Kegco Glass Carboys

[Rob2010SS]

Hey Guys. Anyone have any of these? Wondering what the general consensus on them is. I like the concept of the Big Mouth Bubblers but in all honesty, I won't use mine because of that terrible lid design.

These look like they'd be really nice.

http://www.beveragefactory.com/draf...AlCrKT4uoS4KSO1qG5bpXGrssvWi5EREaAopuEALw_wcB

 

[day_trippr]

After the actual glass "Big Mouth Bubblers" disaster I would be very hesitant to have anything to do with similar vessels.

They were clearly not designed for holding beer.
Using them for such could literally be life threatening...

Cheers!

 

[Rob2010SS]

So stupid question but what happened with them? I Haven't heard about the BMB disaster....

 

[passedpawn]

The original was scary thin. Then, they made it 33% thicker. You'll have to judge if that is enough improvement for you.

Big Mouth Bubblers are dangerously thin

Thought I would share my catastrophic failure of my "Big Mouth Bubbler" carboy.

More trouble with glass Big Mouth Bubbler

 

[dabber18]

Most of the BMB issues look like they are from 2015 or older. Many of the broken glass carboys are regular small neck carboys, and were dropped. Apparently some were temp changes too fast.

I'm also considering the Kegco 7 gallon wide mouth. The beverage factory site states "These carboys are made of glass and should be handled with extreme care. We have been able to use both hot and cold liquids in them, but they are not impervious to thermal shock and can shatter when exposed to large, sudden changes in temperature. Use caution."

I'm currently using the small neck carboys and when cleaning after keeping in cooler temperatures I use room temp, followed by warmer temp and then hot at the end with PBW or similar to keep from thermal shock. My concern with the Kegco product wouldn't be the glass, but instead the durability of the seal on the lid. Since this thread is a year old now, I'm hoping someone may have some feedback on this. While the dream is to one day have a stainless conical, that boat hasn't come in yet.

 

[day_trippr]

Forget thermal shock, BMBs were failing simply from being picked up inside a Brew Hauler. That's crazy.

fwiw, I've been using 6.5g italian glass for almost 15 years now - and have treated them like live grenades from Day One. I do everything I can to avoid thermal shock. I fill them only after reaching pitching temperature, and after I've emptied a crash-cooled carboy I simply let it sit 'til it reaches room temperature - which can take hours to bring the thick bottom slab up to temperature. Then I use room temperature water to clean it. No need to use warmer than that - the detergent (OxyFree) works just fine at room temperature.

When you see a pic of a carboy that had the bottom fall off, that's accumulated thermal damage. It's a dead give-away...

Cheers!

 

[dabber18]

Thanks for the info on detergent working at room temp, is your Italian glass normal (small) neck, or large similar to BMB or Kegco? Not looking as much for cleaning as for additions, such as dry hop or fruit.

 

[day_trippr]

It's a classic, non-threaded small-neck carboy. Dry-hopping is never a problem using pellets - which crash tighter than whole cones anyway. I don't do fruited beers but pureed fruit should be no problem either....

Cheers!

 

[dabber18]

I've always used a hop bag to keep the majority of solids from the brew, so the small neck wouldn't work. Fruit would be for a wine or melomel, so some are crushed and others are puree.

I may try bagless dry hopping next time if I don't have the Kegco. Won't get the BMB, too expensive and too thin, but right now the Kegco is priced pretty good.

 

[Easycreeper]

I've got one of these. The 5.5 gallon version.

The glass is thinnish and there are some bubbles in the casting, but I like it overall. It's not quite as delicate as it seems, really. My temperature controller went haywire during a cold crash earlier this week and froze the beer solid. I was pleasantly surprised to find no cracks in the glass once thawed.

Two other things of note are the lid seal and included carrying straps.

The seal is easily deformed and I haven't found a replacement. Might try to make a new one with something around the house.

You might as well toss the straps if you plan on carrying it filled with anything at all. They're just not something I'd put my trust in. Use a brew hauler instead.

 

[khannon]

I use a milk crate to carry my glass carboys.. much sturdier and easier to control. Also keeps the glass off of my concrete basement and garage floors.

 

[dabber18]

Thanks Easycreeper, the lid was my biggest concern. I do see they have replacement lids on beverage factory (https://www.beveragefactory.com/draftbeer/home-brew/SD-WMLID-wide-mouth-carboy-lid.html). How long did your lid last? I have two brew haulers, but like the milk crate idea, I'll have to look into that. I have a smaller, I think 5.5CF chest freezer, wondering how hard it is to reach the milk crate. I know the BH handles are at the top of the carboy.

 

[Easycreeper]

Thanks Easycreeper, the lid was my biggest concern. I do see they have replacement lids on beverage factory (https://www.beveragefactory.com/draftbeer/home-brew/SD-WMLID-wide-mouth-carboy-lid.html). How long did your lid last? I have two brew haulers, but like the milk crate idea, I'll have to look into that. I have a smaller, I think 5.5CF chest freezer, wondering how hard it is to reach the milk crate. I know the BH handles are at the top of the carboy.

The lid is still functional, but the seal deformed when I boiled it to sanitize. No big deal, really. I'm pretty sure I can make another. It was fine until the heat cycling.

BTW, I don't use the lid airlock anymore. The liquid evaporates too fast for my liking. You'll have to figure something out regarding a thermowell if you're going to use this for primary since the stopper that fits the lid opening is quite small. Guess I should have mentioned I use mine for secondary only...

Edit: nice find on the replacement lids. You can boil the lid without issue, so they're pretty tough.

 

[kh54s10]

I know .but I always feel the need to say Caution!

IMO, it is not if, but when any glass carboy is going to break. I opted against them purely for the reason that they are heavy when empty. I have never looked back. I use Better Bottles and with care they will last. I have never retired one and my oldest 2 are 7 years 1 month old.

If I did use glass I would set up a chamber that would also be clean in place. I would put them in and then never move them.

 

[fifthclmn]

My 7 gallon wide mouth is very sensitive to either/both air temp and pressure changes. I was going crazy with losses of starsan or vodka from the airlock reservoir. Checked the lid and couldn't find any cracks or defects with the airlock thread or cap. I caught a break one day and saw liquid streaming into the carboy. The effect occurs when air rushes past the carboy. Our house lacks air conditioning and we've had to run room fans and the whole-house fan regularly this summer. Next time I use it, I will experiment with a drilled #3 rubber stopper and S-shaped airlock with 4'-5' of blow-off tube.

 

[AkTom]

Look nice to me. I’m hoping to move one of these days, so not in the market now.

 

[MaxStout]

I use a milk crate to carry my glass carboys.. much sturdier and easier to control. Also keeps the glass off of my concrete basement and garage floors.

I learned the hard way setting a 3 gal glass carboy on a concrete garage floor. I set it down easy, but it didn't matter. The shock popped the bottom right off. Luckily, it was empty. I now keep them in plastic milk crates (the real ones, not the flimsy knockoffs sold in the home organization section of stores). All of my carboys are the Italian makes and I've never had a problem, other than the one concrete floor issue, which could happen to any glass vessel.

IIRC, the glass BMBs were not only thin, but the glass thickness was not consistent, such that you could have one side of the vessel almost as thin as a lightbulb. I'd be skeptical about the Kegco version, unless someone could produce glass thickness specs showing they are more robust.