Help me rethink the glass carboy

Hello everybody. I have come to you for some help and opinions. I recently had an idea for a new style of fermentor. The idea came from my wife's tea jug. I thought, "Hmmm, that might make a great primary fermentor if it where only bigger."
So, let's discuss first the pros and cons of a glass carboy and a plastic carboy. I am purpose leaving out the conical because of affordability reasons and the plastic bucket is left out as well.
Glass carboy pros: Impermeable to oxygen, Does not stain, Able to see fermentation action
Glass carboy cons: Heavy, Hard to clean, Hazard if dropped, Can break easily.
Plastic carboy pros: Light weight, Able to see fermentation action, Can install a valve easily, Won't shatter when dropped
Plastic carboy cons: May be permeable by oxygen, stains, harder to clean, can not be soaked for long periods of time with cleaner, scratches easy.

Now lets discuss my idea. Basically it's a 6-7 gallon mason jar. Still glass because of the cleaning ease and it's impermeable. A hole will be in the bottom for a valve similar to the ones on the bottling buckets. That way it can be changed easily if damaged. The lid will be a screw on plastic lid with a grommet for an air lock. The size of the opening would be around 7-8 inches so that cleaning would be a breeze. Please let me know if this would be something you would buy for around the same price as 6.5 gallon carboy. If you have any ideas for it, please feel free to let me know.

Doesn't sound like a horrible idea on paper. Do you have a source for the components? What, if anything, will have to be fabricated/DIY?
Cheers!

Not to impressed with the idea of a fixed location for draining a fermenter. Trub, hops, yeast all vary with the style and recipe. I'd like being able to start with the racking cane high and lower it as the carboy is drained. Reduces the amount of solids getting into the keg. And a soak in OxyClean is all it takes to remove the worst krausen ring I've ever had.

AnOldUR said:

Not to impressed with the idea of a fixed location for draining a fermenter. Trub, hops, yeast all vary with the style and recipe. I'd like being able to start with the racking cane high and lower it as the carboy is drained. Reduces the amount of solids getting into the keg. And a soak in OxyClean is all it takes to remove the worst krausen ring I've ever had.

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Thanks for the insight. I did think of having something similar to BetterBottle's rotating racking cane on the back of the valve. I still don't know if this is even possible to do. Just an idea as of right now.

headfullahops said:

Doesn't sound like a horrible idea on paper. Do you have a source for the components? What, if anything, will have to be fabricated/DIY?
Cheers!

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It definitely will have to be fabricated from a manufacturer.

So ... a BetterBottle with a wide opening? I don't hate it, and I have moved to using BB when mine are open (still have a few glass). I still use my plastic fermenter when starting wines and meads because of the wide opening and daily aeration. This might be a good fit.

I'd buy one if it were the same quality as the BB, or if they all of a sudden started selling one. I'd probably prefer not to have to duplicate hardware and I already have theirs.

these have a wide mouth and plastic lids.

http://store.homebrewheaven.com/34l-89-gal-wide-mouth-demi-john-glass-carboy-p2088.aspx
A standard carboy is easy to clean and easy to seal. I don't see a spigot on a fermentor as a plus.

amandabab said:

I don't see a spigot on a fermentor as a plus.

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Oh I do ... and you don't see breweries siphoning do you? I'm not talking the old plastic spigots like the ones on a bottling bucket, but the BB ones are a nice bit of engineering. Definitely saves on aeration because I can get the hose positioned and then open the valve. There's also no racking tubes to bump into and stir up the trub.

a conical bottom drain and a racking port is a huge plus.

a carboy/bucket/BB, usually more trouble that they are worth.