Painting your carboy

[BuffaloSabresBrewer]

A recent thread reminded me of this idea.
It does seem kind of stupid that carboys are clear. Would their be any problem with painting my carboys black so light wouldnt be an issue?

 

[rabidgerbil]

1. hard to see potential cracking/damage to the carboy... it would really suck to load one up with 5 gallons of beer, only to have the weight cause it to give way when you go to pick it up, and have it all come crashing down, and potentialy injure you in the process.

2. hard to see what is going on with your beer... with a bucket, they are not only translucent, but you can also take of a very large lid to see inside. with a carboy, you have a very small neck, and if you don't paint it up all the way, then you will still have to put a t-shirt or something over it anyway, to block out the light from the top area that was unpainted so that you could see what was going on inside your carboy.

3. much harder to ensure that you got it clean, since you can't easily see down inside of there, since you don't have a nice wide open area like in a bucket. To me, this would be one of the biggest reasons not to do this.

As the mantra goes
Sanitation... Sanitation... Sanitation...

 

[Kubed]

I think a better idea than painting a carboy would be to put something like a 3M laminate over it. It would 1) block out all forms of light and 2) keep a dropped glass carboy from sending shards everywhere.

Downsides i see are 1) not being able to see into the carboy (although this doesn't sound like it would be a big deal for you), but more importantly 2) prevent you from seeing any cracks/damage that had formed.

 

[bigjohnmilford]

1. hard to see potential cracking/damage to the carboy... it would really suck to load one up with 5 gallons of beer, only to have the weight cause it to give way when you go to pick it up, and have it all come crashing down, and potentialy injure you in the process.

2. hard to see what is going on with your beer... with a bucket, they are not only translucent, but you can also take of a very large lid to see inside. with a carboy, you have a very small neck, and if you don't paint it up all the way, then you will still have to put a t-shirt or something over it anyway, to block out the light from the top area that was unpainted so that you could see what was going on inside your carboy.

3. much harder to ensure that you got it clean, since you can't easily see down inside of there, since you don't have a nice wide open area like in a bucket. To me, this would be one of the biggest reasons not to do this.

As the mantra goes
Sanitation... Sanitation... Sanitation...

+1 don't argue with a rabid gerbil

 

[homebrewer_99]

Wouldn't it really be easier to place a dark t-shirt/sweat shirt over it like many of us do???

 

[RichBrewer]

I put a black T-shirt over mine and I can still see what's going on in there.

 

[Jekster]

I agree. I don't see the point in painting a glass carboy. You then just removed the whole purpose of it being glass, and dangerous, in the first place. If you want something that won't let light in just trade your carboys in for buckets.

 

[Porter fan]

RDWHAHB!! Brew On!

 

[Bernie Brewer]

Take the box that the carboy came in, cut a hole in the bottom the size of the airlock and set the box upside down over the carboy. Or just put the carboy in the closet.

 

[SuperiorBrew]

I use towels and have some sewn up covers. I have 4 black ones and some pretty floral ones too

 

[FSR402]

I use towels and have some sewn up covers. I have 4 black ones and some pretty floral ones too

Now that's a good idea...... <off to tell the wife to get working...>

 

[kinison_fan]

Similar to the upside down box,

I cut a hole in the bottom of a black garbage bag, then flip it over the carboy. Airlock sticks out the hole, and I can lift up the bag to monitor what is going on inside.

 

[rabidgerbil]

I use towels and have some sewn up covers. I have 4 black ones and some pretty floral ones too

I loved these, the first time that I saw your picture of them. I know that my mother loves to make things with her sewing machine, but just does not have much reason to any more, so I figured that I would ask her to make me a few.

The remind me of the home made version of these, and we are into making things ourselves, now aren't we?

 

[g_rath]

Take the box that the carboy came in, cut a hole in the bottom the size of the airlock and set the box upside down over the carboy.

Or tape the box flaps open and turn it over, fits perfectly. A nice thick towel works great as well.

 

[EricK The Red]

I use towels and have some sewn up covers. I have 4 black ones and some pretty floral ones too

Do you use the Cherry NyQuil to add some kick to your lambics?

I like to substitute it for grenadine in my cocktails...

 

[PeteOz77]

Aluminum Foil blocks out nearly everything as well.. WRAP IT UP!

 

[TexLaw]

Or tape the box flaps open and turn it over, fits perfectly. A nice thick towel works great as well.

I don't even tape them open, and my boxes stand up just fine over carboys.


TL

 

[McKBrew]

I think a better idea than painting a carboy would be to put something like a 3M laminate over it. It would 1) block out all forms of light and 2) keep a dropped glass carboy from sending shards everywhere.

Downsides i see are 1) not being able to see into the carboy (although this doesn't sound like it would be a big deal for you), but more importantly 2) prevent you from seeing any cracks/damage that had formed.

This is a good idea. Maybe wrapping with clear laminate specifically to prevent/minimize shards would be worth considering. Some of that clear or lightly tinted film for windows would potentially be worth investing in.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

If you don't have a dark place to put your carboys then there are a lot of good suggestions already posted in this thread.

I would think that painting them would be more trouble than it's worth. Eventually the paint is going to chip off. Who wants to have to worry about paint chips in their beer?

 

[bgrubb7]

I just wrap a towel around them, and put a rubber band around the neck, to keep the towel in place. I want to be able to lift the towel up to monitor the action inside, so I couldn't imagine painting them or anything like that.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

Take the box that the carboy came in, cut a hole in the bottom the size of the airlock and set the box upside down over the carboy. Or just put the carboy in the closet.

+1

This can also be done quite nicely with grain bags. If you are looking for something more appealing, you could make some wooden cover boxes. This is my long term plan, when I find the time........

 

[wildwest450]

I use towels and have some sewn up covers. I have 4 black ones and some pretty floral ones too

Those are sweet! Martha Stewart would be proud.

 

[Gedvondur]

Now this brings us to the next logical level.

Do we sew Huggies over the top for the possible blowoff event?


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The revolution, you can run from it, nor can you hide. Get a HBT Branded Carboy Diaper today!


Gedvondur