Careful with Glass Carboys

[DeafSmith]

I normally ferment in Better Bottles, but I do occasionally use my one glass carboy for longer term aging. Oh, one other safety precaution I forgot to mention above, I never drink while brewing (until the yeast is pitched) or while doing anything with my glass carboy.

 

[eastoak]

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?

i use a brush to get the krausen ring off even though a soak would do it just as well because i don't want to waste water if i don't have to.

 

[Grinder12000]

I had infections that were traced back to my bucket. I'll never use a plastic bucket after 30 batches after that experience. Micro scratches do occurs. Wasted 5 batches replacing everything. Finally I dumped the bucket and I ran clean for the first time in 5 batches.

 

[MKEbrew]

My take on this whole thread is that everyone has great ideas. Me, I have 2 glass carboys that are a pain to clean. I dropped one into the sink when cleaning it once. It only fell about 3 inches & has no visible damage. It's been through a bunch of batches since then. Im much more careful now, though.

Of course, I'm also much more careful when I drive ever since I crashed into a tree. I double check all of my floppy disks before I format them. I wash my glass after it comes out of the dishwasher just to be sure its clean. I carry lysol wipes & wash all public door knobs before I touch them. The list could go forever. I think its silly to argue over which *should* be used, but its not silly to explain why you as an individual chose one over the other.

I see pros and cons with each item. What I haven't found yet is a clear bucket.

Who is going to film a "dangerous jobs" now? Glass carboys, boiling wort, explosive fermentations......

 

[MKEbrew]

I had infections that were traced back to my bucket. I'll never use a plastic bucket after 30 batches after that experience. Micro scratches do occurs. Wasted 5 batches replacing everything. Finally I dumped the bucket and I ran clean for the first time in 5 batches.

Are you saying you switched to glass?

Anyone have scratched glass? Carboy cleaner related damage?

 

[Butter]

I gotta say, if you didn't know a huge 6.5 gal GLASS bottle could cause damage when it broke, and to be EXTREMELY careful with it, then you should stay locked in a padded room. And I don't buy the 'spontaneous breaking' scare tactic either. Maybe 1 in a 1000 break for no reason, but I'm pretty sure the 'victim' of such an occurrence did something really stupid to cause that to happen. IMO.

 

[novaau]

I had a plastic fermenter come with my original equipment kit from MoreBeer, but I had trouble transferring to secondary, and it warped the crap out of it, to the point of there being white creases all over it, so I am scared to use it again. That leaves me 3 6.5 glass carboys (bought used at a going out business sale at a winemaking shop for $10/ea). I was kind of scared to use glass for a primary for my second beer (brewed Sunday), but so far, so good. I will obtain some milk crates ASAP,though.

 

[Jav1687]

http://www.indiegogo.com/1Bskin?a=624377

 

[tduro]

It's not only the clumsy that can be hurt by glass carboys. I've used glass carboys exclusively for over 15 years, for both primary and secondary fermentation. I brew about 20 batches per year. That's 300 batches X 2 = 600 times I've handled, sanitized, and rinsed a carboy. I have always been careful and never had an issue until last weekend. While lifting the carboy to pour a small amount of rinse water into the sink (one hand on the neck and one hand under the bottom, just like always), the bottom fell out of the carboy without warning. There was nothing I could do to prevent the broken glass from doing significant damage to my hand. I have 2 other carboys which I'll continue to use, but I'll be switching to plastic for primary. Now I just need to decide between plastic bucket and plastic carboy.

 

[BL41R]

Do you guys use the carboy straps? The handles make it a lot easier

 

[Raygun]

http://www.indiegogo.com/1Bskin?a=624377

That doesn't seem like it was too successful a campaign. However, it does seem like heat-shrinking plastic around at least the very bottom of a carboy could protect against catastrophic failures, or at least keep things contained if it does.