Carboy VS. Thumb

[gratus fermentatio]

Nasty looking wound, hope you heal up OK. Maybe I'll have to start buying Better Bottles. I'm rather heavily invested in glass though; I just can't afford to replace 20 glass carbouys at once, (that's not even counting 3 gallon sizes) much less with the more expensive plastic. You should look into selling you story & pics to the makers of Better Bottles; it would make a great testimonial.
Regards, GF.

 

[TrainSafe]

Ouch.

+1 for the specialist. It may be numb due to the swelling or it may be more damage. Only one way to know...

I'm also making the move to better bottles away from glass. I only have one glad carboy left.

 

[Homercidal]

Of course there are alternatives to carrying glass around by the hands, but they make it somewhat difficult to use while cleaning.

I have a brewhauler, which is a device that wraps around and under the carboy with handles to make carrying easier and safer. It's made from heavy duty nylon webbing.

I also use a milk crate for carrying.

I'm not getting rid of my glass carboys, but I'm not likely to buy any more. I use mine mostly for wine, which requires a longer period of fermentation.

Better Bottles are fine for the length of time most any beer needs to be bulk conditioned.

 

[Jroy]

Ouch. On the bright side it looks like the carboy was empty? So no beer lost? Only blood?

It was full, Bringing it down to pitch yeast and put in ferm fridge..

 

[Proboscidea]

How's your thumb doing?

We should have a "Post Pics Of Your Brewing Injuries" thread. I bet you'd win.

 

[TxBrew]

How's your thumb doing?

We should have a "Post Pics Of Your Brewing Injuries" thread. I bet you'd win.

Probably would.

Have you got the feeling back yet?

 

[Jroy]

I am going to see my doctor this afternoon to remove the stitches. Some of the feeling has returned, but it is still pretty swollen and i can barley move it. I hope for everyone at HBT's sake that I win the worst injury! You just don't realize how much you use your thumb.

 

[Dr1nkBeer]

Man, so is leaving sanitizing solution in the carboy for an extended period of time not recommended? I have carried mine and moved it around so much... I feel fortunate now that i haven't had this happen to me... I have one better bottle and two old "mexican" ribbed glass carboys... Geez-us i may just never use them again.. I recently rinsed one out and left some water in it in my slop sink... The wife picked it up and emptied it to use the slop sink... Man if it would have busted on her hand i wouldn't be able to live with myself...

Anyone else have this happen? Is this happening due to recent corner cutting of production? Are the older ones safer and less prone to spontaneous "severing"...

Thank you for this posting! And really hope you get that hand back to normal... You may have just single handedly (no pun intended) saved me from a similar disaster!!

 

[Proboscidea]

Good luck, Jroy!!!!! We're pulling for ya.

About glass carboys: I think, with the number of people who have been using glass carboys over many years, that they can be considered "safe" BUT prone to random & extremely rare failures (other than dropping them, which is another issue). There are safe handling procedures, such as using a crate, never picking them up by the neck (guilty as charged), etc. Statistically, a carboy is unlikely to break on its own. But clearly, from this thread, it does happen once in a blue moon. I guess it's like driving vs. flying; car crashes are far more common but flying is still a source of anxiety to many, and when you see a plane crash on the news, it's scary as hell. This thread has suddenly made glass carboys seem unsafe to me.

I'm thinking, at the very least, it would be wise to start transporting them in milk crates at all times, and possibly convert to Better Bottles.

Although irony dictates that soon there will be a thread showing some kind of horrible injury from a Better Bottle, ha ha.

 

[Dr1nkBeer]

still thinking about this as i walked by the carboy next to my slop sink that my wife moved around last night...
I suppose then this contraption is hight not recomended? You've all seen these that wrap the neck of the carboy?...

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

First off, OP, that sucks man. Looks like a nasty gash. I hope you heal up completely, and definitely get it checked again if the numbness doesn't go away as the swelling subsides.

But..... I have to say that wildwest hit the nail on the head here;

Or another thread on improperly handled carboys.


_

Never, ever, ever carry a fully glass carboy without a BrewHauler (nylon spider web-type carrier) or a milk crate or something. Especially on the stairs. That's asking for trouble, IMO.
I use glass carboys most of the time, each one of the 5-6.5 gals has a BrewHauler of it's own. For my 3 gal carboys, I use milk crates. The farthest I have to carry a fully carboy is ~10 feet or so, and I'd never carry on without a hauler or milk crate.

 

[passedpawn]

Good luck, Jroy!!!!! We're pulling for ya.

About glass carboys: I think, with the number of people who have been using glass carboys over many years, that they can be considered "safe"

Right. Cars are "safe" too -- unless you are drinking while using them. Then, carelessness and inattention can cause all sorts of calamity.

Anyone ever drink while they brew?

 

[Homercidal]

Right. Cars are "safe" too -- unless you are drinking while using them. Then, carelessness and inattention can cause all sorts of calamity.

Anyone ever drink while they brew?

OMG I have to try that next time!

 

[Dr1nkBeer]

Anyone ever drink while they brew?

is there any other way?...

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Anyone ever drink while they brew?

Never!!! I also don't drive due to the dangers involved.

 

[Jroy]

Like I said earlier, I've been using glass carboys for years and love them. This was just an unfortunate accident and I wanted to share a story with you guys...

I had the stitches removed yesterday, which was not very fun either. The scab had formed over a few of the stitches, so he had to cut and lift the scab a bit..oh yea that felt good. He referred me to a hand specialist as cannot move my thumb outward or provide any resistance while he pushed in on it.

