Travel with full carboy

[schoolmaster]

With the AHA, National Homebrew Day this Saturday my homebrew club is doing a big brew. Several of us are going to meet and brew at one of the member's homes.
I live a 15 min drive from there and wanted to get any tips or ideas for transporting (2) full 5-gallon carboys home.

I've traveled with my brewing gear before, but always to help friends brew, so the beer stays there. This will be the first time I'm going to have to transport carboys.

I'm going to make up (2) wooden crates to hold the carboys and then put them in the back seat with seat belts on. Aside from driving slow and not taking turns to hard what else should I consider.

Do I put the airlock on, just the stopper and cover with foil or perhaps a plastic bag with a rubber band.

Interested in others' thoughts.

Thanks,
School Master

 

[BrewUO]

Sounds all good to me, I have always just strapped the seat
belt on and been good for a 45 mindrive on winding roads.

 

[samc]

Consider someone smashing into you from behind, your speed does not matter. I always put fragile stuff on the floor behind the front seats and back the seats up to make them fit snug. If someone hits you it is possible that a carboy will launch into you even if belted in. Throwing a towel around it can't hurt either. With it on the floor I figure you have less launch-ability. I'd wrap the stopper with plastic wrap and put it in.

A little extra safety instead of having them pull thousand of shards of glass out of your body.

 

[MacBruver]

I would do a plastic bag with a VERY TIGHT rubber band, over a stopper if you have them. Foil is not going to be enough to keep liquid from coming out of the top. Even if you drive carefully, it will slosh around way more than you think.

I have some solid lids for my brew buckets for events like this. I've also seen people use corny kegs, and transfer to fermenters when they get home.

If cleaning up spilled wort on a kitchen floor is a pain in the ass... imagine getting it out of upholstery!!

 

[jacksonbrown]

Carboy caps work great, too. In these situations I do as samc said and wrap with a towel and back the seat up. That should keep em pretty snug.

 

[JewBrew]

Line your box with a towel and make sure it has no sharp point. The reason being if the carboy jostles and strikes a sharp point or corner all of that energy gets focused on that tiny area which could shatter glass. Think of it like a glass safety hammer (see link)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B000BN3A4Y/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=15684181&s=automotive

 

[TipsyDragon]

my friend and i just transported 2 full glass carboys two weeks ago. all we did was put them in the cardboard boxes they came in and closed the lids. the airlocks where sticking out the tops of the boxes. we used his mini cooper to drive them over here. no problems what so ever.

 

[smizak]

Milk crates my man.

 

[Revvy]

I do it all the time. Rather than building something just get a milk crate, they hold carboys perfectly. And I have never had any trouble with a stopper on a carboy while driving, but an orange carboy cap does great.