Careful with Glass Carboys

[Ceetar]

I like the glass over plastic. Plastic always makes me nervous with scratches and bacteria and all that. And I like to be able to see the beer without prying the lid off.

I haven't broken on yet, although I was cleaning a rocks glass to take a sample of afelwein the other day to make sure it was fermented and managed to break the glass and then slice up my knuckle trying to clean it up.

 

[Yambor44]

Hmmm, wouldn't you be better off with a milk crate than a brew hauler? The crate would cushion any impact and would help contain the broken glass.

I have a bucket and a carboy and specifically asked for a kit with a carboy for Christmas from my SWMBO, before I was aware of the safety issues. Now I'm thinking the carboy is never going to leave the basement, but I still need to move it around for siphoning and cleaning, so l'm looking for the safest way to handle it.

Mike

Mike,

I bought several plastic milk crates online (google them) and as mentioned earlier, each one of my carboys now has a plastic milk crate home.

 

[Yambor44]

I saw someone lift a 5 gallon glass by the neck with one of those neck handles and the whole neck snapped off, then the carboy fell, shattered and spilled beer all over the place... that said I still use glass... theres really no excuse except that I think it looks cooler... and my empty plastic ones always smell like beer but the glass ones smell like nothing..

I was just telling a fellow brewer this yesterday. everyone say's plastic doesn't harbor any bacteria. Obviously it is permeable enough to harbor odors/hop & beer aroma which has always made me wonder what else it may be harboring. Maybe nothing, but who nose....<--- I crack myself up sometimes.....

 

[Yambor44]

LMAO! have to think though big ass glass carboy gonna do more damage then a small glass I think the biggest issue is when it breaks or falls is peoples first thought is to try and catch it! LET THAT THING GO! If it slips get the hell out of there!

Amen brother...

 

[Logzor]

Would it make sense to wrap duct-tape around part of the carboy to mitigate damage should it break? Specifically those incidents where the carboy suddenly breaks during cleaning, of course this wouldn't make a bit of different should someone drop the carboy...

Maybe 3 rows of tape vertically and 3 horizontally around the bottom.

That way, should it break, the tape would help hold it together rather than it immediately slicing into your body without warning.

A few pieces of tape on the outside wouldn't really obstruct anything.

 

[Shoegaze99]

This whole argument is stupid.

There is nothing stupid about discussing the pros and cons of various pieces of equipment, nor is there anything stupid about homebrewers discussing why they chose one piece of equipment over another.

 

[flabyboy]

Not really an argument either

 

[eastoak]

i've gone all plastic since my two little girls are always trying to "help" me on my brew days. if anyone in the sf bay area wants 2 glass carboys i have them for $20 each.

 

[corkybstewart]

My son was taking beer glasses off a shelf to put out for a party. He left one too close to the shelf edge and somehow it fell off. It bounced off a sack of malt and hit a carboy full of brett hefewiezen. We were about 15' away and just heard a strange "clink" sound, then the aroma and sight of brett hefewiezen running through the garage hit. No one was hurt but I did waste 5 gallons of excellent beer that would have been kegged within a week. Now I do secondary in the keg.

 

[Airplanedoc]

So if I read correctly in 39 posts there have been only 2 people who have personal experience with a glass carboy breaking.

FWIW I still use glass carboys.

 

[eastoak]

So if I read correctly in 39 posts there have been only 2 people who have personal experience with a glass carboy breaking.

FWIW I still use glass carboys.

that says nothing about their safety.

 

[BamaRooster]

I use plastic....I am a klutz!!

 

[mtk6006]

Two times is two times too many But thats just my opinion

 

[Airplanedoc]

that says nothing about their safety.

Neither does a story from my cousin's, sister's husband's, best friend's, college roommate who broke a carboy once. Since we really don't know what happened.

 

[eastoak]

Neither does a story from my cousin's, sister's husband's, best friend's, college roommate who broke a carboy once. Since we really don't know what happened.

yes it does, and i do.

