinese made ones are thin and also a bad choice.

- Some of the older/thicker ones are a better bet.

- Not all the ones with ridges are from the same maker. There appears to be a better Italian one and a lesser Mexican made model.

- Using a carrying handle will concentrate stress.

- Always inspect for signs of stress before starting a new session.

Any other conclusions or comments on my observations?

The older Mexican "Crisa" carboys are of excellent quality. Those who are fortunate enough to own Pyrex or Kimax carboys also have little to worry about. Those are made from borosilicate glass and manufactured with a very high level of quality control. Older US-made (O-I and what have you) are also a good bet other than not knowing how many times they have been clanked against other hard objects.

yikes one more reason why I use HDPE buckets and Better Bottles.

I bought my original brew kit from a guy on Craig's list, it came with one glass carboy and one bucket.

I used the glass carboy one time, after racking off my finished beer, the whole glass carboy went into the recycle bin, beer trub and all.

I said to myself never again, this is way to dangerous. One slip up and I am in the hospital.

I used buckets ever since, and since I was using plastic already, I never saw a reason to use a Better Bottle.

Bunch of interesting stories here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/bottom-broke-out-carboy-467562/

27MAR14 - Several days ago I racked my saison into my Northern Brewer 5gal secondary glass carboy for fruit addition. About 5 hours later I heard a loud crack, and then the following morning I noticed a puddle around the carboy. There was a crack about halfway around the bottom of the carboy that was leaking.

17JUN14 (same guy) - Well... three months later the bottom just broke out of my 6.5 gal Northern Brewer carboy while 2.5 days into fermenting my IIPA. It was sitting all by itself, hadn't been touched for 2.5 days. Luckily it was in the garage and not inside on carpet. This batch cost be around $75... These carboys a ^&%*ing garbage!

The bottom of my 6.5 gal carboy broke out a few months ago. Had it filled with some water and oxi-clean and was having dinner with my son when about 45 minutes later heard a load crack from the kitchen.

I broke my first carboy the first time I started brewing, a little over 18 months ago.

....was transporting it by the handle, had bad allergies, and suffered a violent sneeze, which allowed the bottom to bump the basement floor, which broke it

Only broke 1 glass carboy when I was in a rush and it slipped out of my hands as I putting it in the carboy drying stand.

The bottom of my carboy broke out today as well... I was cleaning it when a small piece broke off from the side. I was carrying it to the trashcan and the entire bottom just sheared off. Not sure what the deal is.

I just bought another glass carboy today. A blue Silver Springs bottle that is probably 50 years old.

RPCidery said:

I just bought another glass carboy today. A blue Silver Springs bottle that is probably 50 years old.

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I have three 5 gal carboys. Two of them are Arrowhead/Puritas water bottles. If I remember right, one is dated 1960 and the other 1970. I have a third one with no markings on it. It's clear, instead of being tinted blue like the Arrowhead bottles, and it has a weird crinkle texture on the bottom outside, except for the perimeter. But it's just as thick and heavy as the other two.

I really can't imagine them just falling apart, after surviving all these years. But I've started handling them with a lot more respect after reading horror stories here on HBT...

troy2000 said:

I have three 5 gal carboys. Two of them are Arrowhead/Puritas water bottles. If I remember right, one is dated 1960 and the other 1970. I have a third one with no markings on it. It's clear, instead of being tinted blue like the Arrowhead bottles, and it has a weird crinkle texture on the bottom outside, except for the perimeter. But it's just as thick and heavy as the other two.

I really can't imagine them just falling apart, after surviving all these years. But I've started handling them with a lot more respect after reading horror stories here on HBT...

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I think most of carboys that break for no apparent reason are Chinese, and poorly made. Many of us have US, Mexican, and Italian carboys that are 20-60 years old. But the horror stories seem to nearly all come from fairly new carboys.

I will admit to being a little more careful with my glass carboys now. Full ones always get a Brew Hauler, plus I always make sure to wear closed leather shoes and long pants whenever handling any glass carboy.

troy2000 said:

I have three 5 gal carboys. Two of them are Arrowhead/Puritas water bottles. If I remember right, one is dated 1960 and the other 1970. I have a third one with no markings on it. It's clear, instead of being tinted blue like the Arrowhead bottles, and it has a weird crinkle texture on the bottom outside, except for the perimeter. But it's just as thick and heavy as the other two.

I really can't imagine them just falling apart, after surviving all these years. But I've started handling them with a lot more respect after reading horror stories here on HBT...

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Had that same blue one with crinkle bottom break on me last week.

My fault though i think, the beer was a bit on the hot side when it went in. I needed to leave and figured I would just let it cool in the carboy. Was fine for half hour or so then I head a little crackling popping noise.... Then 5 Gallons of sticky mess was everywhere....

java230 said:

Had that same blue one with crinkle bottom break on me last week.

