Who here is happy with glass carboys?

[MeatyPortion]

I have a 5 gal and two 6 1/2 gal carboys. No problems yet.

 

[noble13]

I started with a glass carboy 20+ years ago to make wine. I used it for my first brew primary when I started making beer. I still use that carboy as a brite tank for beer (I usually ferment in plastic) and for making wine. I recently bought two 3 gallon carboys and have largely dedicated them to making apfelwein. I think the glass is cool and I accept that some caution is needed when hanlding them.

 

[jmiracle]

I carry 'em full all of the time, using nothing more than the orange carboy handles and I carry them up and down stairs. Am I an idiot?? Probably. But i've been doing it for a few years now and I've never had a problem and I'm not going to stop because one might explode severing my head clean from my body.

I know you said you're not going to stop, but those handles (if you mean the kind that go around the neck) are specifically meant for assisting the transport of EMPTY carboys, so it might be worse than if you were just bear-hugging the thing with dry hands.

 

[Cape Brewing]

I like to live on the edge... I'm a renegade.. a maverick!

Nah, I appreciate it... I know you're just trying to save me from bleeding a lot and I do appreciate it. I don't see me learning my lesson until it actually happens though. I've been carrying them for years that way and I've never had a problem.

 

[McKBrew]

So what everyone is saying over and over again.....

It's a matter of preference.

Some people have glass carboys for years and never break one.

Some people break them and go to the ER.

No one has ever been injured by a Better Bottle or Bucket.

In the end, it's all a matter of preference.

 

[davesrose]

Well I have 3 glass carboys for primaries and secondaries. I recently got a better bottle, so we'll see what I think of that. For now, I'm a glass carboy person. Like seeing the ferment and rinse right after siphoning means easy cleanup.

 

[springer]

No one has ever been injured by a Better Bottle or Bucket.

In the end, it's all a matter of preference.

Ummm not quite true ....



Just say to SWMBO that she missed a spot while she is carrying the mop and bucket

 

[drayman86]

Have brewed for over two years, using nothing but 6.5 gallon glass carboys.

Wouldn't consider using anything else.

Plastic = porous = ideal bacterial growth media.

Check out a Brew Hauler to move full carboys.

 

[WorryWort]

I use glass mostly, and I don't secondary. Never broken one. They are super easy to clean with Oxiclean.

Plastic buckets are good for dry hopping with leaves. It's much easier to pop the lid and toss them in. Or to put a bag in there.

my 2 cents.

 

[Moose777]

I appreciate all of your replies everyone. I use my bedroom as my fermentation room as it is kept coolest do to crappy apartment insulation. The bedroom is also considered the "nursery" so the last thing I need is glass shards flying into my daughters crib. I am just concerned about unexplained explosions.
__________________

I assume you take necessary precaution on venting all the C02 from fermentation? I can't believe you ferment in the baby nursery next to a crib..that just seems wrong man.

 

[WilliamstonBrew]

... I have seen the Pyrex ones, way too expensive.

I'm a relatively new brewer (1.5 months, 3 batches) and have been browsing the forums... I just came across this and jumped for joy! I had no idea about the Pyrex carboys. I looked online and saw a 5 gallon one listing for $150.

Here's the story... I got into homebrewing when my brother-in-law gave me all his equipment. He had never used it. He got it from a friend who moved out of the country and couldn't take it with him. That guy had used it a few times. He worked in a chemistry lab... you see where this is going...

In the bundle came three carboys: a standard 5 gallon, a 6 gallon, and a 5 gallon Pyrex no. 1595 solution bottle. I never thought to research it.

I've not used it yet since it has a huge bung hole (snicker) #12. I ordered a couple of stoppers and they just arrived in the mail today. I plan on using it for Apfelwein.

Here's a pic... You can see my new drilled stopper on top and the labels the previous owner had on it.

 

[Brewpastor]

Carboys are great. I have 3 7 gallon carboys, a couple 5 gallon jobs and one 3 gallon carboy. They are heavy, and yes they will break, but they certainly can carry out a great fermentation.

 

[Hammy71]

I have 4 and have never had a problem....(knock on wood....). Like most things...you take care of them....they'll take care of you....

 

[gxm]

Plastic = porous = ideal bacterial growth media.

Right. And metals are hard. Well, except for those that aren't, such as lead, mercury, indium, gallium...
I know everyone has their own preferences, but as a former material scientist, this sort of statement just annoys me. There are many thousands of different types of plastic, just as there are many thousands of different types of metals. Some plastics, such as the PET used in Better Bottles, aren't porous to the size molecules we deal with in brewing. </rant>

If you like glass, great, use glass. Just don't make stuff up.

 

[Bobby_M]

All is fair in the this vs that debate. I'll close my contribution to the thread with this link: Broken Carboys - Lustreking Brewing

 

[Schlenkerla]

All is fair in the this vs that debate. I'll close my contribution to the thread with this link: Broken Carboys - Lustreking Brewing

I stopped looking at this thread because it was more and more of the same.

Bobby M - The thought of sliced up tendons makes me want to cringe.

