Aluminum or Stainless Steel Kettles?

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rbridges01

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I see some guys use aluminum. I thought I read in the Joy of Home Brewing that aluminum was a no-no. Use stainless steal only. I'm geeting ready to go to AG and would like some feedback.

THanks
 
Uh-oh, don't start that up again!;) Been discussed here many times. Do a search on "Aluminum Stainless Steel" and you'll see what I mean.

Bottom line is, both are okay. Use what you can afford.
 
I say both.

An aluminum pot really comes in handy when doing decoctions or cereal mashes (basically anytime your going to boil grains). A lot less chance of scorching in Al.
 
Stainless is best, aluminum is very acceptable based upon years and years of homebrewing experience...

The basic argument against aluminum is that some think aluminum is linked to alzheimers. However, the amount of aluminum you'll ingest from brewing in an aluminum kettle is barely negligible even if you brew once per week or heck maybe even everyday. You'd be surprised how much stuff you ingest thats been cooked in or came in contact with aluminum during its life...

I use both depending on my boil size. Never noticed any difference in my beers...

Do a search if you'd like to see the "great debate" (or about 1,000,000 of them) on the topic.
 
The purported link between aluminum and alzheimer's has been debunked. At worst, you may notice a metallic taste to your beer, especially when cooking acidic foods like wort. To avoid this issue, boil a few potsful of water before using an aluminum pot for beer, and don't scrub the resulting oxide layer off.

Aluminum is cheaper, lighter, and spreads heat better than stainless. It is somewhat less durable, so don't drop your pots on hard surfaces, heat them while empty, or otherwise abuse them, and you'll be just fine.

Pro brewers prefer stainless in part because they use CIP (clean-in-place) chemicals like lye (NaOH), which reacts with Al to release dangerous Hydrogen gas.
 
Either way go for heavy duty. The thicker the bottom the better. You can get a 6
mm aluminum pot (40-60 quart )for less then $100. Stainless will cost you twice that amount. Buy the best you can afford for what your needs are. - Dirk
 
Aluminum is used in almost EVERY restaraunt kitchen out there. As mentioned it is cheaper and heats better. (NSF designation on bottom of pot is what you want) If you look at the amount of food cooked in pots daily and consumed, you would wonder why we aren't all crazy if the myth holds any water.

I picked up a 20 quart SS pot from Family Dollar for $10, but the kitchen I use for brewing has 10 or 15 gallon aluminum pots available. Just didn't want to get the metallic taste in my brew. Guess I'll have to try the boiling water before you brew method.
 
I just bought an 32 qt. aluminum pot to split boil on the stovetop with my 16 qt. enamelware pot for my first AG batch last week. Problem here was that the bottom of my AL pot is slightly concave and was only hitting the few outside rings of the range heating elements, while the inner rings were glowing hot! I didn't know this until I was just standing there and heard a fairly loud pop, it was hot air trapped under the pot lifting it and escaping. Since I didn't want to burn out my heating element, I went out and got another enamelware pot for $15 to last me until I make my electric keggle next month. Point being....use anything with a flat bottom, when I got my 2nd enamelware pot though I was looking pretty hard at the 20 qt. Stainless. But I figured I only have to use this crap enamelware for a little longer.
 
If the looks of your brewing equipment is important to you then shiny Stainless Steel looks much better IMHO than oxidized gray aluminum. It's also easier to keep Stainless looking nice IMHO. Of course you can clean and shine up the outside of an aluminum kettle just don't clean the oxidation out of the inside of aluminum. And don't use Oxi-Clean on Aluminum. Also don't soak Stainless Steel in chlorine or leave chlorine in stainless for extended periods.

Aluminum is much softer and so it dents or bends easier, but as other have said distributes heat more evenly. That said I've never experienced a problem with heat distribution of a Stainless Steel kettle. If I did I'd probably just get a metal plate to go under the Stainless Steel kettle.

Also Aluminum is cheaper and in some cases much cheaper than Stainless Steel so it really comes down to personnal preference and or what you can afford.
 
MikeFlynn74 said:
I use depleted uranium. Its a little heavy but its solid.
I use a large 10 gallon U-235 pot. The extra advantage is that it already slightly warm in itself, slightly less heat needed.
 
You know, what interests me is not particularly the debate between AL and SS but that it comes up so many times. I MEAN WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO FINALLY KILL BAD RAPS!!! Kill it!!! Kill it!! KILL IT!!!

(heavy sigh......) wow... that felt really good..... better then a $150 therapy session really :)

.... well at least its more interesting then bleach....
 
Beer Snob said:
You know, what interests me is not particularly the debate between AL and SS but that it comes up so many times. I MEAN WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO FINALLY KILL BAD RAPS!!! Kill it!!! Kill it!! KILL IT!!!

(heavy sigh......) wow... that felt really good..... better then a $150 therapy session really :)

.... well at least its more interesting then bleach....

Like Islam-religion of peace? or Mankind caused climate change? It aint just with beer brewing equipment.:rolleyes:
 
LOL!

I've brewed only four batches of beer, so don't call me an expert in any way. All four have been in aluminum. The first was extract, the other three all-grain. Batches #1 and #2 were pretty darned tasty if I do say so myself (and is confirmed by my buddy who has been brewing for 20 years.)

I got a new aluminum pot for my third batch (after I figured out my 6.5 gallon pot wasn't big enough on my first all-grain batch.) The beer is my worst yet. I took a sample to my LHBS and had a certified judge help me figure out what is wrong with it. He identified the off-taste as "metallic" and asked if I had used a new aluminum pot or had just scrubbed or cleaned my aluminum pot with alkali. Problem identified.

The fourth batch was actually pretty good. It was a Spiced Wit that went like hotcakes at a Christmas party. So I think the problem was solved by an oxidative coating during the third batch. SWMBO was there and she asked if I could avoid the whole problem completely by moving to SS. I love that woman. :rockin:

Morales of the story:
1) Oxidize your new aluminum pot before you brew in it.
2) Marry well.
 

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