Broken Glass Carboy Horror Stories Compendium

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Some of us only have and use older glass carboys. I damn sure wouldn't trust any glass coming out of China. The old O-I stuff is remarkably durable, as is the older Mexican glass. They used to use those daily in office water coolers all over the country (1920s or so until the 70s or 80s) long before plastic carboys became popular.

To me, stronger glass means better shards to cut you deeper. It may lessen the risk of breakage, but it is still there. And if it does break.....
 
So I had this cool lookin bottle that I'd saved to use for bottling, someday. Set it up on the fridge.. My fermenters were beside the fridge.. and, well.. This happened..

20180106_143527-jpg.553103
 
I posted this in the other recent "glass breaking" thread. These are on order for me.


PIP 18-SD385 Kut-Gard Dyneema/Steel Slabbers Gloves - Double-Sided PVC Dot Grip


ANSI Cut Level 5


“Used for sheet metal fabrication, glass handling, canning, recycling, assembly, plastic molding, metal fabrication, pulp and paper processing and metal stamping. Dyneema is 15 times stronger than steel on a weight for weight basis! It's a High Performance Polyethylene (HPPE) fiber made from Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE). Dyneema fiber is much thinner and more flexible than traditional materials, such as leather and cotton, while offering higher protection.”


https://www.fullsource.com/pip-18-sd385/
 
I posted this in the other recent "glass breaking" thread. These are on order for me.


PIP 18-SD385 Kut-Gard Dyneema/Steel Slabbers Gloves - Double-Sided PVC Dot Grip


ANSI Cut Level 5


“Used for sheet metal fabrication, glass handling, canning, recycling, assembly, plastic molding, metal fabrication, pulp and paper processing and metal stamping. Dyneema is 15 times stronger than steel on a weight for weight basis! It's a High Performance Polyethylene (HPPE) fiber made from Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE). Dyneema fiber is much thinner and more flexible than traditional materials, such as leather and cotton, while offering higher protection.”


https://www.fullsource.com/pip-18-sd385/

Or use plastic carboys....
 
I posted this in the other recent "glass breaking" thread. These are on order for me.

PIP 18-SD385 Kut-Gard Dyneema/Steel Slabbers Gloves - Double-Sided PVC Dot Grip

https://www.fullsource.com/pip-18-sd385/

That is an insanely cheap price for those gloves. Let me know if you really get a dozen pair for that. My uncle uses similar gloves to fillet with and goes through at least a pair every summer.
 
That is an insanely cheap price for those gloves. Let me know if you really get a dozen pair for that. My uncle uses similar gloves to fillet with and goes through at least a pair every summer.

Yeah, I also thought it was insane. When the order confirmation came to my email it reads as if it is one pair of gloves and not a dozen pairs. The website phrases it more like you get a dozen. I don't feel burned since the other sellers charge a similar price per pair, but seem to force you to buy by the dozen. So this site at least lets you buy one pair.....even if their wording could be confused for you getting a screaming deal on a dozen for $30.

If a dozen pair show up, I will sell them to you guys for $5 each plus shipping. Haha.
 
Yeah, I also thought it was insane. When the order confirmation came to my email it reads as if it is one pair of gloves and not a dozen pairs. The website phrases it more like you get a dozen. I don't feel burned since the other sellers charge a similar price per pair, but seem to force you to buy by the dozen. So this site at least lets you buy one pair.....even if their wording could be confused for you getting a screaming deal on a dozen for $30.

If a dozen pair show up, I will sell them to you guys for $5 each plus shipping. Haha.

@bleme
So.......this shows up in my mail box.....
KLwTONe.jpg
 
Man, this thread is scary. I just started brewing with my starter kit(plastic buckets) and figured I'd upgrade equipment over time, with glass carboys being an eventuality. Don't think I'm going that route now. I guess I'm naive, I know glass breaks and can cut you but I didn't picture this amount of damage(tendon/nerve damage). Makes sense though I guess, the bigger the glass vessel more carnage the broken shards will cause.
 
Man, this thread is scary. I just started brewing with my starter kit(plastic buckets) and figured I'd upgrade equipment over time, with glass carboys being an eventuality. Don't think I'm going that route now. I guess I'm naive, I know glass breaks and can cut you but I didn't picture this amount of damage(tendon/nerve damage). Makes sense though I guess, the bigger the glass vessel more carnage the broken shards will cause.

I call it danger glass, it doesn't break nicely like a car window. When it comes time to change your fermenting equipment give corny kegs a consideration. You either have to brew a little less or you can brew more and ferment in two, I often brew 8 gallons instead of 5 since I've switched over. You're not going to hurt yourself with stainless steel unless you do something stupid. Also, pin locks are about as cheap as a carboy and it makes avoiding oxygen exposure really easy.
 
So I am in the middle of brewing a raison when I sliced my finger pretty bad breaking a carboy. (Will not be using carboys in the future) I finished sparing and now have a kettle with wort ready to boil. Is there any issues continuing brewing in a few hours after I'm back from the hospital?

Glass carboys are super slippery when oxiclean gets on them. I had one slip out of my hands only 6" off the ground. Severed the tendons in one of my fingers, no longer have use of that finger. I now avoid glass unless using it for long term aging.

upload_2018-11-3_8-28-19.png
 
Yeah, I also thought it was insane. When the order confirmation came to my email it reads as if it is one pair of gloves and not a dozen pairs. The website phrases it more like you get a dozen. I don't feel burned since the other sellers charge a similar price per pair, but seem to force you to buy by the dozen. So this site at least lets you buy one pair.....even if their wording could be confused for you getting a screaming deal on a dozen for $30.

If a dozen pair show up, I will sell them to you guys for $5 each plus shipping. Haha.

Checked the link out today after reading the thread, gloves are still there, now $298 for 12 pairs. Guess someone buggered up the pricing when you bought them and only found out after they shipped. Hope they serve you well.
 
Before i used the brew haulers, i only had the neck clamp style handles. So i go to pick up the carboy full of pliney and it mearly touched the side off my bath tub. What i didnt do was support it from underneath and it did not take very much to shear the glass under all that tension. The bottom half of the carboy hit my foot and i put 2 stiches in myself because it was to late for the urgent care. Now i still use glass carboys because they clean so easily, but i changed my operation. I replace the brew haulers occasionally and use a dolly the wheel the carboys to my ferm chamber and im wearing shoes lol.
 
Before i used the brew haulers, i only had the neck clamp style handles. So i go to pick up the carboy full of pliney and it mearly touched the side off my bath tub. What i didnt do was support it from underneath and it did not take very much to shear the glass under all that tension. The bottom half of the carboy hit my foot and i put 2 stiches in myself because it was to late for the urgent care. Now i still use glass carboys because they clean so easily, but i changed my operation. I replace the brew haulers occasionally and use a dolly the wheel the carboys to my ferm chamber and im wearing shoes lol.
Welcome to HBT!

You were lucky not to get injured more severely. Did your own stitches, huh?

Those metal neck handles are meant only for carrying empty carboys, never full ones. So they're pretty useless, IMO.
The stitchings in the brew haulers tend to rot out if they stay wet for prolonged times. Is that why you replace them periodically? I guess you could restitch them?

For all routine brewing I switched to plastic brew buckets after reading all this horror. They also come with a built-in handle. ;)

I now only use carboys for long term aging (usually sours), and handle them with great respect. Although lately I have been using spare kegs for aging too. They can be pre-purged, samples can be drawn easily, and repurged after opening for additions.
 
Welcome to HBT!

You were lucky not to get injured more severely. Did your own stitches, huh?

Those metal neck handles are meant only for carrying empty carboys, never full ones. So they're pretty useless, IMO.
The stitchings in the brew haulers tend to rot out if they stay wet for prolonged times. Is that why you replace them periodically? I guess you could restitch them?

For all routine brewing I switched to plastic brew buckets after reading all this horror. They also come with a built-in handle. ;)

I now only use carboys for long term aging (usually sours), and handle them with great respect. Although lately I have been using spare kegs for aging too. They can be pre-purged, samples can be drawn easily, and repurged after opening for additions.

The stitching on the Brew Hauler is with synthetic thread. It will not rot. But with repeated loading and unloading it could work loose. Inspection and replacement when necessary.

I use Better Bottles. They are very light. They won't break. They are easy to clean. They are resistant enough to gas permeation for aging. I have done up to 6 months with good results.
 
I use Better Bottles as well, but I've had some issues with longevity. After 4+ years they seem to get brittle. I've had 4 crack on the bottom. It's always in the same place, and luckily I've never lost a batch because of it. I did find one while filling a carboy with wort, so I lost a little future beer in the process.
 
I use Better Bottles as well, but I've had some issues with longevity. After 4+ years they seem to get brittle. I've had 4 crack on the bottom. It's always in the same place, and luckily I've never lost a batch because of it. I did find one while filling a carboy with wort, so I lost a little future beer in the process.

I have about 7 of them. All are over 4 years old. 3 are about 7 3/4 years old. 4 are in storage at the moment. Don't know which are the oldest. I have not seen any brittleness. And 0 failures. 104 batches of beer, one cider and about 10 wines. Most have been in the Better Bottles. Dimpled the bottom of one by adding the hot mash to it. I forget the reason that I did that. All of mine were bought before they had their production problem shutdown.
 
Welcome to HBT!

You were lucky not to get injured more severely. Did your own stitches, huh?

Those metal neck handles are meant only for carrying empty carboys, never full ones. So they're pretty useless, IMO.
The stitchings in the brew haulers tend to rot out if they stay wet for prolonged times. Is that why you replace them periodically? I guess you could restitch them?

For all routine brewing I switched to plastic brew buckets after reading all this horror. They also come with a built-in handle. ;)

I now only use carboys for long term aging (usually sours), and handle them with great respect. Although lately I have been using spare kegs for aging too. They can be pre-purged, samples can be drawn easily, and repurged after opening for additions.
Yeah the stitching gets weak and i dont take the haulers off when cleaning. I was lucky because my cut wasn't from glass slicing me open. It was more the weight of the intact bottom portion and all the beer hitting my foot. I mean I did see my bone for a minute but i wasn't gonna miss a day of prevailing wage so i duct taped myself together after putting in the stiches and sucked up buttercups. It did cause me to slow my brewing for a long while until my recent itch. Been looking at stainless options but im not gonna have conical funds for a while so i just stuck with glass. Stubborn in my ways as they say...
 
I have been working over the last 2 years to phase out my glass carboys, some of which are 20+ years old. I've been fortunate to never have a bad incident with carboys, but I have thrown one or two away for developing chips.

I now ferment and serve in stainless (BrewBucket and Corny Kegs), and only use the carboys for bulk aging ciders. HOwever, I now have enough kegs (used ones can be gotten cheap) that I can age in steel too.

No plastic bucket, Better Bottle or glass carboy will match or beat stainless in pretty much any metric other than cost, and that can be mitigated too (Better Bottles aren't cheap either - I've bought kegs for less).
 
I have been working over the last 2 years to phase out my glass carboys, some of which are 20+ years old. I've been fortunate to never have a bad incident with carboys, but I have thrown one or two away for developing chips.

I now ferment and serve in stainless (BrewBucket and Corny Kegs), and only use the carboys for bulk aging ciders. HOwever, I now have enough kegs (used ones can be gotten cheap) that I can age in steel too.

No plastic bucket, Better Bottle or glass carboy will match or beat stainless in pretty much any metric other than cost, and that can be mitigated too (Better Bottles aren't cheap either - I've bought kegs for less).
What does your stainless fermenter look like?
 
What does your stainless fermenter look like?
My primary fermenter is a 7 gallon SS Brewtech BrewBucket (Sorry, no pics on hand, but easy enough to look up if you aren't familiar), but for over a year after switching to "all" stainless before I got the BrewBucket, I used 5 gallon ball-lock corny kegs.

The kegs are simple enough to rig up with either a blowoff tube or an airlock, and are great for closed-loop pressurized transfer to another keg for spunding, serving, or secondary (if you secondary - I don't usually).

**Edit: Stout also makes a cheaper alternative to the SS Brewtech BrewBucket. By all accounts it is not quite as nice or have as many features, but it is supposed to be a good deal cheaper.
 
Sorry for the rough drawing - I don't have a pic of it in action.
I see[emoji848]. Thanks for the info. It will be reconsidered for next years upgrades. Eventually i could go all stainless all around.. eventually. This year i already converted a mini fridge into a ferm chamber and picked up a keezer along with 5 more corneys and a nitro tank. I was using my better bottles for secondary and dry hopping but im considerig using those for fermenting ales indoors. Then i could do double 11 gallon batches and split them into ales and lagers thereby creating 4 unique beers in a single brew day.
 
I was using my better bottles for secondary and dry hopping but im considerig using those for fermenting ales indoors. Then i could do double 11 gallon batches and split them into ales and lagers thereby creating 4 unique beers in a single brew day.

Cool idea!

I will say there is a downside to primary fermentation in cornys, and that is the lack of extra space. In my brewbucket, I usually put 6 gallons in, expecting to leave behind yeast and other sediment but still get a full 5 gallons into the serving keg.

Doing primary in a corny gives you 5 gallons and a small amount of headspace (most cornys actually hold about 5 gallons plus a quart or two), but by the time you lose volume to yeast, sediment, and possibly blowoff for ales, you are looking at only about 4.25-4.5 gal in the final keg, if that.
6 gallon cornys are the ideal answer, but they are rare and NOT cheap.
 
I like the idea of 11 gallon batches as I get 2 kegs and also fill a few flip tops or my uKeg as "reserve beer" to fill the hump on the keezer with. I saw some hacks using the cheap boil kettles as fermentors but i like the idea of spunding and pressure transfers and also not having to theif to get a sample. That would go a long way to keeping my ipas fresher and not have to drive as often for co2.
 
Cool idea!

I will say there is a downside to primary fermentation in cornys, and that is the lack of extra space. In my brewbucket, I usually put 6 gallons in, expecting to leave behind yeast and other sediment but still get a full 5 gallons into the serving keg.

Doing primary in a corny gives you 5 gallons and a small amount of headspace (most cornys actually hold about 5 gallons plus a quart or two), but by the time you lose volume to yeast, sediment, and possibly blowoff for ales, you are looking at only about 4.25-4.5 gal in the final keg, if that.
6 gallon cornys are the ideal answer, but they are rare and NOT cheap.

They make 10 gallon cornys as well. I've bought them on EBay for as little as $30. Usually I pay around $75. You just need to look for them.

I bought a few corny extra lids and drilled some holes in the old lids to be able to ferment. Drill a hole, add a grommet, add an airlock, and you're good to go.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/10-gallon-corny-kegs-for-under-100.518279/
 
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They make 10 gallon cornys as well. I've bought them on EBay for as little as $30. Usually I pay around $75. You just need to look for them.

I bought a few corny extra lids and drilled some holes in the old lids to be able to ferment. Drill a hole, add a grommet, add an airlock, and you're good to go.

Do you know the dimensions of a 10 gallon corney?
 
Man, this thread is scary. I just started brewing with my starter kit(plastic buckets) and figured I'd upgrade equipment over time, with glass carboys being an eventuality. Don't think I'm going that route now. I guess I'm naive, I know glass breaks and can cut you but I didn't picture this amount of damage(tendon/nerve damage). Makes sense though I guess, the bigger the glass vessel more carnage the broken shards will cause.
I have been brewing for 7 yrs and plastic has always been my way to go. Started in buckets and am now in a Fast Ferment. I saw the carnage that a broken carboy can create.
 
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