Glass or PET Carboy

[harrower]

Go glass or stainless for anything that will be sitting in contact for an extended time with foods, especially liquids, which can more easily absorb chemicals. Personally, I'd rather be safe than sorry with my health, since most of the messaging casting doubt on this science is from big-money oil/plastics industry funding:

"PET plastic (polyethylene terephthalate) is the plastic most commonly used in single-use plastic water bottles. It is BPA free, but PET is also associated with many of the same health risks such as stunted growth, reproduction issues, low energy levels, body balance issues, and inability to process stress."

https://drinkpathwater.com/blogs/news/is-pet-plastic-bpa-freehttps://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2009/04/29/2555698.htm

Probably causes cancer in California!

 

[MaxStout]

I used to be a big fan of glass carboys, and never (knock wood) broke one. But I went stainless for fermenters and only keep a few glass for the occasional long-term aging. Still have a couple 3 gal glass for small batches, and those are not so unwieldy.

If you insist on glass carboys, at least keep them in plastic milk crates. Safer to carry and the bottoms won't touch a hard floor that could cause it to break. Those Brewhaulers are not a good idea, as the carboy can slip between the loops of webbing.

The Italian-made carboys are more robust than those made elsewhere. And if you're thinking of the glass Big Mouth Bubblers, there's a thread around here somewhere pointing out some that had very thin walls.

 

[bracconiere]

I use fermonsters but the clamp down lid stainless steel milk can idea seems to be a good one. Slap a gas and liquid post on with a floating dip tube and bingo.

damn, you might have just inspired me to do closed transfers! and fermenting under pressure! just have to calculate what to set the spunding valve too, so that it pushes 10 gallons into two kegs! BRILLIANT? (not sure if it'd be overcarbed though, lol )

 

[sibelman]

Though PET gets lots of love here, I'm basically with @Melicious. (Plastic still figures prominently in my operation, if you include silicone hose hot side and EVAbarrier to /from kegs.)

Even after the Stout-pocalypse that sent my freshly brewed batch across the garage, and me to urgent care, I declined to switch to plastic. But I'm not completely stupid/inflexible. For safety, I've got a stainless Spike Flex+ now, and have given away some of my dangerous glass carboys.

If you go with glass, @d40dave, take great care.

 

[d40dave]

I have decided on PET carboys to replace my 5 gallon carboys which is the size that broke. I will sell my two 6 gallon carboys and replace with some sort of widemouth PET fermenter. I also have two 3 gallon glass carboys I use for wine. I will keep them. I leave wine in them for several months and they are easy to handle. @sibelman thanks for the concern. Anything stainless seems to take up too much space. I usually have about 3 batches fermenting at any one time.

 

[Shenanigans]

I use mostly plastic 30 liter buckets.
But I got a good deal on a 45 liter Spiedel stainless steel fermenter for about 100 which will probably last a lifetime.
I have a glass big mouth bubbler but have never used it.
Some senseless purchase I made in a Black Friday sale.

Used 5 gallon soda kegs sound like the best budget option for SS if you are brewing smaller batches but another option for bigger batches is a stainless steel pot.
You can easily find big new or used ones and as you are using it only for fermenting not boiling it doesn't have to be high quality.
Normally the weight of the lid is enough to keep it in place and just let the CO2 produced seep out the sides but if you want you can make a homemade gasket, clamp it tight and drill a hole in it for an airlock.
Then you have a big air tight stainless steel fermenter for under 50.

 

[MaxStout]

Using stainless I do miss the old days of viewing the fermentation through clear glass. Maybe somebody makes a "fermcam" or some such.

 

[dwhite60]

I still do buckets for most beer fermenting and will continue to. They're easy to carry and they fit inside each other so they take up less room.

I do have one glass carboy I use for diastaticus yeast, like Belle Saison. I don't need this very often so I can fill it with sanitizer and let it sit a while to kill off any residual yeast.

I have one 3 gallon Better Bottle I use for mead and wine.

 

[porterguy]

Go glass or stainless for anything that will be sitting in contact for an extended time with foods, especially liquids, which can more easily absorb chemicals. Personally, I'd rather be safe than sorry with my health, since most of the messaging casting doubt on this science is from big-money oil/plastics industry funding:

"PET plastic (polyethylene terephthalate) is the plastic most commonly used in single-use plastic water bottles. It is BPA free, but PET is also associated with many of the same health risks such as stunted growth, reproduction issues, low energy levels, body balance issues, and inability to process stress."

