If you use glass carboys...how do you carry them when full?

[MrBJones]

Quite a few "disaster" posts involve dropped carboys. If you use glass carboys, what do you do to prevent that?

I use Brew Haulers. Sturdy, easy, and not too expensive ($11 on Amazon). I actually have more than one; put it on before filling, leave it on until racking...stays on a carboy the entire time in between. Really easy to lift the carboy in and out of the fermentation chamber.

What do you use?

 

[Sebastes]

I use a milk crate to hold my carboys. Five gallon carboys have a little extra space, but the 6.5 gallon one's fit perfectly. This allows for a little more banging around. I have my burner and kettle on a cart and wheel it to my fermenter and fill the empty carboy in the fermenter. After fermentation I will lift the carboy and put a milk crate underneath it to start siphoning to my keg. Once it is lighter I can raise it a bit more to siphon the rest into the keg. This way I barely move a full carboy.
I also added a plastic speidel fermenter to the mix to reduce my glass carboy usage.

 

[mwill07]

this. ~$3 at Wal mart. works perfectly.

1. you have two good handles to carry the carboy with.
2. you support the carboy from the bottom, and never from the neck.
3. carboy is protected from side damage - bumping into counter, etc.
4. you can store an empty 12 or 22 oz bottle in the corner. I like to use that to temporarily hold a racking cane when I get to that stage.
5. washable - when I'm washing the carboy, I just put the whole thing in the sink, wash the carboy inside the crate.
6. multi-purpose - I also use these to store bottles in - both full and empty. They are great for 12 ozers because they are stackable with bottles in (22 ozers are too tall to stack).

 

[SoggyWood]

classic bear-hug

 

[Rush]

Milk crate is sturdiest but they take up quite a bit of extra space. I personally bought 3 or 4 of the Brew Haulers and have had no issues. Just make sure the belts are wrapped around the underside evenly and you're set.

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/The-Brew-Hauler_p_820.html

 

[catdaddy66]

Very carefully!!

Second the milk crate.

 

[Kent88]

Reason #3 why I don't brew 5-gallon batches. I can very carefully move a full 3-gallon carboy around and feel ok about it.

 

[Brownalemikie]

Reason #3 why I don't brew 5-gallon batches. I can very carefully move a full 3-gallon carboy around and feel ok about it.

Yep, here too. I brew 2 1/2 gallons in a 3 gallon carboy and have a handle on it works great even when full of beer.

 

[theDREWery]

I've been lifting onto a cheap office chair, one that doesn't lean back, and wheeling to where I'm going to rack. But the idea of vac racking is looking better and better.

 

[jleiii]

I also use milk crates. For me another advantage is that they fit perfectly into my fermentation chambers, and amazingly enough, not by design.
I also have a brew hauler that is mostly used for the plastic carboys, but gets used for putting the glass ones into my cooler for cold crash or lagering.

Edit: I also use the milk crates for storing the glass carboys. I had access to a large number of old ones and used the ones with damage by cutting out the bottoms and stack them on top of another which allows me to put a second carboy on top. The 6.5 ones are too tall to work this way though.

 

[GPP33]

I just wrap my arms around it and hold on from the bottom. Might try the milk crate one day, seems like the best option especially since I ferment in the basement.

 

[mappler]

Quite a few "disaster" posts involve dropped carboys. If you use glass carboys, what do you do to prevent that?

I use Brew Haulers. Sturdy, easy, and not too expensive ($11 on Amazon). I actually have more than one; put it on before filling, leave it on until racking...stays on a carboy the entire time in between. Really easy to lift the carboy in and out of the fermentation chamber.

What do you use?

I use the same. I have one for every glass carboy I use. I've never had an issue with them.

-Matt

 

[seatazzz]

Mine is in a sturdy rubbermaid tub. I ferment in the garage (single-level house) and when it's time to warm it up I just drag it into the house to the brew room. When it's time to keg I get the husband to help me lift it onto the table so I can use the autosiphon.

 

[ultravista]

Milk crate is the best!

 

[k1ngl1ves]

I like the haulers, but I typically just use the old school clamp handle around the neck. I always keep the carboy away from my body and only a few inches from the ground. My ferm chamber is an old fridge, so I'm only lifting it less than a foot to slide it in. Whenever I set it down, it's always onto an old towel. Everything that goes in them is room temp.

Don't ding 'em, don't heat 'em, don't bear hug 'em, don't die. Carboys don't kill people. Carelessness kills people. Lol!

All my carboys are at least 5 years old, and still look like the day I bought them. I don't buy used ones because I don't know how they were treated before. I do have an old blue glass 5g one, but that only holds starsan.

 

[AkTom]

I used to one hand underneath to lift and one hand on the neck to steady. I'm not as young as I used to be... now I vacuum rack. I love it.

 

[Peruvian802]

Milk crates FTMFW

 

[Singletrack]

I stopped using them because they're too small, but I used the strap hauler, and that was okay. Before that, I used one hand under for lifting and a handle to steady. Then I read the horror stories, but I didn't change anything. Then I started seeing the pictures of injuries and I found dog. Be safe.

 

[Cash Woodward]

Quite a few "disaster" posts involve dropped carboys. If you use glass carboys, what do you do to prevent that?

I use Brew Haulers. Sturdy, easy, and not too expensive ($11 on Amazon). I actually have more than one; put it on before filling, leave it on until racking...stays on a carboy the entire time in between. Really easy to lift the carboy in and out of the fermentation chamber.

What do you use?

Just wanted to share even though it is an old post, try this 247Garden 6-Pack 7 Gallon Grow Bags /Aeration Fabric Pots w/Handles. Cut a 11" diameter plywood bottom for them. Cost is about $2 per carboy.

 

[MaxStout]

Just wanted to share even though it is an old post, try this 247Garden 6-Pack 7 Gallon Grow Bags /Aeration Fabric Pots w/Handles. Cut a 11" diameter plywood bottom for them. Cost is about $2 per carboy.

The Q&A commenters on the Amazon listing stated that the handles are not strong enough to carry when filled with soil, or at least not strong enough if the soil is wet. As such, I wouldn't trust them with a full glass carboy, either.

Get a Brewhauler.

 

[passedpawn]

The Q&A commenters on the Amazon listing stated that the handles are not strong enough to carry when filled with soil, or at least not strong enough if the soil is wet. As such, I wouldn't trust them with a full glass carboy, either.

Get a Brewhauler.

Unfortunately, brewhaulers can fail too. Keep an eye on the stitching. There are some stories here of them letting go.

 

[MaxStout]

Unfortunately, brewhaulers can fail too. Keep an eye on the stitching. There are some stories here of them letting go.

Also need to make sure the lower straps are spread evenly around the circumference, so there's not a big gap for the carboy to slip through.

Or get a milk crate.

 

[Dog House Brew]

Milk crate, I’ve never had a hauler fail. I wrap the clasps with a zip tie for insurance. Rarely use them, but I do love glass. Getting ready to use one first time in a long time. Denny’s BVIP secondary

 

[triethylborane]

lol just pick it up

lift heavy, eat big, drink beer and sleep

 

[brandonlovesbeer]

Brew hauler.

BREW HAULER CARBOY STRAP - A NYLON SLING CARRIER FOR WINE BEER HOME BREWING KIT https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LXBIH64/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[shoengine]

Milk crate, and they've never touched concrete.

 

[JohnSand]

Two composite shopping bags, one inside the other. They are the kind you buy at the supermarket made of plastic coated fabric. I tested one with a carboy full of water first. Standing on grass I lifted slowly, then quickly, then bounced it. No tears or splits. That was with a single bag, doubled it for safety.