New aluminum stockpot!

So I just bought a 10 gallon stock pot for an IPA I'm doing today. It's aluminum and I've heard it's smart to boil water for an hour prior to brewing. I'll do this, but can I use that same water that I boiled for my strike water? It just seems a waste to me to boil water and then not use it...please reply!! I'm brewing in about an hour and want to know if this will save some time! Thanks!!

I wouldnt, the purpose is to help the aluminum form a protective layer, but also it will help clean off any chemicals or other solvents that may have been used in manufacturing that are still on it.

My vote is no, as stated above for the same reasons.
Use it to kill some weeds in the cracks of your sidewalk or drive if you want to use it for something.

I'm gonna vote no as well....as turdhammer said, see if you can find another use for it around the house

Thanks!! The water was a nice brown tinge...blech. But I just reached the boil and first hop addition!!

Stick with SS pots. Aluminum will leach out into solution w/ things like hot wort. Anecdotal evidence from the CDC indicates aluminum as a major factor in Alzheimer's.

govner1 said:

Stick with SS pots. Aluminum will leach out into solution w/ things like hot wort. Anecdotal evidence from the CDC indicates aluminum as a major factor in Alzheimer's.

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id like to see your source on that.
As a culinary school graduate and restaurant employee
everyone eats from aluminum cook where on a very regular basis who ever eat outside of home. I guess we are all going to be filling with aluminum and get Alzheimers.

govner1 said:

Stick with SS pots. Aluminum will leach out into solution w/ things like hot wort. Anecdotal evidence from the CDC indicates aluminum as a major factor in Alzheimer's.

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As long as you build the oxide layer, no leeching occurs...

govner1 said:

Stick with SS pots. Aluminum will leach out into solution w/ things like hot wort. Anecdotal evidence from the CDC indicates aluminum as a major factor in Alzheimer's.

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It's a STOCK POT. STOCK would be one of 'those things like wort'. Along with stew, tea, chili, or a thousand other things that could be cooked in it. If the CDC or any other government organization thought it was dangerous to cook in this pot, you probably wouldn't be able to buy it!

govner1 said:

Stick with SS pots. Aluminum will leach out into solution w/ things like hot wort. Anecdotal evidence from the CDC indicates aluminum as a major factor in Alzheimer's.

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Anecdotal evidence is not actual evidence. I doubt the CDC, an agency greatly concerned with facts is sharing anecdotal evidence. The possibility of it affecting the beer is more real, but so long as it has the oxide layer it should be no problem.

I wouldn't reuse the water. Is it really worth it risking five gallons of beer (the cost of ingredients, hours of effort and weeks of anticipation) to keep from wasting, at worst, a couple dollars of water?

Are you willing to take the chance for a few bucks of AL vs. SS?
Go ahead- happy memories!

From what I've read on the forums aluminum is fine, but most prefer stainless. I did use aluminum turkey fryer on my first few batches, they turned out fine, then I went to stainless. Good luck with your brewing!

Dont use aluminum. It is too thin, even from health reasons aside. SS pots have thicker bottoms. You risk burning your wort with cheapy aluminum kettles. I got a 5 gallon kettle from my local home brew store for like 35 bucks. Great for 2.5 gallon boils. You get what you pay for! If you're serious about home brewing, you're gonna buy one eventually anyway. So just get a nice stainless kettle for 130 bucks. Three things I wouldn't skimp on,sanitation, wort chiller, and kettle.

Aluminum is fine. So is SS. Either one works well.

dannylerch said:

Dont use aluminum. It is too thin, even from health reasons aside. SS pots have thicker bottoms. You risk burning your wort with cheapy aluminum kettles. I got a 5 gallon kettle from my local home brew store for like 35 bucks. Great for 2.5 gallon boils. You get what you pay for! If you're serious about home brewing, you're gonna buy one eventually anyway. So just get a nice stainless kettle for 130 bucks. Three things I wouldn't skimp on,sanitation, wort chiller, and kettle.

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Where do you guys get your information from? I actually switched from ss to a bigger aluminum pot a few years ago and my ss pot is about half as thin! Heat is heat. You are just as 'prone' to scorching your wort on ss as you are aluminum. Honestly, this will really only happen if you are using extract and allow it to sink to the bottom of the pot where it will sit directly on the heat. Which, btw, you can avoid by turning the heat off when you add your extract!

Under certain conditions, aluminum will leech into food. Wrap half a tomato in tin foil and let it sit for a week or so. The acids in the tomato will eventually break down the foil. This does NOT happen when it comes to wort! Aluminum has been used in the restaurant industry for years without ill effect!

Yes, ss is sexy! But, that sexy comes with a cost. A cost I would rather spend on other things, like ingredients! There are no inherent dangers in using aluminum cookware.

govner1 said:

Are you willing to take the chance for a few bucks of AL vs. SS?
Go ahead- happy memories!

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I have anecdotal evidence that living on a dairy farm and drinking whole milk for 70 years caused my grandparents to get alzheimers.

Aluminum is fine.

Thank guys! At this moment, I'd rathe spend the 35 bucks that I spent on a 10 gallon aluminum kettle, than however much a 10 gallon SS kettle would be. It worked fine! Hydrometer sample before pitching taste fine, and it turned out great. Plus aluminum is like a third of the cost, if not more.

dannylerch said:

Dont use aluminum. It is too thin, even from health reasons aside. SS pots have thicker bottoms. You risk burning your wort with cheapy aluminum kettles. I got a 5 gallon kettle from my local home brew store for like 35 bucks. Great for 2.5 gallon boils. You get what you pay for! If you're serious about home brewing, you're gonna buy one eventually anyway. So just get a nice stainless kettle for 130 bucks. Three things I wouldn't skimp on,sanitation, wort chiller, and kettle.

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Ok, so here comes another ss vs alum thread. I have to put my 2c in.

I use a 8gal alum kettle that i got from amazon for $29 shipped. Nothing burns on the bottom and you know what thin means? It means it heats up and coold down faster. Thats not a problem with me. My full boils taste great. I would rather do what I do then do a half boil in a ss just to say "I have a ss kettle" Doing a full boil will make your beer taste better. A known fact, unlike the false fact that ss will make your beer taste better.

I got an economy chiller, $39 shipped. Better then $100+ and you know what, it works just fine. My "cheap" chiller cools my "cheap" pot with a full boil volume of 5 and 1/2gal down to 70deg in 12min.

To the OP, congrats on the new kettle you will love it.

Biggest downside is you shouldn't use Oxyclean and Bar Keepers Friend on it, the two cleaners I use the most.

They remove the oxidation or eventually cause pitting if left soaking too long.

SpentGrains said:

Biggest downside is you shouldn't use Oxyclean and Bar Keepers Friend on it, the two cleaners I use the most.

They remove the oxidation or eventually cause pitting if left soaking too long.

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I used bar keepers friend on my aluminum brew pot, do you think I did any major damage?

Glass brew pots or nothing.

SpentGrains said:

Biggest downside is you shouldn't use Oxyclean and Bar Keepers Friend on it, the two cleaners I use the most.

They remove the oxidation or eventually cause pitting if left soaking too long.

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I used bar keepers friend on my aluminum brew pot, do you think I did any major damage?