Dropped My Carboy Today (with beer inside)

[one-L]

I don't hold a full carboy directly. If you somehow grab a weak spot, it will go right into your hand. I'm not a "glass is evil worry wort" either but I am smart enough to know that if the bottom breaks, you'll have 50lbs pushing the broken pieces into your hand and arm. I just found a hairline crack on the bottom of one of mine. If I were to have lifted it with my hand at that spot...it would have broken. I have never dropped this carboy. I don't know where the crack came from.

This. As someone who had a blood and gore experience, and stitches, and not from dropping, but from picking up one hand on the neck and one on the bottom and having the bottom drop out in almost a perfect circle, were I to use one again, it would be in a milk crate or something else. Had the neck slipped out of my hand, I would have lost fingers on the hand holding the bottom, instead of just having stitches. Anyway, glad to see this thread didn't end the way I was worried it would. to the OP. Hope you enjoy every last drop of that tripel (one for every drop of my DIPA that soaked into my bedroom carpet instead of into my liver).

 

[jtdrowns]

I checked the gravity a couple hours ago, it was 1.016. Not sure if the drop/transfer pumped up the yeast or if that was going to happen anyway had I not dropped/transferred. So, I think we should all test the affects of dropping your glass carboy near the end of fermentation.... ha.

 

[chemman14]

There's no somehow about it. The brew hauler is seriously flawed. I bought one about a year ago, tied it once to my carboy, realized it was one of the most clumsy solutions to the carboy holding problem, and threw it away. This thing is a hazard, holding the carboy from the bottom is safer than this.

How? I have used them for 4 years now with no problem

 

[ido50]

How? I have used them for 4 years now with no problem

The brew hauler is just three thin strips that come together at the bottom. It's so flimsy, it's easy for the strips to dislocate. I had it strapped to an empty 3 gallon carboy and the strips gave way the moment I lifted the carboy. Fortunately, it happened just a few inches from the floor so nothing happened, but I realised this thing was risky. I found a milk crate a few days later, and that's much better.

I am fully aware the brew hauler can do the job with no problem for a long time and not everyone will face problems. However, this product seems so cheaply built that I really don't feel safe using it. If they made it with a solid base (I dont necessarily mean rigid), that would already be a big improvement.

 

[Malric]

Is the brew hauler spec'd for 3 gallon carboys? I've used it on 5 and 6.5, but I would imagine that it is too large for a small carboy.

 

[chemman14]

The brew hauler is just three thin strips that come together at the bottom. It's so flimsy, it's easy for the strips to dislocate. I had it strapped to an empty 3 gallon carboy and the strips gave way the moment I lifted the carboy. Fortunately, it happened just a few inches from the floor so nothing happened, but I realised this thing was risky. I found a milk crate a few days later, and that's much better.

I am fully aware the brew hauler can do the job with no problem for a long time and not everyone will face problems. However, this product seems so cheaply built that I really don't feel safe using it. If they made it with a solid base (I dont necessarily mean rigid), that would already be a big improvement.

Thats like saying this glock is a terrible product because I shot myself in the leg with it...

 

[Channel66]

Thats like saying this glock is a terrible product because I shot myself in the leg with it...

Nah glock makes a terrible product for far more reasons than that. Just like the brew hauler, it's simply a bad product by design. Which I'm certain is his point....

 

[JustBrewinAround]

Nah glock makes a terrible product for far more reasons than that. Just like the brew hauler, it's simply a bad product by design. Which I'm certain is his point....

You'd be hard-pressed to hit yourself in the the leg on the first shot with a glock.
Now back to the Brew Hauler, I just got mine a few days ago and just looking at the lack of stitching in the connections of the webbing makes me not want to use it (even though I did once so far). I am fortunate enough to have a well equipped parachute shop at work that can stitch in some heavier-duty nylon thread into the connections.

 

[ido50]

Nah glock makes a terrible product for far more reasons than that. Just like the brew hauler, it's simply a bad product by design. Which I'm certain is his point....

Exactly.

A glass carboy has its risks, so you have to be careful with it. The Brew Hauler and other products (like carboy handles) are meant to make it safer to use a glass carboy. Instead, I have to be careful with the brew hauler too and worry about it as well. Instead of decreasing my worries about using a glass carboy, it increases them. And I'm sure that's not just me (several topics on this board prove otherwise).

As it happens, I no longer use glass carboys (had 2 five gallon and 1 three gallon carboys), I now use Speidel's HDPE fermenters instead (man, these things are awesome), so these worries are a thing of the past. As much as I liked glass carboys (mostly for their look), I've made great effort to make brewing a relaxing hobby.

 

[chemman14]

You'd be hard-pressed to hit yourself in the the leg on the first shot with a glock.
Now back to the Brew Hauler, I just got mine a few days ago and just looking at the lack of stitching in the connections of the webbing makes me not want to use it (even though I did once so far). I am fortunate enough to have a well equipped parachute shop at work that can stitch in some heavier-duty nylon thread into the connections.

Maybe I have an older version of the brew hauler but all of mine have stitching across the entire width of the nylon straps.