Brass in fittings that touch finished beer?

So I ordered a Tri Clover 1/1.5" to 1/4" MFL fitting from brewershardware with the intention of placing it on my racking port and threading a standard 1/4" nut & barb to beverage line and a liquid in ball QD to allow me to rack from conical to keg without exposing the beer to oxygen.

However when I got the piece my 1/4" nut won't fit, and measuring the threads showed 7/16". So I went down to my LHBS to see if I could find a step down, or alternate nut. They did have a 1/4" MFL to 1/4" M fitting shown below.



The only problem was that since it was a M to M connection, I couldn't simply attach it to the TC fitting. The only Female to Female fitting the LHBS had was brass, which they said would be fine but I'm dubious. As it was only $1 I grabbed it, but I'm not sure it's safe to use in finished beer as I think Brass can have a allowable amount of lead?

Here's that the total fitting looks like when loosely dry fitted.



If I shouldn't use the brass female to female connection, does anyone have suggestions on where I could get a SS one, or an alternate way to hook up my tri clover to beer line?

There are SS versions of the 1/4" coupling that you show.
Try a search for SS 1/4" NPT Coupling and see what comes up.

However, IMHO, the only way that brass fitting could possibly harm you is if you choked on it.

processhead said:

There are SS versions of the 1/4" coupling that you show there.
Try a search for SS 1/4" NPT Coupling and see what comes up.

However, IMHO, the only way that brass fitting could possibly harm you is if you choked on it.

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This is true. You should also be able to find a F to F SS fitting at Lowes or Home Depot. If you really live in a Podunk town and online is the way to go and you really wand to avoid the less than trace amounts of lead extracted from the surface of that fitting, you could try bargainfittings.com. Also, another option is to remove the surface lead from the fitting using a process I can't really recall off the top of my head, but a quick google search should reveal that answer.

Good luck with your decision!

Beer has been run out of baas spigots, and faucets for hundreds of years there is no problem "unless" your in California everything causes cancer there.

Why not go with something like this? http://www.brewandgrow.com/brew/stainless-steel-1-5-tri-cover-x-1-2-fpt.html

beaksnbeer said:

Beer has been run out of baas spigots, and faucets for hundreds of years there is no problem "unless" your in California everything causes cancer there.

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I do live in California I mowed my lawn yesterday... I shudder to think about how much cancer it caused.

I'll probably try and find a SS F/F fitting just for piece of mind.

pentiumone133 said:

Why not go with something like this? http://www.brewandgrow.com/brew/stainless-steel-1-5-tri-cover-x-1-2-fpt.html

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Well, because I don't want to buy another $13 TC fitting, when I already have one, and also because I don't need a 1/2" fitting.

Also remember NPT fittings should get PTFE tape!