Fermenting in Stainless Steel with no sight glass?

The Brew Mentor said:
I have about 75 PET Fermentors and carboys in rotation. After starting with glass, I'd never go back.
Lightweight and easy to clean. And, they bounce!
The only downfall is they melt if left by an open burner or if you pour boiling water into them.
Also, because they are non permeable, to can use them for beer and wine, going back and forth is ho issue as they don't pick-up or carry any smells after cleaning.
Some of the carboys I have in rotation have had product in and out of them for years!
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75?!? Where do you store them? My wife would be ripshit, lol
 
Here are most of them, we use them for our wine services mainly now.
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The newer variety are the ones with the big opening above. You can see how much easier they would be to clean than the glass. You can also see the raised bottom in the middle that makes syphoning easier without collecting the whole damn yeast cake.
 
Herm brews said:
That’s a lot going on there. Your tracking method helps keep things straight.
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Yep, everything including wines we make for the shop have tracking numbers and a service schedule. That includes beer as well.
They all go into my outlook calendar which reminds me of scheduled services needed.
I also have a Kaizen board to help with visuals.
 
Okay, glass carboys, DANGER!!!!!
my injury, which took months to heal, was pretty minor compared to some who have had a glass carboy break on them... way too slippery when wet...
 
Craigerrr said:
Okay, glass carboys, DANGER!!!!!
my injury, which took months to heal, was pretty minor compared to some who have had a glass carboy break on them... way too slippery when wet...
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I've had a small 1 gallon explode when the blow off tube got stopped up when I was making some blackberry wine :D

However, I've learned from my mistakes.

Never had a glass carboy slip on me, but I use these handles they make for them now https://www.amazon.com/Carboy-Carboys-Fermenter-Brewing-Equipment/dp/B08KFDBR96
 
Ward Chillington said:
2 words @coreyman ..check Craigslist.

I don't know the geography too well down there but I see a bunch of glass carboys on the Deep East Texas list!
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Weird, I get 'Zero local results found' when searching 'Carboy'. Can you pass me the link you are using? Our local craigslist and facebook marketplace suck...
 
coreyman said:
I've had a small 1 gallon explode when the blow off tube got stopped up when I was making some blackberry wine :D

However, I've learned from my mistakes.

Never had a glass carboy slip on me, but I use these handles they make for them now https://www.amazon.com/Carboy-Carboys-Fermenter-Brewing-Equipment/dp/B08KFDBR96
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Those are only intended to carry the carboy when empty sir. Carrying a carboy with one of those when full is not a safe practice. The neck of the carboy could snap off, all kinds of bad things can happen then. I'm not trying to discourage you, just speaking from personal experience, and recommending that you take great care when handling glass carboys. In my case I was inverting one to drain the last bit of starsan before transferring from the kettle. Of course the glass was slippery. It slipped out of my hands. My reflex reaction was to try and catch it, but it had already come in contact with the floor and shattered. A piece of glass literally sliced off the pad of my right index finger! I have pictures....
 
Craigerrr said:
Those are only intended to carry the carboy when empty sir. Carrying a carboy with one of those when full is not a safe practice. The neck of the carboy could snap off, all kinds of bad things can happen then. I'm not trying to discourage you, just speaking from personal experience, and recommending that you take great care when handling glass carboys. In my case I was inverting one to drain the last bit of starsan before transferring from the kettle. Of course the glass was slippery. It slipped out of my hands. My reflex reaction was to try and catch it, but it had already come in contact with the floor and shattered. A piece of glass literally sliced off the pad of my right index finger! I have pictures....
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Ouch! I'm sorry that happened. It does say you can carry by the handle as long as you support from the bottom. I didn't realize it would break the neck though. The supply house I bought it from didn't include that safety precaution in the description.
 
Do a Google image search for "carboy injury", my injury was very minor compared to some you will see there. Just be careful, accidents can happen...
 
And get one of those slings. I started using the wheelbarrow to move my full jugs into the cellar and count the sloshing around as additional aeration to help the yeast!! Look in the DIY thread to see the stability collar I made to keep things in place.
 
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