i think my LHBS is lying to me {Carboy Prices GoinG Up}

[schneemann]

Just a short rant: Before you buy a carboy online that you think you're getting a good deal on: check the shipping first! I just bought 2 for $24.95 each. Plus $19 each for shipping, which puts these things on the high end of what my LHBS charges!

 

[Revvy]

This has turned into the best Glass vs Carboy threads I have seen on here. It should be prosted, renamed and stickied, and that way we can simply refer the n00bs who will inevitably start threads on this topic, to the wealth of good info on here. I'm glad some of you "sages" on here have talked about your experiences with long term aging in the BB...

 

[Saccharomyces]

This has turned into the best Glass vs Carboy threads I have seen on here. It should be prosted, renamed and stickied, and that way we can simply refer the n00bs who will inevitably start threads on this topic, to the wealth of good info on here. I'm glad some of you "sages" on here have talked about your experiences with long term aging in the BB...

+1.

To me, Better Bottles are God's second greatest gift to homebrewers. First is HomeBrewTalk.com.

 

[blk94f150]

Do you guys have stores like Party Town and Party Source nearby? They usually have a small, not well stocked homebrew section that is good for buying equipment cheap.

I get 6.5 gallon carboys for $25 all day. Since it's in my 1st in district, I can go there on the clock.

Mike

 

[Nightbiker]

Well, I'm not about to give up my glass carboys, and will certainly acquire a few more 6gal ones soon.
AS for the 'Better Bottle' carboys, I think its an interesting system, and if glass goes up like its expected, I'll be wishing I had stock in Better Bottles.

 

[BadKarma]

Well, I've got 8 6.5gal glass carboys and 4 3gal. Been using them for 6 years or so and never had anything to complain about. But I am very interested in the BB's since my LHBS has been hit with the glass shortage. So I'm going to pick up a couple to start playing with. Y'all have convinced me to at least give them a try.

Also, been thinking about the Minibrew conical. But the forum seems to be split down the middle on whether or not they are worth it, so I'll wait and see where that goes.

Thanks y'all.

Karma

 

[GaryJohn]

Interesting! I did not know this!

I got both my glass carboys at garage sales. One was $1, the other was free.

 

[daugenet]

back to the depths zombie thread!!!!

 

[GSM]

zombie thread looks like the predictions from two years ago are a little off.

 

[GaryJohn]

Hey, this thread showed up on the homepage of HBT for me...its not my fault!!

 

[the_bird]

zombie thread looks like the predictions from two years ago are a little off.

Two years ago, 6 gallon carboys cost about $20. These days, closer to $40, wherever I'm looking online (haven't bought one in ages).

Let's go back to my original response:

Forrest (AHS) told us a little while back that the Mexican factory that makes carboys stopped manufacturing them, so the only glass carboys coming into the country would be Italian and probably cost about twice what they go for today ($40 - $45).

....... wish every prediction I heard was that, uh... predictable!

 

[knightbeer39]

Well, I still shy away from BBs because they scratch. Once you have the inside of one of those scratched, you risk contamination just like a plastic bucket. That's a no-go for me personally. I'll stick to glass and stainless steel until I seem something definitive that BBs are HIGHLY scratch resistant.

That's just my 2 cents......

 

[the_bird]

.... well, they only scratch if you do something dumb like stick a carboy brush inside. They really just need a good Oxiclean soak, 99% of the time.

 

[Ziggybrew]

Seriously, how many folks here at HBT actually, personally, know someone who has had an artery severed by a glass carboy? (watch me be the next LOL). It's a scary thought, but does it happen enough to weigh-in? Or is it like shark attacks & plane crashes?

Don't get me wrong -- I love the BB but I put my glass carboys on a higher pedestal. I think it's just nostalgia. But damn, I don't like severed arteries either!

 

[Yooper]

Seriously, how many folks here at HBT actually, personally, know someone who has had an artery severed by a glass carboy? (watch me be the next LOL). It's a scary thought, but does it happen enough to weigh-in? Or is it like shark attacks & plane crashes?

Don't get me wrong -- I love the BB but I put my glass carboys on a higher pedestal. I think it's just nostalgia. But damn, I don't like severed arteries either!

Well, I personally only know one. She severed an artery and a tendon in her wrist from a 6.5 gallon carboy. I wasn't home when she called so she drove herself to the hospital. They were able to reattach everything but she has a nasty scar, and paid over $1000.