 

[lowtones84]

Why do these posts seem to come up every couple of days now? Is someone trying to sell better bottles or something?

I've used both carboys and buckets effectively. I've always been extremely careful when handling carboys, though accidents can happen no matter how careful you are. I like glass, and have never had an issue. It's the reason we drink nice beer and wine out of glass instead of plastic. Even without getting into anything scientific, it does just -seem- cleaner and more pure. Sometimes I feel like people are being disparaged for using glass carboys, which isn't cool in my opinion. The OP does seem to just be a reminder though, nothing wrong with that,

 

[eastoak]

Why do these posts seem to come up every couple of days now? Is someone trying to sell better bottles or something?

I've used both carboys and buckets effectively. I've always been extremely careful when handling carboys, though accidents can happen no matter how careful you are. I like glass, and have never had an issue. It's the reason we drink nice beer and wine out of glass instead of plastic. Even without getting into anything scientific, it does just -seem- cleaner and more pure. Sometimes I feel like people are being disparaged for using glass carboys, which isn't cool in my opinion. The OP does seem to just be a reminder though, nothing wrong with that,

sooooo, what are you saying?

 

[mtk6006]

I think he trying to say someone here associated with brewing materials and trying to push products. Be honest i dont care if that is happening i need all kinds of stuff! I love new toys Just found out about bottle rinser things I NEED ONE! Hell i buy everything if i had enough money. I want to have 20 fermenters going by summer time! I just need bottles where i dont have to pay shipping WHOOO got way offtopic there huh?

 

[teaser452]

Ok. Been brewing a couple of weeks. Wife bought me 4 glass carboys. I added another bucket this weekend. Was the wife secretly trying to kill me?

Seen the better bottles at the LHBS. I hate plastic. Hate it.

My other hobby is wood working. I have tools in my basement that can take your arm off or your head, if you're not careful.

A reminder to always take your time, be careful and know what you're doing is always appreciated.

I will stick with glass.

 

[Jayhem]

I never move my glass carboys without carrying them in a sturdy milkcrate.

Heavy
Slippery
Bulky
Fragile
Razor sharp when broken

^ These are a recipe for disaster if you are not careful.

 

[iparks81]

Im a fan of glass...but being that I have had to replace everything thats glass in my brewing equipment (bull in the china closet)...I went and traded my 5 gal glass carboy for a 6 gal better bottle at my LHBS ..I'd rather brew in plastic than take the chance.

 

[arnoldk2]

I cracked a glass carboy a month ago. I literally bumped on the counter as I was cleaning the carboy. I was being careful but s#!t happens. I bought another glass carboy. The reason for buying another glass carboy is because I read where PBW reacts with better bottles and creates pits in the plastic. Does anyone use better bottles and PBW? If so, any reactions between the two? Im still not sold on better bottles because I really don't understand how to clean them without scratching them. Anyone want to chime in on this?

 

[eastoak]

I cracked a glass carboy a month ago. I literally bumped on the counter as I was cleaning the carboy. I was being careful but s#!t happens. I bought another glass carboy. The reason for buying another glass carboy is because I read where PBW reacts with better bottles and creates pits in the plastic. Does anyone use better bottles and PBW? If so, any reactions between the two? Im still not sold on better bottles because I really don't understand how to clean them without scratching them. Anyone want to chime in on this?

i think the whole scratch in the plastic thing is way overblown. there are people on these boards who are using 5-10 yr old buckets with no problems and others who will throw out a new bucket because of a scratch. what you won't find is anyone who has gotten an infection that could be traced to a scratch! PBW did not pit my better bottles after a 24hr soak.

 

[arnoldk2]

i think the whole scratch in the plastic thing is way overblown. there are people on these boards who are using 5-10 yr old buckets with no problems and others who will throw out a new bucket because of a scratch. what you won't find is anyone who has gotten an infection that could be traced to a scratch! PBW did not pit my better bottles after a 24hr soak.