My fault though i think, the beer was a bit on the hot side when it went in. I needed to leave and figured I would just let it cool in the carboy. Was fine for half hour or so then I head a little crackling popping noise.... Then 5 Gallons of sticky mess was everywhere....

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My crinkle bottom bottle is clear... it's my old Arrowhead bottles that are blue.

But you bring up a good point. Here in the desert I could have the opposite problem. I brew outside, and I'll have to watch pouring chilled wort into a carboy on a hot summer day. Thanks for the heads-up.

My story: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/dangers-glass-carboys-470936/

Picked up a very nice 5 gallon Pyrex carboy last night for $50. I doesn't look like the newest ones I've seen, maybe a generation back. It has the embossed logo on the side. Found it on Craigslist. Very good shape.

Thought others would like to know these are out there.

I also got two Pyrex Liebig condensers and a graduated cylinder for another $10, though I'm not sure what I'll do with those.

The Liebig condensers could be "handy".


P M me a pic, Please Sir, should you wish to part with one.

Emyers I am so sorry that happened to you. God speed for a quick healing time, but don't rush the process. Don't do anything for at least 3 days, let those nerves re-connect.

Be careful with anything that may have been used in a lab, no telling what nasty chemical someone may have put in it.

But Pyrex would a great material to ferment in.

ChocolateMaltyBalls said:

Be careful with anything that may have been used in a lab, no telling what nasty chemical someone may have put in it.

But Pyrex would a great material to ferment in.

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Of course, that's the beauty of glass. It's impervious to almost anything you put in it. Clean it thoroughly and you're good to go...

Thought I would share my catastrophic failure of my "Big Mouth Bubbler" carboy. I'll point out that this is the first failure I've ever experienced in 25 years of brewing beer. My attention to safety and sanitation is on par with most everyone else here and this failure happened during it being simply lifted from the floor using the recommended "Big Mouth Harness". No temperature shock, bumping into anything, just lifting. It blew out a baseball size hole out the bottom after being lifted about two inches from the ground, and luckily no injuries. After dealing with the epic mess in my kitchen, which by the way is carpeted ( weird, I know, but I purchased it that way and haven't gotten around to changing it (until now)) I decided to examine the carboy which to my disbelieve was as thin as 0.025"...... and this was on the bottom radius ! As a reference, the dime pictured is more than twice as thick at 0.054". I then laid it on it's side and noticed the drastic differences in thickness of the entire bottom. As if it was laid on it's side while still in a very molten state.
I will point out that the folks behind these carboys, Northern Brewer, where great about replacing the carboy and ingredients that where inside. They also said that the carboys are indeed made in China, but went on to say that they had people there on-sight and are in complete control of the manufacturing process. I was also told that these bottles have to be "hand-blown" as an explanation of the inconsistencies in thickness. Not sure how to interpret all of that, but it didn't leave me feeling very warm and fuzzy about the other Big Mouth Bubbler I have or the one they replaced......

DaveandZeus said:

Thought I would share my catastrophic failure of my "Big Mouth Bubbler" carboy. I'll point out that this is the first failure I've ever experienced in 25 years of brewing beer. My attention to safety and sanitation is on par with most everyone else here and this failure happened during it being simply lifted from the floor using the recommended "Big Mouth Harness". No temperature shock, bumping into anything, just lifting. It blew out a baseball size hole out the bottom after being lifted about two inches from the ground, and luckily no injuries. After dealing with the epic mess in my kitchen, which by the way is carpeted ( weird, I know, but I purchased it that way and haven't gotten around to changing it (until now)) I decided to examine the carboy which to my disbelieve was as thin as 0.025"...... and this was on the bottom radius ! As a reference, the dime pictured is more than twice as thick at 0.054". I then laid it on it's side and noticed the drastic differences in thickness of the entire bottom. As if it was laid on it's side while still in a very molten state.
I will point out that the folks behind these carboys, Northern Brewer, where great about replacing the carboy and ingredients that where inside. They also said that the carboys are indeed made in China, but went on to say that they had people there on-sight and are in complete control of the manufacturing process. I was also told that these bottles have to be "hand-blown" as an explanation of the inconsistencies in thickness. Not sure how to interpret all of that, but it didn't leave me feeling very warm and fuzzy about the other Big Mouth Bubbler I have or the one they replaced......

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Wait...

Wail... Your kitchen is carpeted...?

I am glad I feel my Better Bottles are so easy to clean. Soak with Oxyclean, rinse, insert a washcloth and a quart of water, swirl, rinse some more and done. IMO, even easier than sticking your arm in a Wide Mouth Bubbler. I have had all my BB's on a baseball ricking the crap out of it to aerate. No problems.

