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Carboys – Everyone Needs A Couple

April 1st, 2009 by robin in wine making

A carboy is the container used most during wine making. They come in various sizes, but are most common in 3 gallon, 5 gallon and 6 gallon. Carboys have a narrow neck with a small opening at the top for a stopper and an airlock. Carboys are primarily made of glass or PET plastic, commonly known as the brand name Better Bottles. There are constant debates as to which form is better, glass or plastic. Frankly, there are advantages and disadvantages to both and which you choose is personal preference. Today, let’s first discuss glass carboys.

Glass carboys clean and sanitize easily. They are scratch resistant and definitely are not capable of transferring any chemicals from within the glass itself. Conversely, there are three major drawbacks to glass carboys. First, glass carboys are substantially heavier than their Better Bottle counterparts, which brings us right to the fact that they are breakable. There can be nothing more disappointing or upsetting than waiting patiently for your wine to ferment and mature only to struggle lifting the carboy during a step and drop it; the carboy then breaks and wine goes everywhere. Finally, there is the matter of price. In 2008, Italy became the only country manufacturing glass carboys. This has resulted in a substantial rise in glass carboy pricing. One should expect that a new 6 gallon glass carboy should cost somewhere around $40-$50 US.

Tomorrow we will look at the other side of things and discuss Better Bottle PET Carboys.