Cider broke my carboy?

Cider
1

The strangest thing happened to me this evening, and I’m hoping someone might be able to shed some light on this situation. I had a glass carboy full of cider. It had been fermenting for about 2.5 weeks. I went to the closet to grab the carboy to rack the cider off the gross stuff and onto the good stuff (in this case bourbon soaked oak chips).

I grabbed the glass carboy full of cider by the handle at its neck (you know the carboy picker-upper things) and the carboy broke in half. The thing wasn’t more than a foot off the ground and not two feet from where I picked it up and it broke in half. The top increasing cylinder was intact as we the bottom of the carboy. The carboy is an older carboy, but I’ve used it on at least half a dozen brews and I know plenty of people that use old carboys. The cider wasn’t but four inches from the top in the primary and there was nothing obstructing the airlock. It was messy and cidery and unfortunate, but what’s bothering me (almost more than the fact that it was a terrible mess and I’m now ciderless) is that I have absolutely no idea why it happened.

Has anyone ever heard of this happening?

2

Yeah. It happens a lot. Sounds like your carboy broke. They get a small crack somehow, or there’s an imperfection in the glass, and the strain breaks them. That’s why we’re told not to lift them by the carboy carrier when they’re not empty. It seems to happen less often if you lift it from the bottom (brew hauler, or a milk crate), but it happens to the best of us. My condolences on your loss.

3

Your talking about one of these carboy handles.
[attachment=0]image_1857.jpg[/attachment]

[quote=“Northern Brewer”]Product Details.Details
Handle for use on 3, 5 and 6 gallon glass carboys. Clamps beneath lip and reduces the danger of dropping a full or wet carboy. This is not designed for supporting the weight of a full carboy; always support full carboys from the bottom![/quote]

Your broken carboy is the result of mis using the carboy handle.

4

Man, sorry for your loss. This is the best $15.00 you’ll spend on equipment:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/the-brew-hauler.html

I’m starting my eventual exit from the glass carboy world. Too many stories like your own.