Aluminum vs. stainless steel Kettle

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DSMbrewer

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OK gang,
I need a larger brew kettle and am looking on pro/con on stainless vs. alum kettles. Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance~!:mug:
 
Thanks Golddiggie~! I'll check it out. I have never found a good explination for this on the homebrew level. I appreciate the help~!
 
Check out the thread Revvy's linked to as well.

Once you've conditioned an aluminum kettle, it's 100% safe for brewing. Just read up on doing so (basically, boil as much water in it as you can) and remember to leave the layer on the inside.

I've used an aluminum kettle (I made it from a 32 qt stock pot) before. My brew-buddy uses it now. I've migrated to keggles for the mash tun and boil though. I also have a 10 gallon kettle I made for an HLT as well as the 10 gallon BoilerMaker I purchased some time ago. Moving forward, while the size is still good, I'll be making/using keggles. I have a few 'spare' kegs I can convert, as well as a fairly local source for more of them.
 
I've been doing split batches for years and it's time do brew in one pot. I appreciate the help from everyone~! I can arm myself with an alum kettle and attach a ball valve and site glass for less money than a plain SS kettle! Why wouldn't I.............
 
Aluminum is fine, but don't drill holes in it for ball valves made of steel/bronze... that'll eff **** up ;)
 
Just be sure to get the correct size aluminum pot to convert into the kettle. I'd also use a stainless (3-piece) ball valve and get a dip tube to work with it. You can go with the 1/2" NPT to 1/2" compression fitting, a few washers, silicone washers/o-rings, and dip tube all from Bargain Fittings. Should be about $45 plus shipping. The dip tube will help you to extract more wort without having to tip the kettle to extract. Also, use 1/2" ball valves, not 3/8" for this. If you want to go larger, you can, but make sure you can get everything in the larger size (1/2" NPT is far more common).

BTW, I've designed, and make, my own sight tubes/glasses. All stainless fittings and borosilicate glass tubes for it. No worries about temperatures this way (unlike with the polycarbonate tubes).
 
Brulosopher said:
Aluminum is fine, but don't drill holes in it for ball valves made of steel/bronze... that'll eff **** up ;)

Google galvanic corrosion
 
Golddiggie said:
Are you brewing with seawater?? You do understand how long it will take before it could become any kind of issue, when brewing, right?

No. Perhaps it's not as big a deal as I presumed?
 
The two metals would react if there was an electrolytic connection. An hour or so of wet contact would offer little time for any appreciable reaction to take place.

bosco
 
boscobeans said:
The two metals would react if there was an electrolytic connection. An hour or so of wet contact would offer little time for any appreciable reaction to take place.

bosco

Ah, good to know, thanks!!
 
The two metals would react if there was an electrolytic connection. An hour or so of wet contact would offer little time for any appreciable reaction to take place.

bosco

Even a few hours at boil temperatures (or even mash temperatures) with wort won't be enough to do much of anything even after several years. Boats have the anodes/cathodes on/in their hulls so that corrosion attacks them and not other parts. These are made from metals that promote the reaction (iron and zinc if I recall correctly). That's when in seawater, not fresh water. Even if you use brewing 'salts' it's not a high enough concentration to do anything like seawater does.

Brulosopher said:
Perhaps it's not as big a deal as I presumed?

It's not a deal at all. It could be interesting if someone did an extended test with wort, to make the equal of several years of brewing with such a kettle and then reported back. I just don't see it as all that important though. Especially since you'll probably have silicone o-rings between the two metals. Even without, the amount of surface contact (percentage of total area) is negligible.

If you have any concerns at all, I'd just use all stainless steel fittings (from brewing hardware vendors) and not use stuff form places like Home Depot or Lowe's (brass/bronze fittings, or unknown steel alloys).

For the OP, check to see if you can get a decent 1/2 barrel keg locally before buying an aluminum pot. It's not difficult to convert a keg into a keggle with a couple of pretty basic power tools. A good drill (something most brewers already have, or should have, or have a friend/relative with either, and a right angle grinder. The grinder is to cut the top. Then just get a step bit to make the hole for the valve and other fittings. You can also check for homebrew clubs in your area and see if someone there can help you out.
 
We have stainless steel kettles that are relatively price competitive with an aluminum kettle, weldless valve and thermo.

Plus stainless is less hassle to deal with, tougher and will last a lifetime.

-Ben
 

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