Strange story. I leave the docs office and pick up my kids. When I get home my new neighbors across the street are moving in. I notice they have a new baby in a car carrier (we just had our second two months ago). Then I notice a some buckets and carboys on the lawn, so I figure two things in common time to go meet them. We start talking about the kids, the neighborhood, brewing and my brewing related injury. His wife then comes out of the house and he tells her about my hand and wouldn't you know she is a nurse that works for the hand specialist I was referred to. A few strange coincidences there..at least i thought.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Like I said earlier, I've been using glass carboys for years and love them. This was just an unfortunate accident and I wanted to share a story with you guys...

I had the stitches removed yesterday, which was not very fun either. The scab had formed over a few of the stitches, so he had to cut and lift the scab a bit..oh yea that felt good. He referred me to a hand specialist as cannot move my thumb outward or provide any resistance while he pushed in on it.

Strange story. I leave the docs office and pick up my kids. When I get home my new neighbors across the street are moving in. I notice they have a new baby in a car carrier (we just had our second two months ago). Then I notice a some buckets and carboys on the lawn, so I figure two things in common time to go meet them. We start talking about the kids, the neighborhood, brewing and my brewing related injury. His wife then comes out of the house and he tells her about my hand and wouldn't you know she is a nurse that works for the hand specialist I was referred to. A few strange coincidences there..at least i thought.

Small world, huh?! Hope your thumb comes around, nerve damage can be a bitch and take a long time to heal. Years, in my experience.
FWIW, I wasn't trying to come off like a dick about carboys. What I said was more directed at the troves of vocally anti-glass brewers a thread like this brings out. My theory on glass carboys is the same as my theory on life.... sure some of the things that we do are inherently dangerous. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't do them, it just means we need to take proper precaution to lessen the danger. Could you imagine if a firefighter had the same attitude about entering a burning house as some folks have about not using glass carboys?

 

[Jroy]

Small world, huh?! Hope your thumb comes around, nerve damage can be a bitch and take a long time to heal. Years, in my experience.
FWIW, I wasn't trying to come off like a dick about carboys. What I said was more directed at the troves of vocally anti-glass brewers a thread like this brings out. My theory on glass carboys is the same as my theory on life.... sure some of the things that we do are inherently dangerous. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't do them, it just means we need to take proper precaution to lessen the danger. Could you imagine if a firefighter had the same attitude about entering a burning house as some folks have about not using glass carboys?

No worries. I know i said i was planning on using more plastic (which is true) but the stubborn SOB in me will never part with my glass, and will continue to use it.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

No worries. I know i said i was planning on using more plastic (which is true) but the stubborn SOB in me will never part with my glass, and will continue to use it.

Good man! Just get a brew hauler or something for 'em.... it really sounds like someone somewhere has designs on that thumb of yours. I love my BrewHaulers, first off cuz they make it a lot safer, but they also make you carry the carboy in a way that makes it a lot more comfortable if you lift with your legs.

 

[Jroy]

Good man! Just get a brew hauler or something for 'em.... it really sounds like someone somewhere has designs on that thumb of yours. I love my BrewHaulers, first off cuz they make it a lot safer, but they also make you carry the carboy in a way that makes it a lot more comfortable if you lift with your legs.

Yea man I have 4 of them, all of which are on my other full carboys. I wish I could explain better how this happened. All of the glass was blown out at least 5 feet dead left. As if the left side of the carboy just plain 'ol failed. I'm not 100% sure that if wouldn't still have happened being in a brew hauler. Probably not, but I'll never know.

 

[strumke]

Just had a close call with bare feet and dropping a 6G glass carboy. Luckily, the carboy hit something before my foot ad broke off to the side and I only have a few small spots that are bleeding. Any of the giant, sharp chunks could've done a nasty job on mt feet. The 5 & 6 gallon glass carboys are all going after the last batches are finishing in them (I'm keeping the two 3Gs for the time being).

I was using a carboy handle and the neck slipped through right before I set it down.

 

[Dr1nkBeer]

I never got those holders for the neck of carboys.. so many folks here say not to handle them by the neck at all... personally I use plastic buckets as primary's and glass as secondarys.. and fill and keg in very very close vasinity so I dont have to travel far at all with them. The most i handle my carboys (with Beer in them) is from the floor to a shelf. The roughest im with them is when cleaning and sanitizing.. and i've even stopped filling them to top while doing that...

i'm thinking about moving to the better bottles now, i have a few that dont use since getting the glass carboys.. but some of these stories are changing my mind. me like me thumbs and toes to stay where they are, and function.

 

[dbrewski]

Because of this thread, I used the idea of the milk crate as a holder for carrying the carboy. So far so good, if you want to continue to use the glass ones I'd suggest it.

 

[Hang Glider]

These should NEVER be used to haul a carboy, except an empty one.


Milk Crates (the container store online has the old style, thick ones) are easy and quick and the best!

 

[Jeepinctbrewer]

All the more Reason to switch to a better bottle!

 

[Gunpowder]

The advice I would give here is, if you don't have a carrier, but only a carboy handle, and you must lift a full carboy, lift by the neck only. If it breaks it breaks. If you lose the beer, you lose the beer. Better than losing a thumb. But I still enter recommend moving a carboy at all. If your setup forces you to move a full carboy, your setup is poorly thought out. Between siphons and buckets, you shouldn't need to. I realized this and changed my methods. I used to put the carboy on the floor and fill it from the kettle, then lift it to the bench. That hot/cold difference probably makes the glass most vulnerable. I realized this was a piss poor way of doing things. Now I empty the kettle into a sanitized bottling bucket, then I lift the bottling bucket and pour into the carboy. Then I siphon out of the carboy without moving it until its empty.

 

[Gunpowder]

That said, I believe I'm going to buy a brew hauler.