Potential problems between aluminum and stainless steel gear?

[flyingfinbar]

Hey everyone

It's pretty self explanatory. I see myself getting a 44ish quart aluminum brew kettle and a stainless steel wort chiller. Do I have to worry about the two metals reacting with each other? Does wort provide the catalyst for a galvanic reaction? Thanks!

 

[helibrewer]

I do not see any way you will get a galvanic reaction during the contact times of brewing. I have an aluminum kettle and SS Immersion chiller and have seen no signs of any type of reaction.

Hope that helps...

 

[flyingfinbar]

I do not see any way you will get a galvanic reaction during the contact times of brewing. I have an aluminum kettle and SS Immersion chiller and have seen no signs of any type of reaction.

Hope that helps...

Thanks for real, first-hand help

 

[plumbob]

*looks at all the deleted posts* Wow someone had fun in here!

Galvanic reactions can happen quickly, and indeed would if the aluminum were not heavily oxidized. Luckily, we live in an oxygen rich environment so you have a nice coating of AlO all over your aluminum pot which won't react with much of anything. If your pot were made out of zinc, you should probably think twice...

Anyway see this thread https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/faq-aluminum-pots-boil-kettles-49449/ for a very in depth look at aluminum boil kettles.

tl;dr
They are fine, the only people who seem to have gripes about them are the people who don't use them. Everyone who uses an aluminum pot seems to be happy with the results and happy with the money they saved.

 

[TBar]

Don't worry. The galvanic potential between most common grades of ss and Al is low to begin with (less than .5V usually). On top of that your Al is probably anodized, which gives it a thicker protective oxide layer. This oxide layer is stable in a neutral or acidic ph down to about 4.0.

The end result is that given brew times and the controlled environment your equipment will last many years. Just don't store them together in saltwater!

Eliminating free chlorine will help ensure a long life, and better beer.

 

[flyingfinbar]

Thanks again for the helpful, informative replies!

 

[BOBrob]

Hey everyone

It's pretty self explanatory. I see myself getting a 44ish quart aluminum brew kettle and a stainless steel wort chiller. Do I have to worry about the two metals reacting with each other? Does wort provide the catalyst for a galvanic reaction? Thanks!

No worry about the galvanic reaction(whatever that is Hmmm) but you do want to boil water for 30 minutes in the new aluminum pot to oxidize (treat) the aluminum to prevent off flavors in the brew, And do not scrub off the brown that appears in the pot when you are done. The brown layer is the oxidized layer you need. Cheers

 

[nebben]

The only time I've seen galvanic corrosion in a hurry was when I had a piece of aluminum immersed in my HLT that also had an electric heat element in it.

In the boil kettle, it will be in there for such a short period, I can't imagine it would be a problem.