Hi all,
I just bought 2 used carboys which looked fine in the dark rainy parking lot where I met the seller, but turned out not to be what I expected when I got home and saw them in the light. They are 5-gallon blue glass "Arrowhead Puritas Waters" carboys, seemingly quite old. I was hoping that the fine people here could give me some advice about their viability for fermentation.
They were really nasty when I got them - the seller said that his dad was a former winemaker, and they appeared not to have been cleaned since their last use some time ago. One of them had what first appeared to be a thick cake of dried wine dregs at the bottom, but after it was rehydrated, it looked biological, almost like an old kombucha scoby. I did 24-hour soaks with hot water and double-strength PBW and StarSan (each), so they are pretty clean now, and I was able to get out most of the stains.
I've attached some pictures which should illustrate my questions.
A few things:
1) Blue glass. Anything I should be concerned about? Additives (lead)?
2) They seem to be hand blown, and have some fairly large bubbles. Should I be worried about integrity?
3) There is a small chip near the confluence of 3 large bubbles. Actually, it looks like part of the outer layer of one of the bubbles has broke off. Should I be particularly worried the glass being too weak here?
4) One of them has a long brown line that wraps around the entire top, side, and bottom of the carboy. It seems to be on the outside, but should I be concerned about contamination?
5) Overall, would you use these, or just toss/sell them and buy some proper clear glass 6/6.5 gal modern carboys?
Thanks!
I just bought 2 used carboys which looked fine in the dark rainy parking lot where I met the seller, but turned out not to be what I expected when I got home and saw them in the light. They are 5-gallon blue glass "Arrowhead Puritas Waters" carboys, seemingly quite old. I was hoping that the fine people here could give me some advice about their viability for fermentation.
They were really nasty when I got them - the seller said that his dad was a former winemaker, and they appeared not to have been cleaned since their last use some time ago. One of them had what first appeared to be a thick cake of dried wine dregs at the bottom, but after it was rehydrated, it looked biological, almost like an old kombucha scoby. I did 24-hour soaks with hot water and double-strength PBW and StarSan (each), so they are pretty clean now, and I was able to get out most of the stains.
I've attached some pictures which should illustrate my questions.
A few things:
1) Blue glass. Anything I should be concerned about? Additives (lead)?
2) They seem to be hand blown, and have some fairly large bubbles. Should I be worried about integrity?
3) There is a small chip near the confluence of 3 large bubbles. Actually, it looks like part of the outer layer of one of the bubbles has broke off. Should I be particularly worried the glass being too weak here?
4) One of them has a long brown line that wraps around the entire top, side, and bottom of the carboy. It seems to be on the outside, but should I be concerned about contamination?
5) Overall, would you use these, or just toss/sell them and buy some proper clear glass 6/6.5 gal modern carboys?
Thanks!