Brass or S/S

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Beermaker

The NAVY WALRUS
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Okay, thinking about changing all my brass to S?S. I have brass valves and nipples on my pumps, and 3/4" brass hose connections on my hoses. Should I swap them all out for SS? Are there any good websites to get this? Also thinking of using SS quick connects on my hoses. I cant find them around here. Any web sites to order from?
 
This is a big point of contention for many brewers. If you are on a budget and looking for ways to save money - brass is the way to go. I don't buy in to a lot of the hype about metals "leaching" from brass into the wort. There is a small concern about surface lead, but that is remedied by a short soak in a 2 parts vinegar to 1 part hydrogen peroxide solution. I would avoid brass contact in post fermented beer, but for mashing and boiling, I think brass is fine. You certainly can't hurt anything by going to stainless, but, I wouldn't spend money on stainless unless the rest of your brewery has all the other things you want. Here are the things I would put ahead of stainless valves and fittings:

1) Keg fridge and beer faucets
2) Fermentation temperature control
3) Stir plate and flask for yeast starters
4) Glass (or stainless) fermentation vessels (dump the plastic!)

If you have the above, or just aren't interested in the above, then perhaps going to stainless makes sense. If you contact me directly, I can probably get you anything you need at a good price ([email protected]).

Regarding SS QD's, you will spend a fortune here. There are high quality plastic QD's that are much cheaper and will stand up to just about any temperature in the brewing process. If you are careful, you can make these last for years and take the money you save and put it somewhere else in the brewery.

Prosit!
 
Northern Brewer has decent prices on that stuff, but I think tnlandsailor has some of the fittings you need, and his prices are comparable.
 
hey cory, check out the latest issue of Brew Your Own (***********, or pick it up at Barnes' and Noble). they have an article about copper, brass, SS, aluminum. this will answer a lot of your questions (and right on track w/ tnlandsailor).
 
Why SS disconnects? Your hoses are plastic and plastic disconnects are self-insulating. Getting a grip on SS at 210F isn't my idea of fun.

I also agree, SS valves & such are pretty, but they don't add anything to the system UNLESS you want to do clean-in-place with caustic.
 
Funny you mention plastic 42, I was just looking at all that on morebeer.com. I already have a fridge with 2 taps on the side, I can lager in my huge cooler, or in a seperate climate controlled room in the house. Not real big on yeast, I prefer to buy mine right now, but in the future maybe, and I have 6 -5 gallon and 3 6.5 gallon glass carboys to ferment in. So I was looking to dress up my pump manifold, and my hose connections. What do you have to choose from sailor?
 
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