Gallon marks on a carboy

[RegionalChaos]

If you are going to use metal, I would recommend getting some stainless and not using random angle iron. Most steel suppliers could sell you a piece of stainless about 50% cheaper then a box store will like Lowes. Steel suppliers tend to have scraps laying around they will part with extra cheap as well.

 

[rdwj]

I have painter's tape on mine. I've had the same piece of tape on there for over a year with no problems. I don't see any reason to use anything else.

 

[Alemental]

This time I marked the carboy and then I got a piece of wood, stood it up next to the carboy and transferred the marks to it.

I have a similar idea going on. I measured the increments on a carboy, and wrote them down. Then I cut some wood scraps on the band saw to match the curves of the carboy. Now, all I have to do is match the curved pieces and the measurements on a piece of plywood and cut it out with the band saw. I'm debating putting the profile of a 5 gallon carboy on the other side of the template, or just make separate units.

 

[Plan9]

I etched marks on mine tonight.

I obviously used painters tape to mask off the liines.
I picked up some number stickers to mask off the gallon numbers.

Masked off...

Marked on two sides...

Being filled and hopped...

I used a paste I picked up at the craft store.
It came out more faint than the flash shows.

 

[PintOfBitter]

I wouldn't mechanically scratch the glass. That's asking for trouble.

I used some of the decorative chemical etch that you can get at a craft store - I think the active ingredient is hydrofluoric acid or formic acid or something.

I bought the stuff to etch a set of pilsner glasses with my initial (what can I say, I was new to homebrewing and was turbo excited). It just creates a permanent frost look like the frosted glass you see in some windows. Shouldn't create much of a stress riser in the glass.

The bottle was about $10, and the etch happens in less than a minute. Having the marks is really handy!

_____________________

Oops, looks like Plan9 beat me to the punch. Oh well.

 

[RichBrewer]

I etched marks on mine tonight.

I obviously used painters tape to mask off the liines.
I picked up some number stickers to mask off the gallon numbers.

Masked off...

Marked on two sides...

Being filled and hopped...

I used a paste I picked up at the craft store.
It came out more faint than the flash shows.

Now that is just flat out awesome!

 

[DuPuma]

Hey Rich,

Good idea, but...

I have one thing to add for your consideration. I have a wooden spoon I use in my brew kettle. I marked it with depths to be able to tell the volume of the wort as it boiled. Worked great for a while. Suddenly my volumes started not adding up. I finally realized why. Wood likes to expand and contract depending on temperature and especially humidity. Okay, so a spoon placed in boiling wort is going to warp more than your stick, but still. Something to consider.

I did this with my plastic brew spoon. I etched out notches for each gallon, and then one at 5.5 gallons for the finished volume. This actually caused some confusion last time I brewed, because I filled to the wrong pre-boil mark, and the volume was all messed up. I blame my own idiocity, but I don't think I'm going to use the spoon's marks for anything more than a rough ball park anymore.

I've put duct tape on the carboy and marked off 4 - 6 gallons, each mark at 1/2 a gallon. Works great (better than the spoon...).