First screw up... boy.. with pic

[Bmorebrew]

Whenever I read on here about another dropped or broken glass carboy, I always think of this post: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/carboy-dangers-potential-death-232037/

 

[cwheel]

yikes, was that spent grain or a cooler full of sparge water?

FYI - check out a recent BN interview with the Trogner brothers. Nugget Nectar is alledgedly 80% Vienna. I've got a few 1 gallon test batches so see if I can reproduce.

 

[MoronBrothersBrewery]

We actually collected 6 gallons in our first runnings, so we ended up with a nice, high gravity, 5 gal batch. Thanks for the info, this was a recipe we found on Hopville.com, not an exact clone, but a good beer none the less (minus 5 gallons).

 

[C17-EHSE]

A carboy carrier or milk crate works well. Don't use the type of handle that you had on that carboy, it isn't designed to pick up a full carboy.

OK, it's the only type I've seen. It's what I've been using. What should we be using?

Mike

Never mind, just reread what you wrote. Sheesh..Long day at work.

 

[Bobby_M]

Am I the only one with a fleeting suspicion that some of these glass horror stories we hear about are fabricated by the Better Bottle makers to drive up sales?

BTW, I am about to start my first brew in a BB, but I did just order a glass Paklab carboy from Amazon.

No, we've been around here long enough to see our peers hurt themselves and post pictures to prove it. Of course, it could be a long term conspiracy where staff at the BB company joins HBT, poses noob questions, becomes accepted and then a year later fakes the pictures using stage blood.

You've got to admire a company with a solid 5-10 year strategy.

 

[Bubba]

All the more reason to use plastic buckets.

 

[Jsmith82]

While we are the subject of disasters... here is what happened to us.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekuOyFXBMLU

Jeez man, I saw your buddy (or maybe you) was wearing open toed sandals when that dropped, a 155 degree mash is enough to do some damage, hopefully you didn't catch a burn. Total bummer on a grain bill that large..

Sympathies to the OP, thank goodness for the swamp cooler. It's never crossed my mind that a carboy accident while filled would explode outward, which makes total sense, just one of those things most people don't think about but now I will. Good topic.

 

[Jayman931]

You can't blame the carboy...thats like blaming a hammer for hitting your thumb. You can hurt yourself doing anything....If i post pictures of car accidents is that gonna make you order online instead of driving to the LHBS?

 

[pm5k00]

that sucks....

+1 to buckets and better bottles.

 

[bovineblitz]

As a matter of fact, the name is in reference to the band, one of my favorite bands of all time :rockin:! In fact i'm planning on seeing them in concert this Saturday!

Come on everybody, come on let's get wasted!!!

 

[BrewForMe]

My condolences to the OP. I use glass too and I love it and will never switch. +1 on the milk crates, they work great and offer a little barrier to protect from subtle bumps. I often think about tragedies like this when I am shuffling mine around as my fermentation freezer is in my garage 100 yards away from my house. Every time i carry on there or back, it gets heavier and heavier and I fear one will slip out of my hands some day. :rockin:

 

[AgingHopster]

Am I the only one with a fleeting suspicion that some of these glass horror stories we hear about are fabricated by the Better Bottle makers to drive up sales?.

Nope. You are not. Sometimes I wonder too. There are so many people in the online product promotion business these days.

 

[AdamPag]

Aaaand Thats why I dont use glass!

I actually dropped one of my BB's while it was full of wort and it just bounced. I lol'd

 

[jimmayhugh]

Better bottles FTW!

+1

Use nothing but better bottles so far. Just scored a rubber coated keg that I'm looking at for 10gal batches. :rockin:

Also picked up a stainless steel fermenter that I'm going to play with.

 

[jholen]

Sucks man!

I feel your pain. I'm testing out better bottles right now, just wish they had a bit large capacity as the 6.5 gallon glass carboys have!

Glad you were not hurt in the accident.

 

[cincydave]

I'm betting thermal shock. Wort was still pretty warm, right? and the water in teh cooler was already icy, right?.... yeah, don't do that

I was thinking this as well. The inside of the cooler wouldn't be like hitting on concrete or something. What was the temp difference between the wort and water in cooler?

I just picked up an old 5 gallon water jug for 5 bucks. It's from the Minehaha water company. The glass seems really thick compared to carboys I've seen. Haven't used it yet.

 

[Yambor44]

I don't understand why one would want to use better bottles instead of a plastic ale pale? Plastic buckets are... well...plastic, just like BB's and are WAAAAY easier to use all the way around and are less expensive.

