Carboy shattered while sanitizing/siphoning!

[nelsonjw]

Well, I learned my lesson...

Preparing for a batch of beer today (somewhere in the #12-15 overall batch-- I've lost count) I had a carboy explode while sanitizing.

I can't figure out HOW this happened unless it was just a fluke accident, but I'm definitely not going to try this method again.

I was sanitizing my carboy with StarSan like I always do, but tried to take a shortcut to avoid having to slowly pour, deal with foam, rinse again, etc. I had the (I thought) brilliant idea to auto-siphon the StarSan solution out into my brew kettle and utensils to sanitize them too with less foam.

I inserted the siphon into the carboy, extended the auto-siphon to get things started, stood back to watch the sanitizer solution flow into my brew kettle filled with utensils, and... BOOM.

It happened in an instant, but I think the carboy imploded before then seeming to explode as the sanitizer solution gushed out. A square panel of the side of the carboy went straight outward and hit the side of the bathtub. (Very fortunately, I was using a bathtub to contain all the water to not make a bigger mess.) It actually otherwise seemed to remain intact, but when I pulled out the pieces to dispose in a cardboard box, I discovered that the top portion of the carboy was in one complete piece, the rest of the side of it was in a complete piece, and then the heavy base was also a complete circular piece.

My best theory so far is that the siphon clogged on something (even air pressure around the narrow neck of the carboy that also had StarSan foam in it) and so the pressure of the vacuum created by the siphon actually caused the carboy to implode in on itself. I have not found any other cases on a few cursory Google searches of this happening, so don't know if this was a fluke accident or something to be much more careful about when siphoning in the future.

Very fortunate to have not been injured, though concerned now as I don't want it to happen again when siphoning! I think the lesson is to not sanitize this way again -- the pouring and dealing with foam is better than losing a carboy or being injured. And to always make sure the siphon is clear of any possible obstructions if there was one other than just the air pressure/vacuum created by the siphon.

Word of warning too, to anyone who tries something similar to what I did...

Worst part though is the local homebrew shop seems to be closed on New Year's Day even though their Facebook and Google profiles indicate they are open, so now I am going to have to wait to tomorrow before I can brew...

 

[kh54s10]

It is totally impossible that the siphon could have lowered the pressure inside a carboy enough to implode it. The siphon would just stop flowing. Unless you have a very different siphon than anyone else. It just would not seal that well.

It had to be a flaw in the glass. Stress fractures that were unseen etc.

Another in the long list of carboy failures that further confirm that my decision to never use glass carboy's at all was the way to go 3+years ago.

 

[Rev2010]

Nope, it wasn't because of your air pressure theory, most likely an imperfectly made carboy. I stay the hell away from those things and stick with plastic fermenters. Read this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/broken-glass-carboy-horror-stories-compendium-376523/


Rev.

 

[IslandLizard]

Glad you came out unscathed!

Modern day carboys (and big bubblers) come from China. The quality (and quality control) varies widely, and there are serious problems associated with that. You don't know what kind of bugger you've got.

When collecting the shards, did you find any very thin pieces? Some people have reported to find shards that were less than 1/16" thick! In a 5 gallon carboy that it! Most beer glasses are thicker.

I've had a carboy suck in the stopper so tight, when I pulled it out, it released with a loud bang. I guess I was lucky. I've put 2-3 psi pressure on carboys to rack under CO2. I guess I was lucky.

Most of my carboys are older and were made in Mexico and Italy. They seem to be stronger, more even thickness all the way around, less stress on the glass.

 

[Hello]

Carboys made today seem to lack the same quality that we've seen in older carboys. Imperfections in glass and uneven glass has led to destruction and sometimes terrible injuries. Misuse plays a part, of course, but random shattering without doing anything more than siphoning suggests to me that you have a newer carboy and it was poorly made.

Just a heads up, many business profiles on google and Facebook state they're open, but I don't know that either has accounted for the holiday. My most local Shop has completely wrong hours and they're unwilling to fix it because it is the hours of their second location.

It sucks that this happened but glad it wasn't worse for you.

 

[StLouBrew]

+1 on just ditching the carboy and going with an Ale Pail. Glad you weren't injured.

 

[flars]

Was the carboy and the sanitizing solution at the same temperature? Sudden changes in temperature can fracture glass.

 

[okiedog]

What type of carboy was it? I had a Big mouth Bubbler break while shaking it to aerate the wort. The mid section suddenly shattered, leaving the top and bottom intact. I've never had a problem with my other carboys. When picking up the pieces, I noticed some were very thick and some were very thin, perhaps indicating a flaw in the mold. The thick and thin pieces were from opposite sides of the carboy. NB refunded my money without question, but I have wondered if they addressed/fixed the problem?

 

[troy2000]

I use glass carboys, but they're 5 gal water bottles from the 60's and 70's - built heavy, and old enough that they aren't going to suddenly come apart from hidden flaws. That means I wind up with 4 1/2 gal batches instead of 5 gal ones, but I don't worry about explosions, implosions, or other dramatic events.

