Cpt_Kirks
Well-Known Member
Are there any issues with using copper plumbing on a brewstand? I see a lot of SS tubing being used, but not a lot of copper.
Copper Plumbing for Brew Stand?
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Copper has always been touted as good for yeast. The use of stainless is due to ease of cleaning and care. Certain caustic cleaners do NOT react well with Copper. And when you are dealing with a permanent, hard piped system, break down for cleaning is not conveinient.
it's fine. My rig is hard plumbed with copper and has been for a while. It's not hard to clean and no one has ever died from drinking my beer.
I don't break mine down at all. The HLT and MT only have to be "clean"... they don't have to be sterile as anything you have coming out of those two pots are going into a minimum of a 60 minute boil so... nothing is gonna survive.
for my BK... after a brew session, I pop it off my rig via a couple of unions that takes about four seconds, clean it pretty good with warm water and oxyclean... toss it back up on the rig, add a few gallons of water, toss the heat on, let it ramp up to at least 140 degrees, toss in some oxyclean and then fire up one of my pumps and let it criculate through the loop between my BK and plate chiller.
If it is particularly chunky, I'll do it two or three times. Once done, I flush it with clean water and I'm done.
Right before the next brew session, I'll toss a few gallons of water in the BK, add star san and circ again for ten minutes. Take the pot off, rinse with clean water since I "fear the foam" and brew away.
99% of homes in the US are built with all copper pipes for carrying water. It is safe. Some folks will comment that the PH of wort/beer won't react well with copper and that's true... if you were leaving the wort/beer in there for very long periods of time. For the amount of time you're going to have something in those pipes, it's fine.
As a matter of fact... all of the old breweries used huge, massive COPPER kettles to do their boils in.
Stainless is shinier, looks slicker and IS easier to clean... but... copper is fine
I don't break mine down at all. The HLT and MT only have to be "clean"... they don't have to be sterile as anything you have coming out of those two pots are going into a minimum of a 60 minute boil so... nothing is gonna survive.
for my BK... after a brew session, I pop it off my rig via a couple of unions that takes about four seconds, clean it pretty good with warm water and oxyclean... toss it back up on the rig, add a few gallons of water, toss the heat on, let it ramp up to at least 140 degrees, toss in some oxyclean and then fire up one of my pumps and let it criculate through the loop between my BK and plate chiller.
If it is particularly chunky, I'll do it two or three times. Once done, I flush it with clean water and I'm done.
Right before the next brew session, I'll toss a few gallons of water in the BK, add star san and circ again for ten minutes. Take the pot off, rinse with clean water since I "fear the foam" and brew away.
99% of homes in the US are built with all copper pipes for carrying water. It is safe. Some folks will comment that the PH of wort/beer won't react well with copper and that's true... if you were leaving the wort/beer in there for very long periods of time. For the amount of time you're going to have something in those pipes, it's fine.
As a matter of fact... all of the old breweries used huge, massive COPPER kettles to do their boils in.
Stainless is shinier, looks slicker and IS easier to clean... but... copper is fine
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