 

[anengineer]

..my sympathies

 

[jimmayhugh]

I don't understand why one would want to use better bottles instead of a plastic ale pale? Plastic buckets are... well...plastic, just like BB's and are WAAAAY easier to use all the way around and are less expensive.

It's like ice cream; some like vanilla, some like chocolate, I like rocky road...

I always had problems with my bucket lids breaking at inopportune times, not being able to keep SWMBO from using the bucket for something else "just this once", and no matter how gently I tried to clean it, it always got scratched.

I've had none of these problems with better bottles, plus the ported versions make transfers and bottling a breeze. I can purge the air out of my secondary with CO2, and transfer from my primary with little or no oxidation risk. Look here under "Closed Loop Racking"

 

[Yambor44]

JH,

I understand. However, I don't see how one can scratch a bucket while cleaning but not a BB. Not trying to get into a pissing contest, just apples to apples.

I use a terry cloth hand towel to clean my buckets. The two I did manage to scratch early in my brewing career are now used for weighing and grinding grain on brew day.

With the better bottle there is a way to clean with a cloth (push a small hand towel in there and shake it around) but it's no easier than cleaning a bucket with a towel. With a bucket I just use hot water from a utility sink ( I understand everyone doesn't have this option) to rinse the trub/yeast cake and kruesen ring out, then add PBW or Oxi to a couple quarts of hot water and wash with the cloth. Rinse good with cold water and turn upside to dry.

With all of that being said, I have been using 6 gallon glass carboys to ferment in on my last 12-15 batches. I place them in plastic milk crates that I bought online. I try and do all I can in the milk crates but at some point it has to come out (for me) for cleaning, sanitizing etc. and there in will always be the risk.

I am not saying glass is safer or even safe, because it isn't. You can be as safe as you want, but that's why an accident is called an accident and not an "on purpose". I'm just saying that if you want to go plastic, buckets are cheaper, easier to maintain and easier to move around.

 

[Screech]

This scares me. I just purchased a brew hauler.

Kevin

 

[Yambor44]

This scares me. I just purchased a brew hauler.

Kevin

Brewhaulers are great, but you your carboy is still very exposed. A plastic milk-crate is the key. I use both sometimes.

 

[Clann]

Milkcrates rule!

 

[Yambor44]

Amen!

http://www.uline.com/Product/ProductDetailRootItem.Aspx?modelnumber=S-16317

 

[AZOTH99]

I do my primary in a bucket, then tranfer into a glass carboy for the secondary.


I'll probably look into the milk crates now though. So far knock on wood haven't had an issue with the glass. I figure I shouldn't have any issues due to varying temps with my method. Just have to be carefull not to slam anything down.

 

[phuff7129]

Milk crates look like a good option but for an old guy like me picking it up off of the floor looks a little difficult. I just bought brew haulers for my carboys and I like them alot.

 

[NJtarheel]

Not to be morbid, but, for your own health, switch to a plastic bucket. Easy to clean, use, etc...

My brother was killed by a glass carboy!

 

[peterson82]

I took my one week old wort in a glass carboy out of the kegerater to shake up the yeast because it wasn't eating up the sugar anymore. I had a harness around it, that I thought was impenetrable. I was only holding it about 3 feet above my apartment floor when it slipped out of one of the harness loops. My immediate reaction was to try and kick-save it. My (almost) bare foot took the brunt of the 5.5 gallons of liquid and glass container. Then it shattered on my foot and left me with nice slices all over.
Most of the liquid went under the sink, dishwasher, cabinets. And the neighbors thought my dishwasher had overflowed!

I am still using glass carboys, but I respect them now And do not use that stupid harness.

 

[overdbus]

wow, stuff like that makes me think I will never buy a glass carboy

again....

 

[passedpawn]

I took my one week old wort in a glass carboy out of the kegerater to shake up the yeast because it wasn't eating up the sugar anymore. I had a harness around it, that I thought was impenetrable. I was only holding it about 3 feet above my apartment floor when it slipped out of one of the harness loops. My immediate reaction was to try and kick-save it. My (almost) bare foot took the brunt of the 5.5 gallons of liquid and glass container. Then it shattered on my foot and left me with nice slices all over.
Most of the liquid went under the sink, dishwasher, cabinets. And the neighbors thought my dishwasher had overflowed!

I am still using glass carboys, but I respect them now And do not use that stupid harness.

Kick-save just got added to my vocabulary. Thanks!