Aluminium boil pot?

I guess I may have made a mistake here. i just ordered the deluxe brew kit from AustinBrew. I didnt buy the boil pot because I have a brand new 30qt. turkey aluminium fry pot thats never been used.. I guess I assumed this would work. I just really noticed that all the pots for sale are stainless steel. Does this make a big difference?

 

No. Aluminum is fine. Use the search button, there are many, many threads on it.

 

Read up on building up an oxidation layer and you'll be fine.

And also research how to NOT clean them. No Oxyclean or PBW in aluminum.

 

No it is fine to use aluminum. Just make sure to passify it 1st by boiling water in it for about an hour.

 

Ding ding! +1 for all above. I love my Al kettle and brass fittings!

 

Ok...thanks guys. I started to sweat when I noticed everything was stainless.

 

I will say from experience watch ur pot as u come to boil if you boiling 6.5g to end up with 5 g batch. To heavy on the heat=boilover

 

No worries. Are you buying a new kettle or just inquiring about the one you're currently using?

 

I've got the same setup...30 qt aluminum turkey fryer pot...works perfect for me. I've put up to 7 gallons in it for the boil, leaving only .5 gallon headspace, and didn't boil over. Granted I watched it very very carefully and turned the burner down a couple of times!

 

since aluminum is softer than stainless, do be careful not to ding it, or tip it and crease the sidewall when pouring.

if its a thin walled kettle, be careful using a spigot as it might twist and warp the wall. the REALLY cheap turkey fry kettles are often like this.

 

If you have an oven big enough, you can just put it in the oven to build up the oxide layer. I don't have a big oven, so this wasn't an option, but if you do, I would have preferred to use the oven than burn off propane boiling water I'm just going to dump anyway.

Again, look up the tips for oxide layers, both oven and boiling methods.

 

I tried doing that with my 32 qt aluminum stock pot (since converted into a kettle) and it did nothing... Put hot tap water into it, set it on the stove and boiled that biotch up for 30+ minutes and it built up a sweet layer.

To clean the pot, after you build the aluminum oxide layer, just use a sponge or rag with some soap on it... Rinse well and you're ready for the next batch...

I guess I'm a bit spoiled by the pot I picked up, since it's nice and thick (4mm)... Zero chance of it getting a crease/kink in it just from pouring wort out of it. Of course, since fitting it with a brass ball valve, the chance that I'll pour wort out of it is slim to nil. Ball valves make things much easier, and they're really easy to install (if you're even moderately handy/intelligent)... I went with the no-weld type, so that I could do it in my apartment. I also make sure that it's not placed where it could be kicked, or otherwise damaged...

For the boil-over concerns, there's a few simple ways to combat this...
1. Use fermcap in the wort, adding as soon as the boil starts, before adding your first hops.
2. Have a spray bottle with water in it and simply spray the foam as it forms. That will knock it down and you won't have an issue.

I have a brew-buddy that uses a smaller aluminum pot, and fermcap so that he gets close to 5 gallons of wort into primary (he has to top off with 2-4 quarts post boil)... He has enough wort in the pot, pre-boil, that it's less than 1" from the edge...

 

I scored a sweet deal and got a 52qt aluminum for about $40.00. I bought a valve and sight glass kit for about $24.00 from cheapfittings.com and now have a nice bk for less than $70.

I found the same kettle I have on Amzon for $90+ now! I love my aluminum kettle!

I love it even more that I do NOT use oxyclean in it anymore too!!!