Nice to know there isn't a reaction. Do you use a carboy brush on the better bottles or do you just do a 24 hour soak in PBW?

 

[Jayhem]

I never did understand the whole "plastic scratches" thing either. A scratch is still penetrated by a good sanitizer soak like Star San....it will be just as sanitary as a non-scratched vessel. If bacteria can find its way into a scratch so will sanitizer.

 

[rjsnau]

Up until a few months ago I was still using my original plastic bucket from my starter kit 7 years ago. I was never hard on it nor was I gentle, I just would wash it with a scrub brush after. It did smell like beer but I never had any flavor transferred to the next batch. I also never had a single infection in 7 years. Recently I got a glass carboy and a better bottle. I honestly hate the carboy and am only going to use it for long secondaries. It is heavy and very slippery. As for the better bottle, I love it. PBW in it for 30-60 minutes gets everything loose, no scrubbing needed and after 5 batches I don't notice any pitting. Plus that is how the company recommends cleaning them so I would have to believe it is fine.

My point is, use what you are comfortable but don't buy into the hype either way. Glass can be very safe if you are very careful and use a carboy hauler or milk crate. But there is also nothing wrong with plastic and the whole scratch thing is way overplayed too often.

 

[DeafSmith]

Seems like one of the main reasons for carboys breaking, aside from obvious things like dropping them or bumping them is "spontaneously" breaking during cleaning. I think think this may be a combination of hot cleaning solution or rinse water in a cool carboy combined with people holding a full or half full carboy while emptying it or swirling the liquid to rinse it. The weight of the liquid in the horizontal or upended carboy, possibly combined with thermal stress from hot cleaning solution or rinse water causes it to break with no warning.

The way I handle my glass carboy is to always support it in a milk crate or BrewHauler when it has any appreciable amount of liquid in it. I always empty the liquid by siphoning it out (except for the very last quart or two). I soak the carboy in an OxiClean solution to clean it, then siphon that out, spray the inside with a hose with the carboy lying on its side, never putting in more than a couple of quarts, roll the carboy back and forth to rinse, then upend it to drain, being very careful not to bump it. Repeat as many times as needed. I think that only putting in a small amount of water and rolling the carboy back and forth reduces thermal stress and the small weight of the liquid inside certainly reduces mechanical stress when I upend the carboy to drain it. And of course I make sure that neither the carboy nor my hands are slippery when I grab hold of it.

 

[DeafSmith]

For precautions when cleaning Better Bottles to prevent damage to the BB, the BB web site has some good info:

http://www.better-bottle.com/technical.html

Click on the Wash/Sanitize tab and scroll down to "Washing - Easy Does It".

 

[BetterSense]

The way I handle my glass carboy is to always support it in a milk crate or BrewHauler when it has any appreciable amount of liquid in it. I always empty the liquid by siphoning it out (except for the very last quart or two). I soak the carboy in an OxiClean solution to clean it, then siphon that out, spray the inside with a hose with the carboy lying on its side, never putting in more than a couple of quarts, roll the carboy back and forth to rinse, then upend it to drain, being very careful not to bump it.

I think this is a good system. If followed perfectly and never disrupted by random and unforeseen events, and provided you don't get a defective carboy, a handling regimen like this will probably reduce the chances of being maimed by giant glass shards.

However, I have a better system: use buckets and wash/store/handle them however the %*#^ you want, and have zero risk of being maimed by giant glass shards or losing beer due to breakage. ADDED BONUS: the opening is 120 times larger in area (yes I did calculate it)

 

[Shoegaze99]

I'd prefer to use glass across the board, however, I know myself. I'm NOT careful, I have a few beers when I brew, and I'm a small enough guy that handling full glass carboys is a sketchy proposition. So for me personally, I skip glass except in the case of secondaries. Best way to prevent disaster.

But glass has plenty of advantages. It's easy to see why for some people it's the way to go.

As other have said, use what works for you. There is no "right" way to do it.