Aluminum vs. Steel

Is it true that a brewpot made of aluminum can impart bad tastes to the wort? The aluminum pots are way cheaper than the stainless steel ones, so I was wondering if it really mattered.

I use an aluminum brew pot and never had any off flavors some say stainless is better probably so but it is expensive

Ongoing and long debate. Do a search, there are a few threads that talk about it. Aluminum versus Stainless probably will always be one of those "forever" debates. FWIW, you can also work with one of the black canning pots. Go for what you can afford and go from there.


Ize

Ize is right i started doing extract in a canning pot and when i went ag used what ever i could find cheap

Is there a way to do all grain without boiling five-gallons of wort at once for a 5-gal batch? That's why I'm needing a bigger pot. I've got a five-gallon one already.

I really don't think so. the pot and burner i use is from a turkey frier. boiling the whole batch gives max hop use and hot break and when cooling cold break

really the only thing to be careful of is scratching the aluminum and using caustic on it, i believe.

there is an aluminum oxide layer that forms and is unreactive, meaning as in it won't leech anything. but if you scratch it, or chemically remove it with a cleaner or sanitizer that wasn't meant for aluminum, you can remove that oxide layer. by so doing, you allow aluminum to leech into the wort if the aluminum isn't given enough time to reform the oxide layer.

that said, I use SS wherever I can. i converted sanke kegs (which is generally pretty cheap for the capacity) and use SS fittings on just about everything. i will soon be getting SS racking canes as well. I just find it easier to work with as far as ease of cleaning and sanitization, as well as flavor issues. i didn't want to deal with pickling brass, and i don't want to have to worry about the aluminum oxide layer if i scratch the pot. steel passivates fairly quickly with exposure to air, so i'm not too worried about that.

this is just me and my desires/priorities with brewing. everyone is different. get what you need/want that is within your budget.

mew said:

Is there a way to do all grain without boiling five-gallons of wort at once for a 5-gal batch? That's why I'm needing a bigger pot. I've got a five-gallon one already.

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All grain doesn't call for you to boil five gallons - you are going to start out with closer to 7 or 8 gallons, and it boils down to your finished product of five gallons of wort.

So a five gallon pot for all grain won't really fit the bill. I use a 10 gallon pot and I still have to be careful and watch for boilovers as the wort gets close to starting the roiling boil.

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