Carboy Question

[frailn]

So, I took a hydrometer reading on a batch of cream ale, and tasted a mouthful of diacetyl. SWMBO tasted it and said, "MMM POPCORN." She liked it. I didn't.

So, I decided to take my carboy full of beer out of the swamp cooler in the closet and put it in my dining room under the thermostat so I could get the temp up for a diacetyl rest. I instinctively put a black t-shirt over my baby to protect her from the sunlight coming in the windows. SWMBO says, "how cute, it looks like you." Then she says, "why are you putting your t-shirts over your beer?"

So, I explain to her why beer bottles are brown. And her response is, "why aren't carboys brown?"

Damn good question. Don't know why I never thought to ask! So, where are the brown carboys?

 

[cuttsjp]

That is a good damn question. Maybe a few of us homebrewtalkers need to get a new business venture going...

 

[heferly]

Good idea, my guess is winemakers use them, too...cheaper for the manufacturers

 

[deadscott]

I can see the advantage of clear carboys. It is easy to see how to clean them after fermentation. I would imagine a brown one would be hard to see if you have got all the gunk stuck to the inside of the carboy.

 

[ryandlf]

You can buy opaque carboys...buckets. That's one of the advantages to them. On that same note, one of the main reasons some prefer carboys over buckets is because carboys are clear.

 

[marnel]

Its most likely because of the cost to produce glass that contains color.

 

[greenfrog5]

If my carboy was brown glass, I'd put a shirt over it anyway (as it has to be in my kitchen and catches a little direct sun in the evening). Brown would help, but many would still (need to?) cover them for total protection.

 

[frailn]

I will have to say that I just got this glass carboy last week. My wife was very excited because she was tired of a white bucket decorating her house. She thinks the carboy is pretty and much nicer than a bucket. But, by putting a t-shirt over it, that destroys the ambiance. So, a brown carboy would be the perfect compromise.

Otherwise, it's off to the closet with the fermenter!

Maybe I should take the carboy down the shop where they tint car windows.

 

[MazdaMatt]

On that note, why not a UV protectant film on the outside like my car's windows? Not a tint, just anti-UV.

Good question from the wife, though!

I THINK I've seen green carboys, but I might just be making that up.