The Exploding Carboy Club...

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eschatz

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Location
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So I finally got in the club...

I was brewing about an hour ago and I went to move a 6.5 gal carboy off of the counter. It was filled with Idophor and water, I was filled with beer, it slipped out of my hands and created a tidal wave of glass and sanitary solution. :eek: I stood motionless for a moment and upon realizing I wasn't hurt I let out a string of expletives. :(

Anyone else in the Exploding Carboy Club? :mad:
 
It is a good thing you weren't hurt. How much of a mess did the iodophore make ?

I had a glass carboy break just from the weight of the beer it contained sloshing around.

I only use glass now for wine. Better bottles are just ... better.
 
Bummer. I see a Better Bottle in your future. I'm glad no one was hurt and you did not lose any beer! With a Better Bottle you could actually save most of you beer if the same were to happen.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kP6ZEenvRho]YouTube - Better Bottle Experiment[/ame]
 
Honestly, I don't understand why people still use glass. I think a lot of bad advice floats around the homebrewing community, especially with regard to people advocating the use of large glass containers. I mean, from a practical standpoint, the risk of using large glass containers is way too high to justify it's use in homebrewing.

HDPE and PET are the clear winners for economical homebrewing. But, if you've got the extra cash lying around, stainless steel can't be beat.

To the OP, I'm glad to hear you weren't injured during the incident. :)
 
Glad to hear you didn't get hurt.

After messing around with wet, full carboys one too many times and wondering how I've live this long without dropping one, I just sold them all and ferment in kegs now.
 
I still use glass and haven't had any problems. But I also don't drink much while I'm brewing, have handles for all my carboys (before that, milk crate), make sure not to fill them with hot liquid, etc. I think they're relatively safe if the proper precautions are taken.

Now, having said that... a better bottle is obviously "safer".

The only real misgiving I have with going plastic is that I've had one or two times where I've racked out of a carboy and then gotten lazy :drunk: and not cleaned the carboy for a few days. Bad practice, I know! But when it's sitting in the basement it's easy to forget sometimes... It's only happened once or twice, but I'd be afraid plastic would stain/smell/something given the same treatment. Even so, I'm still considering better bottles for future carboy purchases.
 
Also glad you were not hurt.

I am a part of this club. First dark beer I every brewed went all over my basement carpet. When I dropped it I just stood there in aww. As you said, once I realized that I was not hurt I used every profound word I new. Not making any sense at all. Once I was done I went up stairs grabbed a brew and the shop vac.

I do think a small (SMALL) portion must be blamed on the amount of drinking I had done while brewing that night. :drunk:

My basement still has that wonderful hint of beer in the air which my SWMBO is not that fond of. The worst part is every time she goes downstairs and sees the stain I get a little comment.

I am now in the process of converting over to plastic. Enjoy the picture.

IMG_3251_1.jpg
 
wow, glad you did cut your feet off. This is one of my fears. I always dry my hands, think(don't FU), then pick it up. I am in the process of designing a room in the basement where I can brew outside on the back porch, transfer the cooled wort to the basement through a looooong hose into a glass carboy on a high shelf, below this carboy is the eventual secondary and below this will be keg. If this works I will never have to pick up a full glass carboy again. If not then I will go to SS kegs for fementing. Charlie
 
I am a member of that club. Mine was a brand new 5 gallon carboy which I even had in a milk crate. How can it break you might ask? Well my ******* drove over it with my jeep when I was moving it out of the garage to clear the area for brewing. Luckily not too long afterwards I found a brewer who was getting out of the business and got six 6 1/2 gallons carboys and a ton of other stuff for cheap cheap cheap!
 
I never had a problem with glass. I also never had a problem mowing my lawn, or using a chain saw, or weed wacking either.
 
That's just sad and ugly. I'm a stickler for glass because I'm lazy and like to leave things dirty for days or even a week or more. That and glass is just cool. However, I am very, very careful with my carboys. I do not use those handles (I just bought two carboys that have stress-flaking on the necks from those stupid things); I use a nylon brew hauler instead. It folds up small, provides two handles, and is relatively soft.
 
Mine was years ago.

I think I must have set it down hard and created a hairline crack.

I filled it with wort and picked it up to move it.

