Section1

Recipes 

I was building my mini keg setup and looking forward to using it soon and read somewhere that brass should be treated by pickling as per Palmer on his web site. So I search around and found how to do that and also found that other said it didn't help much and in some cases made it worse. I started thinking that I used 1/4 inch copper tubing about 6 inches long in the tap I made for my mini keg because I could bend it and it would keep its shape like here and here except I used a PVC 'T' instead. The keg taps are done and I'm just waiting to get a CO2 tank set up.

This web site states near the bottom of the page that "Soda water in contact with Copper or alloys containing copper (such as Brass) will react producing toxic compounds. If those compounds are ingested, you could become violently ill and/or die." So... is that true? Is copper and brass that dangerous that contact with carbonated beverages could be toxic? I knew it wasn't preferred but hell, I didn't know it was that serious.

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EvilTOJ

Recipes 

It's not the carbonation, but the acidity of the beer that can leach dangerous levels of copper into it. It'd be best to use plastic beer line or stainless steel for fittings.

Brass has to be pickled so the vinegar takes off the lead used in processing the metals.

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There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."

Section1

Recipes 

Would it be OK to use brass in the air line (CO2) or will that pull toxins out and settle in the beer too?

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Drinking - Black Cat Real Lancashire Ale.
Next Up - Black Cat Real Lancashire Ale

WBC

Recipes 

Brass is OK for CO2. An inline hepa filter should be used on the CO2 supply line for keeping nasties out of your kegs.

Northern Brewer: http://pivo.northernbrewer.com/nbstore/action/search-do?searchTerm=filter&x=32&y=11

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Cheers,
WBC

Fermentor 1: Bill's House Ale II, Fermentor 2: German Helles, Fermentor 3: Bill's Schworzbier (Black Bier)
Tap 1: Bill's House Ale II, Tap 2: German Hefewizen, Tap 3: Nut Brown Ale
Future Brews: Stone IPA Clone, Blonde Ale, Budvar Clone, Newcastle Clone
New toy: Blichmann 27 gallon fermentor

“If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging”

“Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment”