Cracking the Carboy Conundrum

I read where some homebrewer totally encased his glass carboy using Packing Tape. His goal was not necessarily to protect the glass carboy from breaking but to contain the shards of glass if the carboy every did break. I have read stories where folks lost their grip and the carboy fell from a distance and apparently glass carboys have a tendency to 'explode' into a million pieces of glass/shards.

To repeat what was posted above:

"He was bear hugging a carboy full of hot PBW over his slop sink and it cracked right under his arm. Hundreds of stitches; it looked like a shark bite."

I have read other similar stories but the above situation of "hundreds of stitches" is likely the 'winner' (or loser?) here.

Pardon me being repetitive here but: just get over your aversion to using plastic. Beer brewed in plastic turns out just fine.

Cheers!

 

Bu-bu-But CHEMICALS!

 

But isn’t 75% silicon dioxide (SiO2), sodium oxide (Na2O) from sodium carbonate (Na2CO3), calcium oxide, also called lime (CaO), and several minor additives chemicals?

Cheers!

 

How about making a giant sized "coozie" out of neoprene? Easy to put on, take off, and clean.

 

$19 sticky foam pads...was this an article or an advertisement?

 

At those prices I could just buy some beer already made.

 

Yet.
But you will.
Add Broken Carboy to Death and Taxes.

 

Ehh . . . some of my carboys are even used and they're just fine. One 6.5 gallon is from 1996 and I have a 5 gallon one that's from the 70s, I think. I take care of them and they take care of me.

 

So funny...who would REALLY buy this?

Most brewers I know dont use glass anymore, so the market is shrinking and there are only so many in that market that would possibly buy this product. It's cheaper to buy a bucket, lid and airlock than it is to buy this silly "product" and you'd still have no fermenter!

Worst Ad/Article BA has ever done IMO!

 

Me too, been using them for years, easy to slide around on the floor.

 

Used em for 15 years and almost killed myself one Saturday while rinsing before a brew session.. With all the alternativs available today — I have no clue why folks persist in using carboys. Based on the number of replies here — there’s clearly a following - to each his own. Cheers.

 

Getting tough tell across the BA platforms these days.....

 

Buckets ftw! A wine supply shop has wine fermenting buckets with a runner gasket lid for 7 dollars. Best deal ever and I don't want a spigot since it's just another thing to clean. I have been thinking about getting an anvil stainless fermenter as soon as I get my kegerator taps I want.

 

Wouldn't you know it? Was cleaning a 6.5 gallon carboy after the primary of my newest NEIPA and it broke.

























JK. It's just fine. Just like always.

 

lol such a troll @EvenMoreJesus. Ive had one break but I didn't drop it. It was actually a glass demijohn for wine (10 gallon)My brew partner was walking by it with the burner and the regulator hit the neck and broke it. Needless to say those demijohns are quite expensive to replace and it looked sharp as hell so I switched to buckets after that day.

 

Wow . . . that sucks. Those wine demijohns are awesome AND expensive.

 

You are a wise person.

Cheers!

 

I used 10 5 gallon carboys for about 10 years and never had a problem but then there is a world of difference between a 30-40 year old guy moving 50 lbs of glass and beer around and a 60 - 70 year old guy attempting the same. If I were to try it now I would either use the bumpers, find plastic containers to use for a secondary, or figure out how to use pumps.

 

Buckets are the way to go. Safer, lighter, easier to carry, easier to store (they nest)! Plus you can get them with a valve for easy transfers so you don’t have to siphon.