I hadn't heard that it got that bad....

 

[Tonedef131]

I can't believe that people are actually suprised when their glass carboys break. These are glass people, if you drop them of smack them into something yes they will break. I have never broken one because I am extremely careful when handling them and personally I think they are rad. You can see everything, you can be 100% sure they are clean and they have no oxygen permeability...these are more important to me than the downsides that glass has.

 

[Jumbo82]

I have about a dozen glass carboys. Other then my Fermenator, they are all I use. I'll never switch to BBs, my set up is ideal for glass. The advantages far outweigh the negatives, IMHO. I've lost a few over the years due to accidents, but none lately. One died from my neighbors dog knocking it over in the barn, one my dad dropped while cleaning, and one I killed by pouring hot cleaner into a cold carboy. Lessons were learned, they shouldn't happen again. Cost of doing business as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Tim27]

I don't exactly know what I did, but I have two 6 gallon carboys with almost identical hairline cracks. As far as how this thread was going and who was happy I am one who is not happy with my carboys. I never put hot wort in either of them. I always had a gallon of water in them to dissipate what ever heat shock there may have been. Could it be that I carry them by hand? I always was careful with the necks. Somehow the bottoms cracked. Maybe it was letting them sit in a tiny apartment sink overnight with a full 6 gallons of water and Oxyclean? Was the concave design of the sink enough to stress the glass exactly wrong? All I can say is I am pissed. I just don't know what I could have done differently. Maybe the Italian carboys are better constructed. . I just get nervous about the scratching of better bottles. I knew with the glass I would have almost no chance of scratching.
I don't know. Now all I have is my bucket which has a funk I couldn't get out after my first batch. Which is why I wanted glass in the first place.

 

[Tim27]

Being unemployed I can't afford to brew now let alone buy new fermenters. Now i find out my fermentation bucket is made from No.7 plastic, which is supposedly not safe because of a certain chemical that leeches into the contents of the container. No brewing for a long time for me now.

 

[beerocd]

I'd like to see how people are storing their bazillion carboys. Are you building 2x4 racks, or a shelving system, or do you really have that much free floorspace to hold all those carboys?

-OCD

 

[coryforsenate]

I like my glass carboys. Something about them being clear and letting you see what's happening inside just fascinates me.

Of course, they are covered and kept in the dark 99.9% of the time.

 

[mattmcl]

20+ years of brewing with glass and I'd never switch. I have four of them, I keep them lined up against the wall in the basement. I get the handles that attach to the neck for hauling them around.

 

[thantos]

15 + and cant live with out them! I have a morbid fascination about watching my fermentation's.

 

[humann_brewing]

I purchased my second glass carboy last saturday, I was excited because it was a 6.5 gallon one and well I am a beer nerd I guess. Anyways, I was draining it when it fell over onto the cement and I no longer have it.

So that sucks, never even got to use the thing and had to use a dang bucket to ferment in. I am still getting another one but will only drain over my grass now.

 

[Buffman]

All glass here. I recently got rid of my old bucket after I noticed small scratches and a distinct beer smell in the plastic. The walls on glass carboys are pretty thick; I don't worry about breaking them with minor bumps. I do, however, make sure my hands are dry before trying to move a full one.

 

[TerapinChef]

3 primaries and 6 secondarys here...I've already broken one primary when I dropped it nose down into a concrete sink, which was nice enough to contain the broken pieces for me. I love my glass for it's impermeability, ease of cleaning, and most of all I really enjoy the show. I always crate them to move them, even if they're empty. I do use oxyclean, which makes them slippery, but I clean them on a counter that drains into my basement sink so I never have to carry them anywhere.
+1 on not drinking during brewing anymore, I have one or two beers tops. The closer you get to the end of the day, the more you need your wits about you.
Plus chicks dig scars.

 

[ZBrewMan]

Plus chicks dig scars.

FTW! :rockin:

 

[Clayton]

that thing is so bad ass i cant belave noone comminted on it
1 5 gal pyrex carboy, kick ass!
but hey i love lab glass.

I'm a relatively new brewer (1.5 months, 3 batches) and have been browsing the forums... I just came across this and jumped for joy! I had no idea about the Pyrex carboys. I looked online and saw a 5 gallon one listing for $150.

Here's the story... I got into homebrewing when my brother-in-law gave me all his equipment. He had never used it. He got it from a friend who moved out of the country and couldn't take it with him. That guy had used it a few times. He worked in a chemistry lab... you see where this is going...

In the bundle came three carboys: a standard 5 gallon, a 6 gallon, and a 5 gallon Pyrex no. 1595 solution bottle. I never thought to research it.

I've not used it yet since it has a huge bung hole (snicker) #12. I ordered a couple of stoppers and they just arrived in the mail today. I plan on using it for Apfelwein.

Here's a pic... You can see my new drilled stopper on top and the labels the previous owner had on it.

my god look at the price of thoes things
http://www.wilmad-labglass.com/group/779

 

[enderwig]

I love my carboys, but I have one rule that I strictly adhere to: 2 dry hands on the carboy at all times when moving. Following that rule, I have never broken one!