Glass carboy explosion

[mikegrady]

Has anyone ever experience this. Been using this glass carboy for many years. Was fermenting a strong Belgian Ale (OG 1.078). Was 3 days into fermentation. Temp was 72 and heavy fermentation was over. Checked on it before going @ 7:30 PM and blow off tube was bubbling at a slow rate. Woke up the next morning to this (see pictures). Glass was all over the basement. 5" chunks hit the stucco wall 20 feet away and chipped the wall. Fine glass shards everywhere. Needless to say a very nice ale was sitting in a pool on the floor.
If someone had been standing next to it when it happened...not good. It baffles me how so much pressure could have built up that late in the fermentation process. The bung did not move one bit in then neck of the carboy but it was definitely in their tight, in hindsight probably too tight. I have to assume there was a latent failure of the carboy due to a condition that was undetectable to the naked eye. I am going back to plastic.

 

[DrankGoodness]

i love my carboys, but i'm afraid of em. i'm thinking about plastic too.

 

[Teromous]

Is there a broken carboy? I couldn't stop staring at that awesome wall.

The bung did not move one bit in then neck of the carboy but it was definitely in their tight, in hindsight probably too tight.

Did you have an undrilled stopper in there? I tend to keep airlocks on everything so stuff like this (specifically) does not happen.

 

[Hoppity]

I had one shear in two, due to a clogged S-shaped airlock. Could you tell if the blow-off tube got clogged?

 

[edroberts]

Yikes! That's pretty frightening. Makes me glad I only secondary in glass.
I would assume there was some clogging of your airlock. Bung must have been tight enough that it was easier for a weakness in the glass to let pressure out than the bung/airlock.

I had a 3-piece airlock get clogged on a heffe which ended up blowing the lid off a bucket. Lid was 20ft away when I found it. I think that was also 2-3 days in, and my OG wasn't as high as your's. Since then I've always used a blowoff tube for at least the first 3 days of fermentation, especially if I have an aggressive yeast or a decent amount of wheat/oats/rye in the grain bill.

 

[Blue_State]

I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

 

[Sailingeric]

 

[brick_haus]

Wow, glad nobody was hurt.

Now, A moment of silence for the Strong Belgian Ale...

 

[Kevin79]

Haha, I can only imagine how often that picture is going to be used in this forum from this point on. You were just holstering that picture, waiting for the opportunity weren't you?

In all seriousness though, that's crazy. I could imagine a glass carboy cracking, or perhaps a small chunk breaking off from pressure. But from the pics and your description it looks like that thing went off like a grenade. Glad no one got hurt and hope the damage wasn't too bad.

 

[Calder]

I always cringe and hold my comments when anyone says they have a blow-off and it is a small diameter tube pushed onto an airlock. I assume that is what you have from the tubing in the pictures.

I always use 1.25 inch diameter tubing that fits in the openings of my fermenters in place of the stoppers. I usually don't need it, but sometimes there is a lot of activity going through it that I would worry with anything smaller.

Nice wall, lots of wine, and a pool table too, Nice set-up. Very fortunate you don't have carpet.

 

[markvale5]

Hahahaha

 

[Westermans]

Brilliant!

 

[passedpawn]

youch. I'd like to hear more from the OP about the possible cause of this disaster.

 

[MaddBaggins]

youch. I'd like to hear more from the OP about the possible cause of this disaster.

Me too. I've been using glass carboys for secondary for 17 years and never became worried until I started reading this forum.

Forums make you crazy...:cross:

 

[day_trippr]

[...]I always use 1.25 inch diameter tubing that fits in the openings of my fermenters in place of the stoppers. I usually don't need it, but sometimes there is a lot of activity going through it that I would worry with anything smaller.[...]

Same here, every batch gets the big fat blow-off whether it needs it or not, no worries...

Cheers!

 

[k1ngl1ves]

Yep! 1 1/4" OD tubing fits nice and snug in 6g and up glass carboys. I've never seen one clog.

Anything's possible though...

 

[BigJack]

Glad nobody was injured. This is why I will never use a glass carboy. Ever.

 

[kh54s10]

Glad nobody was injured. This is why I will never use a glass carboy. Ever.

This. I opted for plastic 4 years ago. No regrets since.

 

[kh54s10]

Glad nobody was injured. This is why I will never use a glass carboy. Ever.

This. I opted for plastic 4 years ago. No regrets since. I will never use glass carboys.

 

[b-boy]

I stopped using glass carboys a few years back. This just reinforces my decision. Pretty scary!

Cool basement BTW. Looks like Italy,

 

[Bobcatbrewing42]

It is somewhat difficult to clean but I sometimes ferment in a sanke keg with a drilled cork that fits and a blow off tube. I can handle it with impunity and let it ferment in any kind of light. I really like to watch my yeast at work though and hate to lose that.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

I like my glass carboy. I use it for apple wine and secondaries (which are rare). I treat it like the bomb that it is though. I once sacrificed a live chicken over the carboy during a pumpkin ale in hopes of satisfying the carboy gods not to blow the fugg up in my house before I can taste this beautiful nectar......it worked. My pumpkin ale was delicious!

 

[beergolf]

Holy chit. I can't imagine how that could happen. That thing looks like a bomb went off..

I am glad I use buckets for most of my brews. I do have several carboys I use for sours and brett beers. They all live in milk crates.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

It is somewhat difficult to clean but I sometimes ferment in a sanke keg with a drilled cork that fits and a blow off tube. I can handle it with impunity and let it ferment in any kind of light. I really like to watch my yeast at work though and hate to lose that.

For a Sanke, I love this:

http://www.brewershardware.com/Sanke-Fermentor-Kits/

 

[OldWorld]

The easy way to avoid it is to use aluminum foil wrapped around the neck with a tiny hole poked...if enough pressure builds up the foil will just be pushed off.

A gummed up airlock can build too much too fast. After a few days you can switch out to a regular old airlock.

 

[ultravista]

There must have been a massive pressure build-up for a thick-walled glass carboy to explode. I cannot image what would have caused this.

 

[day_trippr]

This was just a big ass bottle grenade.
You can cancel the consultation with Doctor Science...

Cheers!

 

[D-Train]

I don't know how there could be any other explanation... A half inch tube was used for blowoff, the bung was in there very tight, and the tube clogged from strong fermentation of a high gravity ale. The glass carboy wasn't built for pressure and exploded. Sorry to the OP, I hope the damage wasn't permanent because it looks like you have a very nice room there.

 

[edroberts]

Secondary question, how did you sleep through that thing blowing?

 

[GHBWNY]

I like my glass carboy. I use it for apple wine and secondaries (which are rare). I treat it like the bomb that it is though. I once sacrificed a live chicken over the carboy during a pumpkin ale in hopes of satisfying the carboy gods not to blow the fugg up in my house before I can taste this beautiful nectar......it worked. My pumpkin ale was delicious!

Pumpkin ale and barbequed chicken. Yum.