I keep one glass carboy around just for this purpose of extended time fermenter when necessary.

 

[porterguy]

Using stainless I do miss the old days of viewing the fermentation through clear glass. Maybe somebody makes a "fermcam" or some such.

I suggest you move quickly on that before someone else gets rich off your idea. Come to think of it, they've already been invented. They use them for colonoscopies. Prices for used ones on eBay are probably pretty good, and I bet hospitals can only use them one time.

 

[z-bob]

I like my old glass carboys but I seldom use them. I'm afraid of the new ones because a lot of glass producers don't anneal them properly (because annealing is expensive) I use food-grade white plastic buckets, and lightweight 4-gallon plastic water bottles.

 

[MaxStout]

I suggest you move quickly on that before someone else gets rich off your idea. Come to think of it, they've already been invented. They use them for colonoscopies. Prices for used ones on eBay are probably pretty good, and I bet hospitals can only use them one time.

A GoPro with fiber optic probe and a couple LEDs to illuminate. Make it WIFI-enabled with an app so you can watch your krausen while screwing off at work. Call it "BrewView" or "FermCam" or some such.

There, I just gave someone an idea. You heard it here first.

You're welcome.

 

[bracconiere]

https://www.homebrewing.org/54-Litr...1aFGvsHzmbOYHDr7PX1ZdCLYkpDYlp8AaAgOREALw_wcB
demi-johns can be a safety net too, i think?

 

[superiorsat]

I suggest you move quickly on that before someone else gets rich off your idea. Come to think of it, they've already been invented. They use them for colonoscopies. Prices for used ones on eBay are probably pretty good, and I bet hospitals can only use them one time.

Gives a whole new meaning to bung hole!

 

[day_trippr]

A GoPro with fiber optic probe and a couple LEDs to illuminate. Make it WIFI-enabled with an app so you can watch your krausen while screwing off at work. Call it "BrewView" or "FermCam" or some such.[...]

Premium model

I literally solved this with an $8 ESP32-CAM module and a $2 5vdc wall wart. The board has on board wifi, camera, and a big honking white led I can turn on when desired, lives inside my primary ferm chamber, and lets me peek at my carboys.

I will say after a couple of years the novelty has mostly dropped down to entertaining friends

Cheers!

[edit] Finished up dinner and did a grab from that "chamber cam". It's loaded with (6) kegs right now and two of the keg tops are right up against the door where the camera module is perched. Normally it looks out and down and can catch two carboys' krausen nicely...

 

[Beermeister32]

Here's a start...

 

[Cameronl]

If you insist on glass carboys, at least keep them in plastic milk crates.

This is probably the only reason I haven't moved "replace glass carboys with plastic" further up my to-do list. I have to do my brewing outside and have sketchy stairs down to the basement that would be impossible without having the carboy in a milk crate. Someone suggested i get a long-ass tube and fill the carboy through the basement window.
Once it's down in the basement, I'm usually moving them around on wheeled dollies. Not too much lifting.

 

[bwible]

Using stainless I do miss the old days of viewing the fermentation through clear glass. Maybe somebody makes a "fermcam" or some such.

Maybe they could add a camera to the Tilt

 

[Brewer Mike]

I watched a Youtube video ranting about glass carboys because they can break. I thought "Eh, I haven't had one ever break." Wouldn't you know it? Within 2 weeks, I was cleaning one. I have the handles that clamp around the neck. The PBW (clone) made it slick enough to slip off with a gallon or so of the solution inside. What a mess! Luckily, it was in the garage near the shop vac. I do still keep a couple for wine.

I use a food-grade bucket for primary. Although there are drawbacks, I use my FastFerment for secondary. I bought a Mason jar adapter so I'm not stuck dumping that 24 oz ball every time. That allows me to see the fermenting yeast (if it's not full of spent yeast. It came with a hose barb attachment that make bottling easy. Easy to clean, and fairly cheap at about $80 https://www.amazon.com/FastFerment.

 

[bwible]

I watched a Youtube video ranting about glass carboys because they can break. I thought "Eh, I haven't had one ever break." Wouldn't you know it? Within 2 weeks, I was cleaning one. I have the handles that clamp around the neck. The PBW (clone) made it slick enough to slip off with a gallon or so of the solution inside. What a mess! Luckily, it was in the garage near the shop vac. I do still keep a couple for wine.

