Glass carboy... breaks... 5 gallons gone

[IJesusChrist]

I just finished transferring my final racking of mead, oak chips, sorbate, and k-meta all done, backsweetened to perfection. I take one 750 mL bottle worth's out, for an early present to myself, and I lift the carboy up, crack, the entire bottom has come off.

5 gallons proceeds to flood all over everything in the garage, and I'm stuck there, emotionless.

What. the
f***

 

[northcal]

That sucks, big time!

Maybe look into stainless options for fermenting.

Man that really sucks with a mead...

 

[McGlothan]

This would be the only instance where I would hope you have a lot of dead "homies" Ouch! Whats better do you think? Carboy breaking or dumping a batch due to infection? A broken carboy is out of your control. No way to get it back. The next one better be "better" so you can forget about it. Sorry dude

 

[insanim8er]

Whats better do you think? Carboy breaking or dumping a batch due to infection? A broken carboy is out of your control. No way to get it back. The next one better be "better" so you can forget about it. Sorry dude

Lost carboy. Both result in the loss of the beverage. But the broken carboy requires more money to replace.

I sold all my carboys. I only ferment in kegs now. Best choice ever.

 

[Deadroachdancing]

Maybe you could replace the carboy with the manufacturer, if it's a faulty product you can at least recover some money... Horrible about the mead =[

 

[yewtah-brewha]

ive done 100 gallons in glass for clearing, if one ever breaks from just simply lifting it I will believe it, but I cant imagine it! that suks

 

[W0GWT]

I'd put your carboys into milk crates. I refuse to use better bottles and that's the safety advice I've gotten.


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[max384]

I just finished transferring my final racking of mead, oak chips, sorbate, and k-meta all done, backsweetened to perfection. I take one 750 mL bottle worth's out, for an early present to myself, and I lift the carboy up, crack, the entire bottom has come off.

5 gallons proceeds to flood all over everything in the garage, and I'm stuck there, emotionless.

What. the
f***

After discovering a large crack in one of my six gallon glass carboys a few months ago after carrying it up a flight of stairs and transferring to my keg, I decided to get rid of my glass carboys altogether. The chance of a huge mess or even worse a serious injury are just too real for me to keep using glass when Better Bottles are a readily available alternative.

I always told myself that these glass carboy horror stories were due to people mishandling their carboys or not chekcing them. I always checked my carboys before transferring beer into them, and was always very careful with how I move them around. That crack formed either while sitting on a counter or while gingerly moving it.

I know this doesn't help you with your spilled mead, but I'd definitely switch to another type of fermenter. IMO, glass just isn't worth it.

 

[fatbloke]

I've had this happen, not with a 5 gallon sized jug, but with a 1 gallon one - actually more than once.

The problem seems that if there is a fault in the glass, there's often no way of detecting it - if it's round the bottom half of the container, the weight can cause it to fail in dramatic style, as it sounds like in this case.

I try not to use varying temps of liquid (too cold or too warm) into glass, if I even think or imagine that I hear any kind of cracking/creaking noise, I move it to one of those soft, slightly floppy, two handled buckets, which will hold the best part of 5 gallons and carry/support it that way.

If the top half of the ferment can be lifted off, then I can still siphon the liquid through a fine cloth strainer to collect any possible fine shards of glass.......

Either way, it can be a real bummer when this happens......

There are, as others have pointed out, different types and materials of container. Some have different issues with them and others ? it depends on how deep your pockets are...........

 

[Hopinista]

After I had a glass carboy shatter 4 years ago I switched to plastic. Never been happier. Very sorry for your loss

 

[gratus fermentatio]

I put my carbouys in those 18 gallon Rubbermaid tubs. Contains any leaks or spills, makes it safe & easy to lift them.
Regards, GF.

 

[On-target]

I use both glass and plastic. Haven t had a problem yet. I had a moment of silence for your loss.

 

[SouthernYankee]

After I had a glass carboy shatter 4 years ago I switched to plastic. Never been happier. Very sorry for your loss

Same here, switched to plastic...I'm so much happier.

Sorry for the loss and I feel the pain (money wise).

 

[TrainSafe]

Sorry to say.... Been there done that. Switched to plastic pails.


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[RegarRenill]

My condolences. Had a 6.5 break in December. Bummer about the mead. I was lucky, had almost finished transferring when the cat knocked it over. Only lost about 1/2 gal...losing 5 gal would drive me to drink :-(

 

[IJesusChrist]

Thanks all. I am recovering from my loss slowly, but its hard. Losing something you love is just unfair.

I've heard plastic is harder to clean as one scrape (even minuscule) promotes infection possibilities to a greater degree. That being said, how long do you all keep star-san or whatever you use in your fermenters before dumping out?

I guess I need to buy a brush, my plastic 5 gallon is pretty dirty.

For the homies.

 

[ostensibly]

I'd put your carboys into milk crates. I refuse to use better bottles and that's the safety advice I've gotten.

Out of curiousity, why no better bottles? I have two and they work just as well for secondaries as my glass carboys.

 

[Flboy]

You are not alone with this mess. Get back to where you bought your carboy. The good ones are making good on your entire loss. The Chinese carboys self destruct! Have seen several posts on this.

 

[ReverendJ]

I've had similar experience working in a lab (not with mead) where I made a flask of diluted sulfuric acid. The heat generated from adding the acid to the water caused the whole bottom to come off in one section, thankfully I had it in a secondary container. What happens is a micro-fracture formed near the bottom and between the mixture of temperature change (even just a few degrees) and the weight caused the carboy to fail. Always inspect your carboys for "star cracks" (pic as an example) they may be small but they can make things go bad in a hurry. Also, I cried a little on the inside after reading your post.

 

[CountryGravy]

The thought of this makes me sick.

I haven't used glass in about 5 years, three of which I wasn't brewing I have no reason other than I have children around and I move a lot - neither of which are conducive to glass... anything.

I am sorry to hear about the time and effort you've lost, but I hope you push forward and find some good solutions.

 

[IslandLizard]

That's really sad and devastating. I'm so sorry that happened. On the plus side, be glad you didn't get cut.

I've seen many reports here of the bottoms of glass carboys sheering off. There is some mention that newer carboys are coming from China, allegedly, and are inferior to the Italian ones, that look just like them. Maybe it's a production flaw. Tipping them onto the bottom's edge seems to be the most common problem, particularly on hard surfaces. But there are also many reports of them disintegrating out of nowhere.

I still use the old Mexican and Italian carboys for secondaries and long term aging. My primary fermentors will be plastic buckets from here on, just bought a few. Not sure how to deal with secondaries if I really need them, fruit etc. The glass ones are still the best for that IMO. Or a corny keg...

 

[W0GWT]

Out of curiousity, why no better bottles? I have two and they work just as well for secondaries as my glass carboys.

I just don't like the increased contamination risk. <what I tell myself>

It seems everyone tries too hard to push better bottles and I get tired of it. <the truth>




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