Carboy flaws.

[stickman]

Any glass manufacturer that is afraid to emboss a maker's mark or their name on the bottom of the carboy is a red flag to me. I believe the modern Italian carboys are the best followed by the vintage Mexico or Owens Illinois.

 

[vinny]

Nope. Everything fails, eventually. I'm not worried about my old carboys from the 80's, but the newer ones? My wines this fall are also a bit different, in terms of quantity -- I've got three batches in the 8 to 9 US gallon (26 to 30 liter) range, so having tanks in those sizes would be good.

The drawback is that they are not clear, and I suspect they are heavier. Which gives me reason to use my pump more and to not lift carboys.

Ahhh, so this is possibly the last little nudge you needed to move forward with an already considered plan? That I can accept!

 

[Cap Puncher]

Just an update, the Milwaukee Northern Brewer is very respectable. I brought back the broken carboy from the other night and they replaced it. I opened 6 carboy boxes and 5 of the 6 have bubbles in the thin glass right above the bottom ( where mine broke). I finally found one with no bubbles in the glass and went with it.

 

[vinny]

I threw out all my old fermenters today. 10-12 years old. little white marks on the bottom edge and scratched to hell. New buckets are already ordered. My 5 kits that were going to be made in the next couple of weeks has passed that time frame, but a delay is worth the peace of mind. I do have 2 others so I suppose I could start a couple..

 

[winemaker81]

@vinny -- my oldest is a 6 US gallon about 35 yo. Yesterday I re-purposed it to hold rice hulls.

Based upon what I read, I figured I could use up to 8.5 lbs of rice hulls in this fall's pressings. I purchased 10 lbs, as I figured it's better to have a bit too much than not enough.

I think I used about 2 lbs, and that was sprinkling heavy between buckets of pomace. I have enough rice hulls for at least 3 more pressings (assuming I keep the same grape amounts). The bucket will keep critters out of the hulls, as they are apparently well liked by mice for bedding.