Carboys Needed

[Dean]

hey Richard I can bring you a bottle of Pinot Noir from winekitz if you want to see what it's like.

[Shawn]

Failing that, "better bottles" work. Shawn knows better about that, though - I suspect being plastic they'd be cheaper.

Am I the only one that uses Better Bottles? I used to use glass carboys for awhile, but reading stories about them just shattering while even rinsing out, and cutting through arms was enough to make me switch. Mind you, since I can never find 5-gallon BBs, I still use glass in cases where I have to secondary (mostly just when brewing lagers).

You can get 6 gallon BBs at Noble Grape.. I think they're around 22 bucks or so.

[Jake]

Jesus. Carboys cutting off arms ... and I thought this was a safe hobby. Far too dangerous for me; I quit.

[Shawn]

Coincidentally, I have artifical arms for sale, if you're interested...

[Richard]

uhhh... I suspect (hope) that there are different grades of these glass carboys, for the arm-severing thing to be true. You'd need some serious heat stress - boiling water followed by very cold, I'm guessing - to get that kind of effect. The ones I have are all the italian ones - about half a centimetre thick at the thinnest point.

I have come close to dropping one before (starsan = slippery), and that did conjure up visions of mass laceration, but it wasn't enough to make me do any more than just be damn careful in future.

Dean: if Winekitz is a particular brand, then that would be great. I've had a couple of the NG ones, which were alright, but not really up to par with some bottles I could get for $10/bottle a year back. Got to admit I've not really had red wine in a long while due to another form of booze getting in the way, but I've got a bit of a desire to keep some around now I have the space to put up a rack somewhere

... will soon have 60 bottles of mead to fill my shelves!

[Dave Savoie]

I'd like a bottle to share in class

[Dean]

winekitz carries a different line than the others. They have 3 (well, 4 really) different "grades" which get progressively more expensive ...the main difference is the amount of water added to make 5 gallons - more $$ = less water. the Pinot Noir I have is the middle-grade, all the others I have (6 or 7 of them) are the higher grade. the Pinot Noir is the least favourite of my current collection but I haven't had one in a while and it should be really good now as it's over a year old. The best 2 reds that I have are a Barolo and a Shiraz.

so, do you want to specifically try the Pinot Noir, or would you prefer to try one of my particular favourites ....I'll trade for mead, LOL!

Dave - you talkin' to me or Richard?

[Dave Savoie]

Talking to Richard ( Dave doesn't like grape wine )

[Shawn]

uhhh... I suspect (hope) that there are different grades of these glass carboys, for the arm-severing thing to be true. You'd need some serious heat stress - boiling water followed by very cold, I'm guessing - to get that kind of effect. The ones I have are all the italian ones - about half a centimetre thick at the thinnest point.

From what I understand, there ARE varying grades of carboys. I didn't mean to give the impression that using glass = guaranteed injury, and I didn't literally mean amputation, either. But I have read a couple of stories, one in particular I am referring to where a guy was rinsing it out, dumping the water out in the sink, and the bottle bottom broke and cut into his arm, lacerating a tendon or something. Didn't seem to be the usual things you hear about a) dropping/bumping them, or b) adding cold water to very hot wort.

Either way, if you have them and are ok using them, then by all means... but when I was given the option of buying other carboys that are plastic (and safer and lighter), virtually oxygen impermeable, and the same price or cheaper, it was a no-brainer for me.

[Richard]

carboys that are plastic (and safer and lighter), virtually oxygen impermeable, and the same price or cheaper, it was a no-brainer for me.

Yeah I can see the allure - I'm guessing you clean them with CIP (oxyclean) rather than anything abrasive? Where do you get them?

[Shawn]

I actually use this product I bought at Blue Ridge, I think it's called Aseptox... it actually acts as a cleaner and no-rinse sanitizer. I pour a gallon of warm water in the BB, add a tbsp of Aseptox, shake, and then put a cork in the opening. Then, I turn it upside down in the sink, and leave it for 20 minutes or so so that the solution is in contact with the harder-to-clean area where the krausen was. I then drain most of it out, throw in a dishcloth, and roll it around to get the stains off. Usually works very well.

Blue Ridge use to sell them, but then they moved to something the owner claims is "better", and is about twice the price... which is ridiculous, I think. You can buy them at Noble Grape for low-20s, I believe.

[Richard]

Low 20's is about as much as glass, and tbh it's the price of the BB's I was interested in - I heard they were like 10 bucks at one point for a 23L.

[Jmac00]

i posted a link to a kijiji ad earlier in this thread for two plastic better bottles for $10 each

[Richard]

Yeah I think I may have been thinking about that  :oops:

Looks like BB's are $25, the glass carboys are about $30. TBH, I'll be sticking with glass.

[JohnQ]

Well, I know where you can get 18.9 litre stainless steel carboys for $20...
JQ