cleaning of brew pot!

[leejr85]

Whats going on guys. This is my first post and must say I'm in the process of starting to home brew. With in the next few weeks I will be getting my kit and brewing my first batch. With preparing for this I have 1 question.
I currently have 16 qt pot which was used for cooking lobsters maybe 2 times. the pot was kept clean, but is it safe to use for brewing? if so how do
I go about cleaning the pot. Thanks

 

[Yooper]

Sure, you could use it. A simple wash should do it. If it's aluminum, you don't want to scrub off the gray oxide layer on it. If you do, you can just boil water in it to remake that layer. If it's stainless, just wash, rinse and dry.

 

[leejr85]

Wow, Thanks for the fast response. I guess I'm just a little paranoid that my beer may have tasted like seafood. Now I can save up for a 10g pot for when I'm ready to upgrade

 

[MoRoToRiUm]

Go for a larger then 10; in case you start doing 10 gallon batches (boil over). Just a thought (of course can always partial boil; still doing that myself due to restriction of using apt. stove).

 

[Moonshae]

Go for a larger then 10; in case you start doing 10 gallon batches (boil over). Just a thought (of course can always partial boil; still doing that myself due to restriction of using apt. stove).

Even some big 5-gal AG brews can be too much for a 10-gal pot.

 

[nosmatt]

a 16 qt pot is 4 gallons.
enough for a extract brew. not enough for AG.

when you step up to AG in the not-so-distant future, buy a burner, and a pot.

i bought a turkey fryer with a 30 qt (7.5 g) pot, and it is too small for AG biggish beers.
i now bought a 50qt (12.5g) pot and another burner for it. i am happy (well, when UPS gets here with it!)

fwiw, in my 30qt turkey pot, i deep fried a turkey for thanksgiving, and then brewed beer in it the next day....and twice the next week. aluminum fwiw. i use a sponge with scotchbrite, and clean the hell out of it.
i boil it for about 10 mins afterward (water only), and dry it WELL. and store indoors till next use.

 

[Homercidal]

Mmmm.... Seafood Ale!

 

[MoRoToRiUm]

Mmmm.... Seafood Ale!

Old Spice Ale you say?

Joking aside, good scrub and you should be good

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

If that was an aluminum pot... DO NOT USE IT!!!

I have several lobster pots made of aluminum. When I started brewing I figured I would use them... but just to be safe I boiled a full pot of water first after a very aggressive and thorough cleaning. A wierd film formed over the surface and had a definite lobster smell to it. Fine, fine. I figured it was just the scum and oxide left over from cleaning. I then cleaned normally without scrubbing and reboiled... same scum slick on top of the water! I tried another time, with a clean and boil then called it quits. The porous Al will absorb fats and IMHO it is impossible to get fully clean.

Just my experience, but I would be extremely weary of using it.

Note: these pots were used for A LOT of lobster. Maybe if you have only used it once or something it would be different.