BeerBorg

Dave is replacing his LBKs and just this morning I tossed my 5G glass carboy into the recycle bin. I noticed this morning when moving it that it had developed hairline cracks just below the neck that ran horizontally in various places. It almost looked like it was slightly warped, if you know what I mean.

I've read all the horror stories about shattering carboys and things going horribly wrong with them once they show any signs of stress so I'm not taking any chances with it. Forget the fact that it would make a huge mess if anything happened to it, but I would never forgive myself if I were out of town and had my family look in at the fermentation and something happened to them. So, it's gone.

Now I need to decide what I'm going to buy to replace it. There's always a simple replacement, of course.

Then again, there is the new glass big mouth bubbler:


Then there is the Better Bottle:


And MoreBeer has their own version of a plastic carboy:


Or I could go the route of the Speidel Plastic Fermenter:


While I'd love to go this route, I simply don't have the room for a concical (*sigh*):


Too Many options......and I have no idea at this point which way I'll go.
I already have a 6.5G bucket so I'm not hurting for something to ferment a 5G batch in, but it's going to be time to replace that soon as well - just based on the length of time that I've had it.

What to do.....

If I were to replace my glass carboys I would go with the big mouth bubbler. Nice easy cleaning.

Yeah, the big-mouth bubbler is very attractive, especially from a cleaning standpoint.

+1 On the big mouth bubbler for cleaning. I like the idea of glass for keeping things clean despite the danger of loosing a limb. If I had room for anything besides the LBK, that's the way I would go.

Kealia, did you see the review I posted on the Big Mouth Bubbler viewtopic.php?f=18&t=1590? So far I like it a lot and have been doing back to back batches in it, but it is glass and could easily break.

And agreement on replacing stuff. I had three LBKs, now only one warped one (plus other fermenters). I recently noticed that my second autosiphon has cracks in it, bought another.

I think I forgot about that thread, thanks for the reminder. After thinking on this for a whole hour I'm currently leaning towards the Speidel Plastic Fermenter. I won't be buying one for a while, so I'll be changing my mind multiple times before I do pull the trigger.

I like that it has a wide mouth too (haven't found the exact specs yet) and that it has a spigot which eliminates the need to siphon it.

And here's the picture of the cracks on the carboy:

I have a Spiedel and love it! I use it at least once a month and it is a quality piece of equipment. Big top to make it easy to clean, handles to make it easy to move and I know it will outlive me. You know, it's made in Germany......like a BMW, it will live forever!

The big mouth bubbler kind of interests me but I have an aversion to glass containers after watching another brewer bump 2 glass carboys against each other only to have both shatter.

I currently use the 3 gallon Better Bottles and am a big fan of them. I have had no problem cleaning them. After brewing I rinse until all the trub is gone and then I will let it soak overnight with Oxyclean to get the kreusen residue off. They are always clean the next day.

Those cracks almost look like there is a laminate layer holding it together similar to the glass used in windshields. Does it look like that in real life or is that an artifact of the image?

Out of that selection I'd get the Speidel, simply because I won't deal with a fermenter without a spigot anymore. I hate siphons and dealing with large amounts of tubing. I did that for years and years, and I simply can't stand it anymore... (personal issues there I know LOL). And I've busted and exploded glass things in the past - had glass embedded in the walls, I consider them evil death machines - no glass for me, no... never. And I can't afford the SS .

I've really had a hankering for a S/S conical, but that of course would be for primary. I have always liked the glass carboys for a secondary since they are cheap (when you find them on sale) and knock on wood I have yet to have an issue. I do have a Better Bottle for wine, but I am not a huge fan of it since the soft plastic can flex when it is moved which causes it to ingest whatever is in the airlock WHEN I forget to remove it.

Beer-lord wrote:I have a Spiedel and love it! I use it at least once a month and it is a quality piece of equipment. Big top to make it easy to clean, handles to make it easy to move and I know it will outlive me. You know, it's made in Germany......like a BMW, it will live forever!

This has the Beer-lord seal of approval. Cool.

duff wrote:Those cracks almost look like there is a laminate layer holding it together similar to the glass used in windshields. Does it look like that in real life or is that an artifact of the image?

Nope, what you see in the picture is exactly how it looks. They weren't there before so they are a recent development. I did have a carboy carrier attached to the neck that I used along with a hand on the bottom so perhaps a combination of stress on the neck and fermentation pressure caused them. I really don't know. This is what the carrier looked like:

mashani wrote:Out of that selection I'd get the Speidel, simply because I won't deal with a fermenter without a spigot anymore. I hate siphons and dealing with large amounts of tubing.

I think I'm starting to head down that path, too. I don't mind the siphon itself but all the tubing, extra little parts, etc. just get to be a chore while moving stuff around. I don't have a dedicated brew room/area so I have to haul my stuff around before and after each brewing session. Eliminating some stuff is starting to sound good.

DaYooper wrote:I've really had a hankering for a S/S conical, but that of course would be for primary. I have always liked the glass carboys for a secondary since they are cheap (when you find them on sale) and knock on wood I have yet to have an issue.

If I ever go that route, I'll do what the conical is designed to do - drop the yeast out of the bottom and let it basically be the brite tank, too. Maybe if/when I get a bigger place and I can dedicate room for something bigger like that I'll go that route.

The Speidel is looking better and better to me. I think that's the way I am going to go. I have to check the measurements to see if it will fit in my mini fridge. I can fit a 5 gallon Lowes bucket with about 3/4 inch to spare.

I may swing by MoreBeer this week to check one out in person. If I do I will post measurements and thoughts from seeing one "in the flesh".