Stainless V Brass

[Margwar]

Hello all,

I am on a pretty tight budget for my AG brewery and to save money I can see that I can get brass fittings allot cheaper that I can Stainless. What I was wondering is that you do see all the breweries of the world using stainless, so there must be a reason for this. But as a home brewer, who is on a tight budget, is there a need to spend the extra cash for stainless fittings? Am I going to be affecting my beer if I use brass?

Thanks...

 

[~MikE]

brass will leech lead into your beer, don't know how much, but brass wasn't that much cheaper for me to warrant the risk.

 

[Sammus]

There is no risk at all, most people use brass, but theyre also not the kind of people that feel compelled to post millions of pictures of their bling all over the internet.

 

[kjparker]

Brass is fine. If your really concerned you can pickle it. I use brass, it doesn't concern me at all....

http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Awww....amp;x=0&y=0

 

[QldKev]

Half my fittings are Brass, half are Stainless.

I think the amount of lead that can get leached from Brass fittings is so minute it would not matter.

 

[Cortez The Killer]

Have a listen to this podcast with John Palmer

He goes through all the various metals and their interaction with beer in the brewing process

http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/Bre...ffect-Your-Beer

Basically says the lead being leached is tiny - something along the lines of the whole fitting having to dissolve to have a meaningful effect on the final beer

Cheers

 

[Margwar]

Thats great.... thanks for the quick replies. Time to go and get the Brass Monkey Budget Brewery happening.... Hey thats not a bad name for a beer

 

[bignath]

All of my taps on my vessels and assosciated fittings are brass.

No noticeable problem whatsoever.

Would i like to have it all stainless? Yeah i would. Can i be buggered converting it all? No. Rather spend my money on other things, and if i have any left over, then i'll think about going all stainless.

 

[Tim F]

Those brass fittings are for mains water use anyway, they can't be that bad!

 

[Markbeer]

Hi

Someone explained to me the variable amount of lead in brass fittings so I will paraphrase his in depth explaination.

Basically brass is part zinc and part copper. Both are fine as they are in minute amounts in our diet. Breweries apparently do use brass fittings and components as do distilleries.

However, lead is added in cheaper brass products to make machining of the parts easier. Since all the cheapies in Bunnings come from China, you don't know how much lead has been added, you might be lucky and it is none at all.

If you are unlucky and a lot has been added in manufacturing, heating it to boiling can make the lead leach out.

I went S/S because of this. The downside risk longer term seems worse to save $30.

Cheers

Mark

 

[bear09]

A simple rule put to me years ago which I have followed - Brass for hot side - SS for cold side.

My HLT is brass and so is mu mash tun.

Boiler is all stainless - kegs also.

Gave me a balance in price and has worked well for me so far (im still alive).

Cheers.

 

[Margwar]

So I guess when you look at it all of our home plumbing fittings are Brass and we drink that water everyday, both on the hot and cold water side...? So for the the HLT side of the system Brass would be OK. But over on the Kettle side, maybe the extra money for Stainless for peace of mind would be the way to go...with the higher temperatures.

 

[pk.sax]

If I had to get brass fittings, I'd certainly steer clear of the bunnings variety. Not because people are using them and nobody has a problem, but because apparently (depends which salesman/tradie from bunnings you talk to), those fittings from bunnings are not even approved for household water use.

Definitely get at least something approved for potable water supplies. Which makes SS so easy to deal with since u can buy it over the internet wihtout worrying about what amount of lead there is in it?!

 

[Margwar]

If I had to get brass fittings, I'd certainly steer clear of the bunnings variety. Not because people are using them and nobody has a problem, but because apparently (depends which salesman/tradie from bunnings you talk to), those fittings from bunnings are not even approved for household water use.

Definitely get at least something approved for potable water supplies. Which makes SS so easy to deal with since u can buy it over the internet wihtout worrying about what amount of lead there is in it?!

Thats a worry.... If that is the case does anyone have a good supplier of stainless products from the interwebs? Or are G&G's prices pretty competitive? Sorry to sound like a bit of a tight wad, but the problem with me is I have other hobbies that take away funds from my beer.

 

[seemax]

www.geordi.com.au

Cheltenham .. bit of a drive from Cranbourne... but they have pretty much everything at good prices.. pay cash and they usually discount the total.

They were happy to let me roam the shelves of stock and just pick what I needed...

As for Bunnings stuff, no doubt it's sourced from cheap chinese suppliers and no doubt the lead content is variable... hard to say if it poses a significant health risk though.

 

[pk.sax]

http://www.smugglers.net.au/index.php?p=1_39

Mix and match 6 pieces.. yada yada yada. eBay is pretty good at times too.

Beerbelly are pretty good with SS prices too. Then there is Geordi steel in melbourne. Purple pig are good but expensive.

 

[bignath]

A simple rule put to me years ago which I have followed - Brass for hot side - SS for cold side.

My HLT is brass and so is mu mash tun.

Boiler is all stainless - kegs also.

our home plumbing fittings are Brass and we drink that water everyday, both on the hot and cold water side...?So for the the HLT side of the system Brass would be OK. But over on the Kettle side, maybe the extra money for Stainless for peace of mind would be the way to go

So why if brass is ok/good/tops/ for the hotside have you gone against your own advice and gone ss for the kettle?

Dunno what you two are doing with your kettles, but in my brewery, my kettle is most definitely on the hot side....

 

[Markbeer]

Another point I will add, remember your mash PH is lower than water, Don't know if this acidic level over time will aid in leaching out lead from brass.

 

[Dazza88]

So those beer filters with brass fittings for the barbs, surely they are safe to use?

 

[Spork]

So I guess when you look at it all of our home plumbing fittings are Brass and we drink that water everyday, both on the hot and cold water side...? So for the the HLT side of the system Brass would be OK. But over on the Kettle side, maybe the extra money for Stainless for peace of mind would be the way to go...with the higher temperatures.

Drink water? Yeah. Right...