The ENTIRE BOTTOM came off in one piece. WHOOOOOSH!

That was a fun, sticky mess to clean up...

:(
 
I also belong to this club. I dropped a beutiful Kolsh all over my garage!:mad:\ I now carry my carboy's in a plastic milk crate. I load them up and move them with ou fear!
 
I've never broken one, but I've retired my 6.5 gallon glass carboys in favor of Better Bottles. I brew in the garage and ferment in the basement, and carrying a full 6.5 gallon glass carboy down the stairs is treacherous indeed.

I do still use a 5 gallon glass carboy as a secondary though. I don't really secondary very often, but when I do it's usually for an extended period, and I like the ideal of glass for that. It doesn't need to travel up and down the stairs though.
 
From that exploding carboy website.....

Poole said:
Hey everyone! I'm new to the forum, but not the site. I've been homebrewing for about a year now and I have to say that it's my favorite hobby. I wanted to share my latest experience: Last monday morning I had just rinsed out my 6.5 gal glass carboy from my last batch and was carrying it up my back steps (concrete) when I stumbled and fell. The bottle broke and my hand came down on it. When I turned my hand over to check for injuries, I watched blood pulse out. Obviously I went to the ER and they sewed me back together and referred me to a plastic surgeon. It ends up that I cut the nerves to my thumb and index finger (no feeling in either) and they will do surgery to sew them back together next week. What am I doing during the wait? Why, brewing beer of course! I went back and bought 2 more carboys (in case one breaks) and have brewed two more batches this week. The moral of the story is this: Be careful with the glass, and if you start to fall, forget the carboy and save yourself. I just thought I would share my experience. I hope I can contribute to this forum as much as it has already enlightened me.

I have read that before, but maybe I missed this one. Why on earth would you ever go out and buy more carboys after injuring yourself like that?!? I dunno, maybe I am just a whimp. If that happened to me every glass carboy I owned would be on CL. I might actually get rid of the one I own now and switch to BB because of this refresher.
 
The moral of the story is this: Be careful with the glass, and if you start to fall, forget the carboy and save yourself

My grandfather started a glass business that my dad still runs today. I've been handling glass since starting working there when I was 12 and I have a few scars to show for it. I was reminded of this nearly every week by my dad. He always told me that a piece of glass is much cheaper than any injury. If it feels like it's going, let it go and jump out of the way. I have seen some bad accidents in my time there. I give glass the respect it deserves. One hand on the bottom and one hand on the neck seems to work fine for me. I don't trust the handles.
 
I'm not getting rid of my glass but in the future I will only buy plastic? :D

When I gravity checked my glass carboy I got rid of the only glass I had. I started picking up carboys about the time they doubled in price, so better bottles were high on my list anyway.
 
I had a 6 gallon slip out of my hands as I was dumping the star-san out. I tried to catch it on the way down, and it broke on the concrete floor in my hands. Luckily the only injury was a 1/4" x 1/8" piece of the outer layer of skin shaved off of a finger. It really got me thinking about my brewing process. I brew in the garage and ferment in the basement, and carrying full glass carboys is a PITA. I didn't want to pony up the cash for 4 better bottles, as I was in the process of moving from 10 to 20 gallon batches. I ended up buying food grade 6 1/2 gallon buckets (Ale Pails). They are soooo much easier to carry around than carboys. I still secondary in glass, but as those break I will probably replace them with better bottles.

:off:On a side note, I am currently using a 5 gallon drinking water bottle as a back-up carboy. There is a batch of Ed's Haus Ale in it right now. I have never noticed oxitation from it, but I have also never left beer in it for more than 2 weeks.
 
I've had bad luck lately with glass, but thankfully not my carboys. I tripped over my cay while moving a glass topped table in July and ended with 4 stitches and some nerve damage in my right hand. Last week I took a wonderful roasted squash with brown sugar and pecan glaze out of my oven and set the Pyrex baking dish on my stove top when it exploded (the dish, not the squash). For a small dish it sure made a big mess. I'm still finding bits of glass dust and the kitchen is now a no bare feet zone until I'm sure we;ve got it all. The squash was a total loss. :(

I don't pick up my carboys if they have anything in them any more. A skate board works nicely to move them from the kitchen to the closet.
 
