Confused about the Carboy!!

[Tess]

Was going to buy the glass carboy because I thought it would be better. Now I read they can explode? Id this true? So which is it? Glass or Better-Bottle?? whats your opinion?

 

[GreginND]

Anything can explode if it has enough pressure. What is the concern with a glass carboy? Yes, glass is breakable and you need to be careful with it but there should be no explosions unless you are sealing it tight with a fermenting wine in it. Of course no one would ever do that.

 

[Tess]

Ok Thank you.

 

[Ernest T Bass]

There have been a lot of articles posted here about "imploding" glass carboys. I don't have the experience in making wine as most do on this site. I've only been at it for 3 years and am still learning every day. I started batch #99 today, mostly 5 gallon batches in glass carboys. I don't want to encourage you to do as I do, just to let you know what has been my experience. After my second or third batch, I bought a vacuum pump. Not having read any of the post on imploding glass carboys, I transferred, racked and degassed at 25" Hg and used the pinch valve on the tygon hose to control the flow. I have not experienced any problems (I'm knocking on wood now). I use this same procedure on 1 gallon jugs, 3 liter and 4 liter jugs. Again, I'm not recommending it, it's just what I do.
Semper Fi
Bud

 

[oldwhiskers]

The argument between which is better, glass or plastic is probably one of the biggest. People swear by both. I chose plastic to eliminate the possibilty of shattering, plus it's lighter. The glass can also be pretty slippery when wet with cleanser. But you can't rack or degas with vacuum in plastic where you can in glass.

 

[Bartman]

What's your reasoning for saying glass is better than Better Bottles? I have both, but the weight and break-ability of the glass carboys have convinced me to only buy Better Bottles in the future. I don't use a vacuum pump so that's not an issue for me. I also like the wider mouth of the Better Bottle. But I use both (2 glass, 4 plastic). They both do the job nicely, they just have a few differences between them (pros and cons).

 

[jCOSbrew]

Also new to winemaking and my kit came with a better bottle.

What is the best degassing technique with the better bottle?
Drill attached to one of those stir wands?
Can you splash rack without vacuum?

 

[oldwhiskers]

What's your reasoning for saying glass is better than Better Bottles?

No one has said either one was better in this thread.

@jCOSbrew
I use a drill mounted degassing tool in my better bottles.

 

[GreginND]

They each have advantages and disadvantages. Glass is easy to sanitize and does not scratch easily. But it is breakable and you need to be careful not to bump them. You can use glass carboys for vacuum transferring and filtering wine.

Plastic is lighter and unbreakable. But you need to be careful not to scratch them up when cleaning with brushes, etc. Scratches can make it harder to sanitize. And, for me a big negative, you cannot use them for vacuum transferring wine easily. They collapse under vacuum.

 

[grapeman]

I think when you read that glass carboys can explode, it was in reference to a gallon jug sealed up with an active ferment inside. That will blow up. A normal glass carboy should not be subjected to conditions to cause it to explode. Implosion is another matter covered above. Don't fret the large 3,5 and 6 gallon glass carboys exploding uncontrollably- it just doesn't happen much. Don't seal a fermenting gallon jug or any other size for that matter.

 

[Runningwolf]

All this talk of imploding and explosions of carboys I've heard for years. I have never heard of an actual story where it happened to a healthy carboy. Now if you had a defective one or one with a crack you didn't know about, that would be an issue. Every scratch on a Better Bottle is definitely a breeding ground for bacteria. I own both types. I hardly ever use the better bottles but I love the weight of them. Honestly the best use I've gotten out of my Better Bottles is placing them in between the glass ones that are being stored.

 

[Bartman]

No one has said either one was better in this thread.

Sure, the first line of the OP: "Was going to buy the glass carboy because I thought it would be better."

How does one scratch the inside of a better bottle plastic carboy?? If it's from over-aggressive degassing, that's just one more reason to let time and patience degas gently.

 

[Rocky]

They each have advantages and disadvantages. Glass is easy to sanitize and does not scratch easily. But it is breakable and you need to be careful not to bump them. You can use glass carboys for vacuum transferring and filtering wine.

Plastic is lighter and unbreakable. But you need to be careful not to scratch them up when cleaning with brushes, etc. Scratches can make it harder to sanitize. And, for me a big negative, you cannot use them for vacuum transferring wine easily. They collapse under vacuum.

In his post, Greg states the essence of the differences between glass and BB's. Each has advantages and disadvantages, which happen to be complementary to the other. (I would add that glass is more expensive.) One has to weigh these characteristics and decide what works for him or her. Glass or BB is only "better" in a particular situation. For me, I have a majority of glass (28 in all sizes) but I do have 2 BB's, which I use in certain situations.

 

[Simpsini]

I'm fairly new at this, but I have used glass carboys for 2 years and haven't had any trouble.

Ref degassing of the wine: I first stir with a hand drill and then use a "wine pump" attached to teh bung to create a vacuum to bring the CO2 out of the wine. The wine pump is the kind you buy to put on top of opend bottles of wine and pump the air out. This doesn't create enough of a vacuum to implode the bottle but it still does a good job of degassing the wine. I leave the wine pump on for weeks as the wine is clearing

 

[Tess]

What's your reasoning for saying glass is better than Better Bottles? I have both, but the weight and break-ability of the glass carboys have convinced me to only buy Better Bottles in the future. I don't use a vacuum pump so that's not an issue for me. I also like the wider mouth of the Better Bottle. But I use both (2 glass, 4 plastic). They both do the job nicely, they just have a few differences between them (pros and cons).

I said I thought it might be, for cleanliness. That was my only reason for choosing the glass. I Didnt really know one way or the other sense this is my first one lol

 

[Tess]

I added a comma, why I edited

 

[Tess]

I'm fairly new at this, but I have used glass carboys for 2 years and haven't had any trouble.

Ref degassing of the wine: I first stir with a hand drill and then use a "wine pump" attached to teh bung to create a vacuum to bring the CO2 out of the wine. The wine pump is the kind you buy to put on top of opend bottles of wine and pump the air out. This doesn't create enough of a vacuum to implode the bottle but it still does a good job of degassing the wine. I leave the wine pump on for weeks as the wine is clearing

I still have so much to learn sighhhhhhh.

 

[jimmyjames23]

I like glass. Like others have mentioned it doesn't scratch easily and lasts a very, very long time.
Here's a picture of the bottom of one of my 6 1/2 gal carboys. Notice the production date... still in use.

 

[dralarms]

I've got one of those made in 1961 and 1 in 1973.

 

[jimmyjames23]

See.....they just last.

But, if you're the slightest bit clumsy, have an aversion to handling slippery, heavy breakable glass and don't vacuum degas your wine...get a plastic better bottle.