At least with the plastic, stitches were not involved....

Carpet soon to be removed from the kitchen??

DaveandZeus said:

Thought I would share my catastrophic failure of my "Big Mouth Bubbler" carboy.

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Thankfully, your pictures lacked blood.

I think the big mouth plastic carboys could be fine products but reaching into a glass one... What happens when your arm is halfway into ground zero on a broken glass carboy?

DaveandZeus said:

Thought I would share my catastrophic failure of my "Big Mouth Bubbler" carboy. [...]

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Sorry to hear about your mishap and mess. I think the carpet should be paid for as well, whether or not you're going to put in a new floor of your choice, probably sooner now than later.

It took me 3 hours with a carpet cleaner, buckets of hot water, detergents, and stiff brooms to clean up a spill from a 2 gallon pot of chicken soup I had inadvertently dumped on a floor covered with commercial carpet. You got 5 gallons and that stuff starts to reek after a while.

If it were a tile/stone/bare concrete floor there maybe safety issues with placing glass carboys on them, but carpet should prevent those high pressure points. At least it may have contained the spread of the spill somewhat.

That is crazy thin for a glass vessel that size! I went back to buckets for primaries, only using glass carboys for those few instances where secondaries are the only option, or for long term aging and sours.

I would caution anyone using the glass carboys/big mouths coming from China, it seems those are the ones where most of the "spontaneous" failures occur.

The ones I have are all older and from Mexico and Italy, which may be a bit thicker and sturdier, and perhaps a bit more uniform. Gross weight is not all, uniformity is more important, as are strength in critical areas such as where the bottom curves up to the walls and the walls curve to the shoulders and neck.

IslandLizard said:

I would caution anyone using the glass carboys/big mouths coming from China, it seems those are the ones where most of the "spontaneous" failures occur.

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That is an observation that I have been making as well. All of the failures in US/Mexican/Italian carboys trace back to being dropped or bumped against something hard. The Chinese carboys do seem to be the source of unexplained failures.

In regards to the carpet, in my defense, it was already here when I purchased my home about a year ago. Not something I would have ever done, and I'm not one to pass judgement......... That being said, I did want to replace it with a stone/tile material but was planning to do it when I wanted to and while remodeling the rest of the inside, not when I had to, which is now the case.

Having it professionally cleaned would have exceeded the cost of replacing it, so I was left with the only option of cleaning it myself for the time being. That process turned out to be dragging a garden hose into my house to wash it down, followed by using a Shop-Vac to remove as much goo as possible. This process was repeated three times, then using fans blowing across the floor to help dry it out.

Although the floor looks about as good as it did prior to the Big Mouth Bubbler doing a self-immolation, it does stink ! and it's horrible. It's quiet a bizarre smell; wet-dog, brussel spouts gone bad, with slight under tones of a hoppy mash and a touch of maple.........

And yes the carpet is being torn out on Monday.

Cheers,

Dave

My glass carboys are all from Italy. Are those better??


"Sometimes Im right half of the time ...."

Sorry, jus read above that it the Chinese ones to be concerned with.


"Sometimes Im right half of the time ...."

I picked one up for secondary for wine and was majorly paranoid when cleaning sanitizing for the first time. It now lives in a milk crate. And I'm considering wearing my leather welder's apron the next time I have to clean it.


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phug said:

I picked one up for secondary for wine and was majorly paranoid when cleaning sanitizing for the first time. It now lives in a milk crate. And I'm considering wearing my leather welder's apron the next time I have to clean it.


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Might want to wear your welding gauntlets as well.

Sadly I don't weld or have welding gauntlets. Just a bad ass BBQ apron with Kevlar stitching. That was a good Christmas.


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+1 on the milk crates. I use them with the BB just because they're easier to carry

Long-time lurker, first time poster; just wanted to add my own horror story. I've always put about 3-4 gallons of wort in the carboy and then shake it up to aerate. Then I add the rest and lightly shake again. This time, I wanted to cool the wort a little before adding the second dose so I put it in a shallow tub of cool water. When I went to shake the carboy by holding my palm on the mouth and a hand on the wet bottom...

resulting in...


Lessons:
1) When someone (the wife) asks if you want help with something...accept it.
2) When you get smart (cool my carboy with cold water), always think about what's dumb with it (wet carboys are slippery).
3) Five gallons of wort on a carpet is really hard to clean up...shampoo it early and often.
4) Count your blessings. This accident could have been much, much worse. I hit an artery in my thumb but missed all of the tendons; I still have a (fully functional) thumb. I also didn't receive any other major wounds to my bare feet or legs. Blessings.

Thanks for reading!