It would take a lot of the fun out of brewing if I couldn't open the mini-fridge I use for a fermenting chamber, and watch the swirls, currents and krausen as the yeasties work their little butts off making beer for me... beats the heck out of a lava lamp.

 

[nelsonjw]

It was a no-name glass carboy from Hy Vee, a Midwestern grocery chain that sold homebrew equipment until very recently.

And yes, I did find some very thin shards...

I thought about the temperature as a possible issue, but if there was a difference in temperature it wasn't more than 5-10 degrees. And the carboy had the StarSan solution in it for over an hour. It was only when I started siphoning that it blew -- within 15 seconds.

 

[nelsonjw]

I'll see what the brew store has tomorrow. I went with glass at first because of reading about sanitation issues, off flavors, etc. with plastic. But for a primary fermenter (I always rack to secondary) I'm open to it. Just glad there were no injuries. My wife and daughter were both in the next room when it blew. It did take a while to clean up all the tiny bits of glass in the bathroom!

 

[StLouBrew]

(I always rack to secondary)

One other thing you may want to re-consider... After reading the advice of many of the elders on this board, I've done away with racking to a secondary - even when I'm dry-hopping. Unless you're adding fruit or something like that, it doesn't seem there's much to be gained by moving from primary to secondary.

Cheers

 

[GHBWNY]

Could have been so much worse. Yeah, just be sure if you're ordering online equip, go with a well-known, long-established company. I got my original equipment including carboy from BSG Handcraft. I've gone from racking cold beer to hot rinse and never had a problem. Not sure where theirs come from, but it's a better bet they'll be better quality with a better guarantee if something goes wrong.

 

[nelsonjw]

Thanks for all the replies.

I did also find that the force of the explosion/implosion/whatever happened popped the hose right off my auto-siphon. Weird.

 

[MaxStout]

The Italian carboys will usually have stamping on the bottom stating that it's from Italy. At least all of mine do. My LHBS still sells Italian carboys, so it's nice to see they are still available.

 

[catdaddy66]

I had to retire a 6 gal glass carboy early last spring when I found a 3" crack at the base while cleaning it. I just couldn't risk a catastrophe.

I miss it and want to get another but plastic for sure. A Big Bubbler would be great, or a Better Bottle.

 

[Rev2010]

I went with glass at first because of reading about sanitation issues, off flavors, etc. with plastic.

That's BS, don't let that deter you. I've been using plastic fermenters for 4 years now with no issues whatsoever and no plastic tastes or anything of that nature. Now, that's not to say it's not possible, it certainly is and proof is all the complaints of vinyl leeching plastic tastes in beer line tubing, I experienced this myself and had to change out all my lines to PVC free lines. But the plastic fermenters in use currently seem to all check out (Ale pails, Speidel's, Better Bottle, etc). No issues sanitizing either. The only real thing you need to remember is not to use abrasives items to clean it as they might scratch the plastic and leave areas where bacteria and such can collect. I just use the back scrub side of a sponge. I usually buy the 3M Scotch-Brite Non-Scratch Scrub Sponge, again... zero issues after years of use.


Rev.

 

[firerat]

OP glad you weren't hurt. That could have been bed.

I never have and never will use a glass carboy. I'm too much of a clutz and will end up killing myself. The negatives out weigh the positives (for me anyways) to ever consider going glass.

I've been using buckets and recently those better bottle plastic carboys for my viewing pleasure. I've never had any issues I'd blame on the plastic.

 

[Psylocide]

Where are you located? Never seen brewing supplies at any of our Hy vees... but they do have a great selection of craft beers.

Also... sorry for your loss, at least it wasn't full of wort though.

 

[Homercidal]

If you just can't stop fearing the foam, maybe find some of the no foam starsan they sell. I personally just rack onto the foam. Most of it gets pushed out when the beer comes in, but the very small amount left in there is no problem for your beer.

 

[Sailingeric]

if it was a suction/ drop in airpressure, even a little bit can cause troubles. Here is a good video of even a few pounds drop in PSI can be catastrophic [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8caxrxdSZk[/ame]

 

[fuelish]

The Italian carboys will usually have stamping on the bottom stating that it's from Italy. At least all of mine do. My LHBS still sells Italian carboys, so it's nice to see they are still available.

Yeah, have had Italian glass for years, and my 2 new carboys were made in Italy as well.....only broken carboy I've ever experienced was due to accidental user error - I sneezed while transporting it and bumped the bottom against our concrete laundry sink....bottom fell out and I lost 5 gallons of house IPA that was going to be bottled that day .... what a mess!!! Luckily, it was in an unfinished basement with cement floors with drains in the floor......

 

[k1ngl1ves]

Be careful of Ale Pails and Better Bottles!


I tripped over an Ale Pail, got my foot caught in the wire handle, then stepped on a Better Bottle that had fallen over due to my trip on the pail. I ended up falling backwards and hitting my head on my garage keezer, and needed 8 staples to close the wound.

Basically, I cut my head because I was using Ale Pails. I gave that up and am using glass carboys now... and couldn't be happier!