I started off several years ago with glass carboys. Then, one of my friends decided to start brewing and ordered a Cooper's brew kit. I liked the fermenter design so much that I ordered three of them (just the fermenter, not the entire kit). :)

coopers-3.jpg
 
Never broken one, thank god. Brew Haulers are great, but I do need to replace all my glass carboys with BBs.

Glad the OP didn't get hurt.

Bummer. I see a Better Bottle in your future. I'm glad no one was hurt and you did not lose any beer! With a Better Bottle you could actually save most of you beer if the same were to happen.

YouTube - Better Bottle Experiment

I wonder how oxidized that saved beer would be. ;)
 
I don't pick up my carboys if they have anything in them any more. A skate board works nicely to move them from the kitchen to the closet.
I'd be worried about it slipping off the carboy too easily.

I'm not getting rid of my glass but in the future I will only buy plastic? :D

Same here. I currently only have a 5 gallon glass, and a 6.5 gallon glass. I plan on only buying Better Bottles in the future, in less I find a great deal on glass. Then using the 5G glass for secondaries that don't need any transportting, and stuff like apfelwein and Johns Ancient Orange Mead that I can throw together in in the basement and not have to move the full carboys.
 
I don't carry it just by the handle when it's full. Other hand underneath to keep all the stress off the neck.

I never thought about putting the stress on the neck, but after hearing all of these horror stories, it looks like a carrier is next on my list of homebrew purchases!
 
I started off several years ago with glass carboys. Then, one of my friends decided to start brewing and ordered a Cooper's brew kit. I liked the fermenter design so much that I ordered three of them (just the fermenter, not the entire kit). :)

coopers-3.jpg

Where do you get these in the states? I see them online at australian stores, but I can never seem to find them at any stores in the US. If you know of anywhere that sells them, let me know.
 
Where do you get these in the states? I see them online at australian stores, but I can never seem to find them at any stores in the US. If you know of anywhere that sells them, let me know.

Ya, those Aussies are famous for limiting access to their better products, like the Pontiac G8. :D

Cascadia Importers is the US distributor for Coopers brand products. I ordered several of their fermenters back in late '06 for $25 a piece + shipping. You can call them at 888-588-9262 M-F 9am to 5pm, Pacific Standard Time.

Just ask to purchase the 30 liter fermenter, lid, and tap/spigot kit. They will sell the parts individually or as a complete kit (which you don't want).
 
I want to switch to Better Bottles, but the 6 gal size is a deal breaker for me. I always put 5.5 gallons into my fermenter, then siphon just 5 gal out for the bottling bucket(cleaner beer).

Half gallon headspace ain't gonna cut it, and I hate the idea of dealing with a blowoff tube or Fermcap, etc...

I have a system down with my glass. I NEVER touch the carboys with my barehands. Leather work gloves on my brew-bench, handles on any empty carboy, brew-hauler for lifting straight up or down, heavy duty plastic commercial milkcrates for carrying ANYWHERE, full or empty. I have a hose and table setup near the basement sink so I can siphon out any amount of liquid out of the carboys, like when they're full of oxiclean. I only turn them over when there as empty as possible, again wearing gloves and using the carboy handle to keep as much of my hands off of the glass as possible.

If they make a bigger Better Bottle, I'll buy it in an instant.
 
Well that does it I am going to put up a sign in the Kitchen/Brewhouse:
Always...ALways...ALWAYS!!! Dry hands before handling a glass carboy...lol. I actually got one of those Brew Haulers as well and it is a great way to lift a carboy. I also like the milk crate idea. I modified a flat furniture dolly so that it will hold a Keggle as well as a Carboy. It is an easy way to get the Keggle from the front or back porch into the kitchen.
 
Where do you get these in the states? I see them online at australian stores, but I can never seem to find them at any stores in the US. If you know of anywhere that sells them, let me know.

My wife bought mine off their website (Coopers Homebrew Beer | Home Beer Brewing Kit | Beer Making | Beer Kit) I believe. I love the fermenter, but cleaning the top of the inside (where it curves in)can get tedious. I've had great experiences with the company as well. They sent me a new spigot for the fermenter for free, after I was an idiot and ran mine through the garbage disposal.
 
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