Glass or PET Carboy

[larbogast]

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.

The glass carboys are great for watching fermentation but are a pain to clean and move. With plastic, I worried about sanitation. The Chapman SS fermentors are affordable and easily cleaned. The SS bucket fermentors can be sanitized more by boiling a little water in it and are super easy to clean after fermentation.

 

[bracconiere]

just for a follow up....yeah baby not REALLY that much more then a glass carboy, can't wait to see how it performs!

and thank you thread, for inspiring me to buy this thing! silicone oring, clamps....think i'm going to love it!....and i know this was about Glass or plastic, but Shiny Shiz deserves a mention, and a picture!

 

[superiorsat]

i know this was about Glass or plastic, but Shiny Shiz deserves a mention, and a picture!

If you have any way to pressure test that lid would be help full info about this milk can if some one else wanted to go that same route. Even a basic test like does it leak when upside down with the lid clamped on an if if does leak what fill level that happens. A picture of that lid with gasket would be nice also. Thanks.

 

[bracconiere]

If you have any way to pressure test that lid would be help full info about this milk can if some one else wanted to go that same route. Even a basic test like does it leak when upside down with the lid clamped on an if if does leak what fill level that happens. A picture of that lid with gasket would be nice also. Thanks.

hmmm, i'm going to be drilling a hole in the lid here in a bit....but i can post a pic of it, and fill it with water, flip it over before hand....well my hose is frozen, so i only leak tested it with about 1/2 gallon of water, but not a drip...the lid clamps on pretty tightly..

my cameras batteries went dead after that, but the top, is pretty much the same with a handle on it....

(BTW, anyone know what a recessed silicone o-ring like that is called, if i need to replace it?)

and i measured the lid, and opening in the pail...lid has a diameter of 10-3/4"..open in pail is 9-3/4"....plenty big enough for me get my hand into for cleaning....

and scooping out yeast cakes for a repitch.....

edit: after much effort, my buddy managed to actually drill a hole in the lid for my blow off tube...this thing ain't thin...and i blew into it as hard as i could, with it full of 10 gallons of apple juice....it built pressure enough to where when i took my mouth off, i could hear the air coming out of the tube? whatever psi that is....

 

[CascadesBrewer]

just for a follow up....yeah baby not REALLY that much more then a glass carboy, can't wait to see how it performs!

Where did you pick up that item?

I am not quite sure I want to know what you are weighing with those kitchen scales!

 

[bracconiere]

Where did you pick up that item?

I am not quite sure I want to know what you are weighing with those kitchen scales!

ebay, it was $150 to my door...and i've never had luck keeping scales clean. usually i just buy new ones every so often....maybe inkbird will make a waterproof one someday, like this instant read thermometer.....

 

[Brewdog80]

I have used plastic food storage containers forever as a previous employer made them and I could acquire seconds for zip. But I want to go SS conical. Soon. Just because I want to. but I'd NEVER use glass carboy. NEVER. just too many way better options. It isn't if glass will break, it is WHEN.

 

[BrewZer]

I would say the only problem I've had with my fermonsters is a couple of lid failures. Both times the material split right where the top surface meets the sides, making the oring visible from the outside. I might have caused it by screwing them on too tight, but I only use my hands. For a while I was wiping the oring with a bit of keg lube but stopped doing that, still it seems like the star san makes the oring slippery enough to tighten it too far.

Isn't Starsan notorious for making plastics brittle? That might be your culprit right there...

 

[BrewZer]

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

I ferment in a big, PET Mr Beer rig from Texas Plastics. I like being able to watch the fermentation process.

My question: how would I be able to tell whether those symptoms (low energy, body balance and stress coping) are from the PET or the beer I'm fermenting in it?

 

[jerrylotto]

"Isn't Starsan notorious for making PET brittle?"

Prolly which is why I prefer iodophor

 

[BrewZer]

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.

Used colonoscopy endoscopes are pretty expensive ($900-3,000) but there are other endoscopes that run from $9 - 50 that might serve the function just as well.

 

[BrewZer]

Gives a whole new meaning to bung hole!

Not touching that one...

 

[BrewZer]

Here's a start...
View attachment 747105

I think you've got some kind of infection in your beer...

 

[JAReeves]

I dropped a glass carboy once, in the driveway. The shrapnel cut my foot pretty well, but no stitches. I am still finding the occasional shard two years later. Now I am extra careful, wrap them in towels when cleaning, but I only use them for long-term aging so they don't get moved more than once a year. Stainless for the quick fermentations and oak barrels for the unique stuff. I think I may move to using 5G kegs for long-term aging at some point, but I am not quite ready to jump yet. Some crappy-looking kegs may just do the trick!

 

[Jayjay1976]

Despite my strong feelings on the subject, I have been tempted to use glass for long-term aging projects. I've seen glass jugs for laboratory use in handling dangerous reagents that are coated with a clear rubber material that prevents them shattering if damaged, and I wondered if a glass carboy could similarly be sprayed with truck bed liner or coated with glass cloth and epoxy to create a similar 'safety cage' of sorts.

 

[bracconiere]

Despite my strong feelings on the subject, I have been tempted to use glass for long-term aging projects. I've seen glass jugs for laboratory use in handling dangerous reagents that are coated with a clear rubber material that prevents them shattering if damaged, and I wondered if a glass carboy could similarly be sprayed with truck bed liner or coated with glass cloth and epoxy to create a similar 'safety cage' of sorts.

that's why i posted the demi-johns a bit back with the basket cases.....but i'm going REALLY against my grain, the milk can is working good so far...and for a five gallon batch they don't cost much more then a glass carboy...

 

[d40dave]

I brewed my first batch using my new FerMonster. Does anybody recommend a way to clean it. Is a sponge OK? Thanks.

 

[davidabcd]

Can you get your hand in it? Looks like from the photo I checked. Sponges are good at holding onto bacteria. Use unscented soap, and a bleach solution (1 tablespoon to a quart of water) and a wash cloth/towel and rinse well.
That is my recommendation

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I brewed my first batch using my new FerMonster. Does anybody recommend a way to clean is. Is a sponge OK? Thanks.

I generally use a sponge and either Oxiclean Free, or a mild dish detergent. I have read that oxygen cleaners like Oxiclean/PBW can weaken PET plastics, but I think that is more from soaking with concentrated mixes of cleaner. You definitely don't want to use any hard cleaners, brushes or scouring pads. I have had my pair of 3-gallon Fermonsters for about 3 years, and my 7-gallon Fermonster for about 2 years, and they are holding up well.

 

[jerrylotto]

I use carboys for RO water storage mostly but I keep them each in it's own milk crate. These plastic crates have handles that make carrying the carboy a lot easier and safer. My fermentation "tank" is a FastFerment - HDPE food grade conical. The surface is not smooth and I use a nylon pad with a liquid soap / bleach solution for cleaning. I also disassemble and soak all valve parts after every batch - yeast and wort finds it's way into some very small spaces.

 

[Smudgey]

I chuck my PET fermenter in the shower over a bucket blaster for 20 mins running hot pbw. It always surprises me that there's usually no crud left to wipe out. Kegs are the same. A bonus is daisy chaining hoses and running cleaner through them all at the same time