Why are most fermenting carboys clear?

[cola]

why are most fermenting carboys clear?

i mean my mr. beer came with a fermenter that was dark brown.

i thought that when one ferments, the fermenter/carboy/keg is supposed to be kept out of sunlight.

if that is the case then why are most carboys on the market glass clear?

 

[SenorWanderer]

i . . um. . .uh. . don't really know. probably because they're made for water dispensers too?! i think it's good that they are clear so you can clearly see the gunk you need to clean out when you're done fermenting. another good thing for beginners is that if you know you have to cover it / put it in the closet then you're less likely to fuss with it all the time. i use the box my carboys come in as a cover. cut a 4"-5" diameter hole in the center of the bottom, fold the flaps into the box and turn it over on top the the carboy. voila!

 

[Go Gators]

I am new to this, so I am not anywhere as knowledgeable as the other guys. I do however know that there is a huge plastic vs. glass caraboy battle. I will offer you some of my knowledge however. If you have glass brew supplies it is harder to "wear" them out. When you get scratches in the plastic it is pretty much useless. The scrapes can harbor bacteria which will contaminate beer.

Just to let you know I still use a plastic primary, but I believe that you see mostly glass caraboys because they will "last" longer. Just my $0.02

 

[rabidgerbil]

thoughts on the subject of making a glass carboy "not clear" and why this might not be a good idea

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=54519

 

[cola]

ahhh. i c.

 

[Orfy]

'Cause this is fun to watch!

[youtube]z6--MnYSn74[/youtube]

 

[cola]

lol

................

 

[david_42]

Orfy is probably right. Considering the mega-tons of brown glass being recycled, it can't be an availability issue.

 

[Orfy]

It is also easier to see faults in low quality clear glass than it is brown.

Carboys are manufactured in much lower quantities than bottles and it is probably not viable to set up a auto checking facility on the production line like it is for a line doing 100,000 bottles per week.

 

[malkore]

plus, back in the old days, people could in no way afford refrigeration for lagers or even ales in the warmer climates.

but they had root cellars and such that stayed cool enough (for ales at least) and obviously you don't get much sunlight underground...for them it was a non-issue.

go back even further and it was ceramic jars...light impermeable.

I'm sure it just never caught on for the manufacturer's to tint the glass, in addition to orfy's comments about seeing imperfections.
I'm also sure the makers figure "these people live in houses, they can find a dark room if they need it".

I just toss a t-shirt over my carboys when they're in use.