aluminum pre-brew conditioning boil question

[NevermoreBrew]

So i bought a 15 gallon aluminum pot a couple of weeks ago and before my first brew in it (extract brew) i boiled about 8 gallons of water. It turned the inside of the pot black-ish where the water was. Im assuming thats what its supposed to do. Tomorrow im planning on doing an all grain batch in so i just boiled about 13 gallons of water in it but it didnt turn the upper sections of the pot black. Am i good to brew? thanks

 

[moosetav]

You're fine. Mine looks the exact same and I haven't died or even noticed the slightest of off-flavors since using this pot. Brew on, good buddy.

 

[JoeBronco]

Thats called oxidation. Thats what you want to happen. Its stops the aluminum from leaking off flavors into your beer. Your good. Brew away.

 

[SD-SLIM]

Hello, they are right...its a welcome process and you shouldn't worry about it...here is a great article that discusses various metals and there reactions: http://***********/component/resour...November 2007/1149-metallurgy-for-homebrewers

 

[Golddiggie]

This is what my 32 quart aluminum kettle looks like...

I'll take some pics of my 60 quart kettle when I get a chance and post that too. I conditioned the 60 quart right before using it the first time but it didn't turn out as dark... I did use hot tap water for the 32 quart kettle, which could be the reason why. The 60 quart was using cold tap water (via a hose)...

 

[NevermoreBrew]

This is what my 32 quart aluminum kettle looks like...

I'll take some pics of my 60 quart kettle when I get a chance and post that too. I conditioned the 60 quart right before using it the first time but it didn't turn out as dark... I did use hot tap water for the 32 quart kettle, which could be the reason why. The 60 quart was using cold tap water (via a hose)...

thats what the bottom of my pot looks like from the first time i boiled in it only up to about the 7 gallon mark. Im doing an all grain batch tomorrow and will probably use around 9 gallons of water so i tried to get the top half of the pot to oxidize by boiling 13 gallons but it didnt turn the same color as it did the first time i boiled. I want the whole pot to be oxidized but what i did today didnt oxidize above the 7 gallon part and i boiled for 45 minutes

 

[Golddiggie]

Did you try with hot tap water for the second round?

Also, are you making a 5 or 10 gallon batch? If 5 gallons, depending on your boil time, you should be looking at ~6-8 gallons of wort to boil... Depending on your boil-off rate, grain bill, etc... I do full boils in the 32qt kettle, for 5 gallon batches... Never gone above the top line (it's at about 7.5 gallons there)... In the 60 quart kettle, I conditioned it for 10 gallon batch boils, so I went as full as I could get it (was aiming to get closer to 14 gallons into it)... It didn't get DARK, but you can see a shade difference.

Before I use it again, I might try another conditioning boil in it... This time, I'll try with hot tap water (will need to fill up some carboy's to carry it to the burner)... The color difference could have more to do with what's in the hot water compared with cold water (from it going through the hot water heater)... Just another reason I use filtered water for my actual brewing.