I use a food-grade bucket for primary. Although there are drawbacks, I use my FastFerment for secondary. I bought a Mason jar adapter so I'm not stuck dumping that 24 oz ball every time. That allows me to see the fermenting yeast (if it's not full of spent yeast. It came with a hose barb attachment that make bottling easy. Easy to clean, and fairly cheap at about $80 https://www.amazon.com/FastFerment.

Those orange carboy handles are junk and dangerous. I used to own a homebrew shop and I refused to sell them. Anybody who has one should take it from wherever it is and put it in the nearest trash can.

 

[Nagorg]

I recommend you switch to plastics...

Or SS!

 

[MaxStout]

Those orange carboy handles are junk and dangerous. I used to own a homebrew shop and I refused to sell them. Anybody who has one should take it from wherever it is and put it in the nearest trash can.

Too much side-loading. I would be nervous enough carrying an empty glass carboy with that, let alone one with 40 lbs of liquid.

Cleaning is the scariest part. Ever try to pick up a wet glass carboy covered in PBW solution? Keep the damn carboy in a plastic crate, even when washing.

 

[Nagorg]

LOL I probably should have read the entire thread before quoting @day_trippr and saying "Or SS!".

But I'll add that I started with PET and it works great. But since I started using Stainless, nothing else will do for me. The benefits far outweigh the entertainment I used to get from being able to see active fermentation's through the clear fermenter walls.

So yes, PET over glass from a safety perspective. But if you can swing it, SS is superior IMO.

 

[IslandLizard]

Too much side-loading. I would be nervous enough carrying an empty glass carboy with that, let alone one with 40 lbs of liquid.

Those neck handles are not meant to lift a filled carboy, only empty ones.

But yeah, carrying a full one like that is a very scary scenario. One in each hand could have done well in an old horror movie, or in The Shining, shot at a low Steadicam viewpoint.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I fermented in glass carboys for many years. I did not have any break (one of them is very solid with a 1924 date!) but I am glad that I moved to PET based Fermonsters. The less weight and wide opening for dry hopping/cleaning are bonuses and I love having spigots. I have used the glass ones a few times over the years for imperial stouts, and I am just extra careful when moving or cleaning them. Some gripper pads or gloves help a lot when trying to clean a wet glass carboy.

The advice from a good friend of mine was something like "Stainless steel fermenters are expensive, but a lot less expensive than my ER bill after a broken glass carboy and I could live without having this scar."

I do feel like I get a lot of information from being able to see fermentation through a clear fermenter, so I am not quite ready to move from PET to stainless...though I did recently acquire a secondhand 3.5 gallon brew bucket that I plan to put to use for the first time this weekend.

 

[passedpawn]

I like plastic. After all this time, I do like to take a look at the fermentation and see how it's going. For that reason, I was never interested in SS. So, I recommend the Big Mouth Bubbler plastic fermemtors, or the Fermonster (which I've never used, but looks great).

I had glass carboy a long time ago. Broke one. Kinda freaked me out, and then was done with glass.

 

[bracconiere]

Maybe they could add a camera to the Tilt

nah, it's wifi.....a vibrating message pad you can like strap to your ankle or something....can really get the feel of how the ferment is going! and at work look really creapy at work, when you start saying Oh, baby, do it like that! lol (and yes i'm assuming this thread is over, OP settled on PET...and i'm getting my SS milk pail tomorrow! we're both winners!)

 

[passedpawn]

nah, it's wifi.....a vibrating message pad you can like strap to your ankle or something....can really get the feel of how the ferment is going! and at work look really creapy at work, when you start saying Oh, baby, do it like that! lol (and yes i'm assuming this thread is over, OP settled on PET...and i'm getting my SS milk pail tomorrow! we're both winners!)

No thread is ever "done" on a forum.

(And some people are always off topic, and couldn't care less, because they are selfish)

 

[bracconiere]

because they are selfish)

i guess? i've been using HDPE fermentors....and i learned from this thread, a stainless steel milk can with what i'm hoping replaceable silicon o-ring...isn't too expensive!

i looked into SS before, but before this thread, never thought about CHEAP SS....all the stuff i saw before was like $600!

and there are definatly threads that ARE done!

 

[superiorsat]

Looks like rigor mortis has set in. Haha.