 

[Psylocide]

If you just can't stop fearing the foam, maybe find some of the no foam starsan they sell. I personally just rack onto the foam. Most of it gets pushed out when the beer comes in, but the very small amount left in there is no problem for your beer.

Yeah, don't fear the foam... dry pitched Nottingham right on top of it.

38 hours later.

 

[nelsonjw]

Where are you located? Never seen brewing supplies at any of our Hy vees... but they do have a great selection of craft beers.

Also... sorry for your loss, at least it wasn't full of wort though.

Columbia, Missouri. Our newest Hy-Vee has a larger-even-than-usual-for-Hy-Vee craft beer section and even got into homebrewing supplies for a while, selling grains, malts, hops, and yeast. However, it was more of a trial run as they're scaling back now.

Going to try a Better Bottle 6 gallon and see how that goes. Our only other local homebrew store was open today but they are out of all carboys and Better Bottles and didn't know for sure when they would get anything in. Now I know why none of the other local brewers I know seem to shop there. A St. Louis store that everyone recommends carries Better Bottle (possibly exclusively - I don't think they even carry glass) and I'm going to give that a try this next week so I can get this batch going.

And I honestly had no idea about the StarSan foam being safe to rack over. Learn something every day!

 

[GHBWNY]

That's BS, don't let that deter you. I've been using plastic fermenters for 4 years now with no issues whatsoever and no plastic tastes or anything of that nature. Now, that's not to say it's not possible, it certainly is and proof is all the complaints of vinyl leeching plastic tastes in beer line tubing, I experienced this myself and had to change out all my lines to PVC free lines. But the plastic fermenters in use currently seem to all check out (Ale pails, Speidel's, Better Bottle, etc). No issues sanitizing either. The only real thing you need to remember is not to use abrasives items to clean it as they might scratch the plastic and leave areas where bacteria and such can collect. I just use the back scrub side of a sponge. I usually buy the 3M Scotch-Brite Non-Scratch Scrub Sponge, again... zero issues after years of use.


Rev.

Agree. If you have any doubts about using plastic anything and off-flavors, etc., just boil everything for 15 min or so and anything that would *theoretically* leach into your beer will be minimized by boiling.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Be careful of Ale Pails and Better Bottles!


I tripped over an Ale Pail, got my foot caught in the wire handle, then stepped on a Better Bottle that had fallen over due to my trip on the pail. I ended up falling backwards and hitting my head on my garage keezer, and needed 8 staples to close the wound.

Basically, I cut my head because I was using Ale Pails. I gave that up and am using glass carboys now... and couldn't be happier!

I'm having a hard time telling for sure but I'm pretty sure this is sarcasm?

Yeah, have had Italian glass for years, and my 2 new carboys were made in Italy as well.....only broken carboy I've ever experienced was due to accidental user error - I sneezed while transporting it and bumped the bottom against our concrete laundry sink....bottom fell out and I lost 5 gallons of house IPA that was going to be bottled that day .... what a mess!!! Luckily, it was in an unfinished basement with cement floors with drains in the floor......

I have a bunch of glass carboys from my LHBS, all Italian. I have never once had one problem. I primarily use them for sours, so fairly low traffic.

 

[Staylow]

Columbia, Missouri. Our newest Hy-Vee has a larger-even-than-usual-for-Hy-Vee craft beer section and even got into homebrewing supplies for a while, selling grains, malts, hops, and yeast. However, it was more of a trial run as they're scaling back now.

Hey nelson, I'm just down the road from you in Jefferson City - I bought all of my start up gear from Hy Vee on Conley a little over two years ago. Of the three 6 gallon glass carboys I originally bought, only one has broke, but it was totally user error. Even so, I made the switch to plastic big mouth bubblers and they've been great. If you wanted two glass carboys, I'd give them to you, but you'd have to pick them up.

Speaking of craft beer selction in our area, have you been to Craft Beer Cellar on Cherry yet? HUGE selection of beer, plus 20 taps. Fantastic place, and the owners are good guys. I helped install the draft system, check it out if you haven't yet.

 

[nelsonjw]

Hey nelson, I'm just down the road from you in Jefferson City - I bought all of my start up gear from Hy Vee on Conley a little over two years ago. Of the three 6 gallon glass carboys I originally bought, only one has broke, but it was totally user error. Even so, I made the switch to plastic big mouth bubblers and they've been great. If you wanted two glass carboys, I'd give them to you, but you'd have to pick them up.

Speaking of craft beer selction in our area, have you been to Craft Beer Cellar on Cherry yet? HUGE selection of beer, plus 20 taps. Fantastic place, and the owners are good guys. I helped install the draft system, check it out if you haven't yet.

Yep... the Conley HyVee is the one I was referring to.

I will actually be in Jeff City in a couple hours or so. I can PM you my contact details/phone if that works?

I haven't made it to Craft Beer Cellar yet but am pretty regular at iTap.

 

[nelsonjw]

Happy ending to this. Thanks to Staylow I brewed yesterday evening and now have a winter warmer brewing.