 

[passedpawn]

I actually really really broke mine in my pool. While no blood was lost, 5g of Bavarian hefeweisen sank Titanically to the bottom of my pool. I have pics and video. Great stuff for this forum, just need to track it down.

I'm done with glass.

Well, queue the glass vs. plastic re-thread. Always a crowd pleaser.

 

[sudbuster]

To each his/her own, and may all be happy ever after.. my 2c

 

[viking73]

Seriously, how many folks here at HBT actually, personally, know someone who has had an artery severed by a glass carboy? (watch me be the next LOL). It's a scary thought, but does it happen enough to weigh-in? Or is it like shark attacks & plane crashes?

Don't get me wrong -- I love the BB but I put my glass carboys on a higher pedestal. I think it's just nostalgia. But damn, I don't like severed arteries either!

One of the guys at my LHBS sliced up his hand on one. Does all BB now. And my GF broke one in Jan, after seeing the wreckage I decided to go BB and haven't looked back!

 

[knightbeer39]

.... well, they only scratch if you do something dumb like stick a carboy brush inside. They really just need a good Oxiclean soak, 99% of the time.

......and what do you do for the other 1% of the time?

 

[passedpawn]

......and what do you do for the other 1% of the time?

I think BB recommends sliding a wet towel in there and twisting it.

 

[the_bird]

Yeah, BB partly filled with an Oxiclean solution, a towel/washcloth shoved in there, and a vigorous shake.

 

[knightbeer39]

Yeah, BB partly filled with an Oxiclean solution, a towel/washcloth shoved in there, and a vigorous shake.

Ah, that would work I guess. I've really been considering them but after 13+ years of brewing I have been conditioned to be paranoid about plastic. Guess it's time to RDWHAHB and try a BB!

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

I havent read the entire thread so it may have been stated ad nauseum.. Craigslist is your friend. I have a bunch of 6.5 gallon carboys from there.. a friend just bought half a dozen off there...

 

[3PegBrew]

This makes sense to me because my local brew store has been saying they are running short on 1 -3 gallon right now. I have noticed the stock of 5 gallon isn't being replaced as fast also.

 

[beerrepository]

I have really enjoyed using my 6 gallon BB and just got a 5 gallon for my birthday to use as a secondary. A good 24 hour Oxiyclean soak completely cleaned out my 6 gal after my pumpkin ale which looked like this (on the right)

It was pretty dirty, but I cleaned it right after I transferred to secondary. I am interested in the PET caps, but man are they expensive compared to a carboy cap. The dry lock seems like a great idea as well.

 

[rico567]

First: I'd like to see some actual figures on two factors; how much oxygen can get into a Better Bottle, and how much damage can that oxygen do to a beer. As much as this topic has been discussed, I'm amazed I've seen NO hard info about this.

Second: I'm a plastic bucket brewer, pure & simple, and I can't see the basis whereby anyone's going to convince me that a glass or PETE carboy is going to somehow be better. The only thing I'll accept is that some people just gotta watch "The Brew Channel" in their carboy. I'll admit I can't do that with my buckets.

Third: I admit the utility of carboys for secondary, but even that is becoming enough of a rarity with me (most beers = primary only) that I'm questioning giving shelf space to my four carboys (2 glass, 2 BB). The ONLY thing I'll use one of my glass carboys for is a long-term secondary- I've got a barleywine in one 3+ months, thinking about bottling.

My conclusion: Glass carboys had their day, and in that day they were ideal for fermenting beer, but there IS such a thing as progress.

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

If I had not gotten my carboys so cheap I would just use buckets also. I got them way cheaper than I can even buy buckets for however.

 

[the_bird]

First: I'd like to see some actual figures on two factors; how much oxygen can get into a Better Bottle, and how much damage can that oxygen do to a beer. As much as this topic has been discussed, I'm amazed I've seen NO hard info about this.

Those numbers absolutely exist. I couldn't quote them to you today, but I've seen hard-and-fast numbers for glass, for Better Bottles, and for regular Ale Pail buckets. The latter have, by a good margin, the highest O2 permeability. No big deal unless you're doing LONG term aging.

BB's, IIRC, were closer to glass than to buckets, although they too have some degree of permeability.

I'll have to see if I can find the actual numbers; the data does exist.

 

[upperNY01brewer]

check your local craigslist. Ive found them for $20.00. Also garage sales and antique shops can be a place to look, have found them also

 

[lumpher]

i'm still a little paranoid about the bb, even tho i use a 5g bb for short clearing secondaries, but i don't really secondary much. on the rare occasion i do secondary for a while, i use a glass 6.5