Anyone use a carboy harness?

[Brew Cat]

I am 73 and still fermenting. About eight months ago, I built a three tap keezer. The down side: keeping it full is a lot of work. I prefer glass carboys. I don't trust plastic. I do have a harness, but I built a four wheel cart large enough to hold two car boys. Much easier !

My keezer is an upright. Makes tt much easier to manage kegs and fermenters. I basically slide them off a rolling cart. I'm over 70 as well. When I was younger I used a chest type.

 

[AnokaBrewer]

I can't believe people still use glass carboys. Those were only used when nothing else was available. There is absolutely no advantage that I can see. Sorry

I have a lot of glass carboys as that was the way to go. They do not scratch which was a big advantage over plastic. They all have the handles at the top, but I do have a couple of harnesses too which certainly make it easier to life.

Now with the new plastics, and them being so much lighter, I prefer the plastic. I started with a Fast Ferment and now have an All Rounder as well. Both of those use a harness as well.

 

[Semper Sitientum]

Those of us who are members of the AHA may recall a horrific story posted by one of the members last year regarding an accident he had with a glass carboy. Long story short, he cut his jugular, carotid and several nerves and survived to provide us with his warning. It will make you look at those things in a different light. I understand people’s concerns with plastic. I’m a a bit of a plastiphobe myself. So for me, stainless is the way to go.

 

[Vodka Drunkenski]

I've always used glass carboys without any issues, but lately I've been using my 30L still boiler. Has handles, and I can fit a plastic 2" cap over it, or fit an airlock. Has ports for drains, thermometers, etc...

 

[Mont Y. Märzen]

I use the harness on my plastic Bubblers. I forgot to put it on before knocking out from the kettle once. I only forgot once!

I dropped a glass carboy once. On my foot. No, neither the carboy or my foot was broken because it rested on my steeltoe shoe, and it was from a low height because I was going down 'losing it', but it was close enough to catastrophe that I ditched the glass for the next batch. (I opted for buckets next) I don't think I'd ever go back to glass unless they were 3gal and then likely only for Mead as a secondary, if that.

Depending on your setup, you could combine the harness with a pulley system. I saw pics years ago where a brewer rigged up a pulley on a swing arm so he could hoist his carboys up, swing them over his chest freezer/chamber, lower them down and of course the reverse, even setting them on the top of the lid after closing for transfers. I currently use a stand-up chamber, but if I had to switch to a chest model, I'd highly consider such a contraption!

 

[Brew Cat]

I use the harness on my plastic Bubblers. I forgot to put it on before knocking out from the kettle once. I only forgot once!

I dropped a glass carboy once. On my foot. No, neither the carboy or my foot was broken because it rested on my steeltoe shoe, and it was from a low height because I was going down 'losing it', but it was close enough to catastrophe that I ditched the glass for the next batch. (I opted for buckets next) I don't think I'd ever go back to glass unless they were 3gal and then likely only for Mead as a secondary, if that.

Depending on your setup, you could combine the harness with a pulley system. I saw pics years ago where a brewer rigged up a pulley on a swing arm so he could hoist his carboys up, swing them over his chest freezer/chamber, lower them down and of course the reverse, even setting them on the top of the lid after closing for transfers. I currently use a stand-up chamber, but if I had to switch to a chest model, I'd highly consider such a contraption!

Well I have to agree. The chest freezer went away with my glass carboys. I have 2 uprights now. One is an upright freezer for a fermentation/lagering chamber. I can slide fermenters off my cart no bending required. As far as my kegerator its a standard refrigerator. Holds 4 kegs and takes up less floor space. Plus the built in freezer is used for freezing hops and fruit. They are all cast offs.