corroded copper and brass?

So I finally got all of my dad old brewing equipment he doesnt use anymore together and all of the copper and brass on the kettles have corroded quite a bit. Will the affect the quality of my brew?

TIA
Ken

I wouldn't risk it to best honest but if you really have no other option I'd try brewing a small batch of something cheap to see if it get's contaminated or not.

Corroded copper will have no harmful effects on your beer other than a copper flavor. I would suggest letting everything soak in vinegar for about 5 minutes and then scrub everything clean. Rinse well after doing so. This should take all the corrosion off. If it's corroded through, then you won't want to use it.


I wouldn't use brass though. It's cheap enough to replace so its not worth it to use nasty old stuff.

If you absolutely want to use it, mix 1 part peroxide to 2 parts vinegar and soak the brass in it for no more than 15 minutes. This will remove whatever lead may be in the brass incase your dad forgot to "de-lead" it. It will also help to clean some of the corrossion. When the water starts to turn a greenish yellow, your brass it ready to be rinsed.

If they are old and corroded I would personally switch them out with new fittings to be safe. Go for stainless steel, brass is ok if you are on a budget.

thanks for the relpies. Thats what I was thinking. The copper tubing is easy enough to replace, but the brass is what I was truly worried about.