Introduction: Homebrew Glove Box
So! You've finished your first Homebrewed beer, you've bottled it, you've fermented it, and you're ready to enjoy a crisp cool homebrew. You reach for your bottle opener; and thirty seconds later, it's all gone and you're a dripping mess!
If this has ever happened to you, this 'ible is for you! This glovebox catches all that lovely, overpressurised homebrew, and rather than spraying it all over you and your guests, it vents it's extra pressure inside a controlled environment, where you can drain it all out into your glass, and enjoy the fruits of your labours.
And it's a reminder to check your fermentation's progress a bit closer for your next batch, so this doesn't keep happening...
If this has ever happened to you, this 'ible is for you! This glovebox catches all that lovely, overpressurised homebrew, and rather than spraying it all over you and your guests, it vents it's extra pressure inside a controlled environment, where you can drain it all out into your glass, and enjoy the fruits of your labours.
And it's a reminder to check your fermentation's progress a bit closer for your next batch, so this doesn't keep happening...
Step 1: Tools & Equipment
Materials
To make this glove-box, I took a 5-gallon plastic storage box (with lid) and a pack of rubber gloves from the local discount retailer, and a bit of duct tape. If you're going to be fancy, you can seal it with some bath caulk from the home center.
Tools
Using my power drill, I drilled a pilot hole into the lid, then used a pair of tin snips to cut out the glove-holes. I'm glad I didn't caulk, because this ible needs some refinement.
To make this glove-box, I took a 5-gallon plastic storage box (with lid) and a pack of rubber gloves from the local discount retailer, and a bit of duct tape. If you're going to be fancy, you can seal it with some bath caulk from the home center.
Tools
Using my power drill, I drilled a pilot hole into the lid, then used a pair of tin snips to cut out the glove-holes. I'm glad I didn't caulk, because this ible needs some refinement.
Step 2: Cut Out the Glove Holes
I had to approximate where my gloves needed to go when I had a bottle inside the box, so there was a bit of guesswork here.
Then I figured out how big of a hole I could comfortably fit my hand through, which was still smaller than the diameter of the opening of the gloves. Using a marker, I drew the outlines of the holes onto the lid and started cutting.
Then I figured out how big of a hole I could comfortably fit my hand through, which was still smaller than the diameter of the opening of the gloves. Using a marker, I drew the outlines of the holes onto the lid and started cutting.
Step 3: Attach Gloves
Then I put the gloves through the holes, used some duct-tape to smooth over the edges. This is where you can also lay down a bead of bathtub caulk on the inside of the contraption.. but do a better job of fitting the gloves first.
Step 4: Give It Your Best Shot
I retrieved a beer from the fridge, gingerly set it into the box and...
Step 5: ... Enjoy!
Well, the exuberance of this brew was all I had expected it to be, from it's cousins in the case. There is probably all of five ounces of beer left in the bottom of this bottle, and most of that is sediment (hooray, homebrew).
But rather than all fifteen ounces of tasty, tasty beer being spread all across the backyard, or plastered upon the ceiling in the kitchen, it's all caught inside the box.
Set the box upright, so the gloves dangle down into the box, and removing one hand, remove the lid and the other hand (still holding the bottle) and prepare to decant.
But rather than all fifteen ounces of tasty, tasty beer being spread all across the backyard, or plastered upon the ceiling in the kitchen, it's all caught inside the box.
Set the box upright, so the gloves dangle down into the box, and removing one hand, remove the lid and the other hand (still holding the bottle) and prepare to decant.
Step 6: Issues
Remember when I said this 'ible needed work? Here's the problems I discovered...
After a couple of weeks in the heat, the cheapish gloves I'd bought had started to deteriorate. If I'd put this all together the day I bought it, and got Extra Fancy and caulked everything, it would have been a rip-roaring disaster.
Not to mention proper chemistry gloveboxes (after which this is patterned) use much more specialised gives with larger openings them common household gloves. I had a devil of a time getting the gloves on in the first place, and even ,ore trouble getting them off again. This might not be the best project to skimp on; the next iteration will use more robust and larger gloves.
After a couple of weeks in the heat, the cheapish gloves I'd bought had started to deteriorate. If I'd put this all together the day I bought it, and got Extra Fancy and caulked everything, it would have been a rip-roaring disaster.
Not to mention proper chemistry gloveboxes (after which this is patterned) use much more specialised gives with larger openings them common household gloves. I had a devil of a time getting the gloves on in the first place, and even ,ore trouble getting them off again. This might not be the best project to skimp on; the next iteration will use more robust and larger gloves.