brass parts on my mash tun

[Righlander]

so i built a MT today and i used a couple brass pieces. ive heard of people pickling them in 2 parts vinegar and 1 part hydrogen peroxide. should i do that?

 

[flabyboy]

I have been wondering the same thing. be curious to hear what others think of this. not to keen on getting lead poisoning

 

[OldManHouston]

Hmm I've never heard about this. I have a brass ball-valve and fitting on my MLT as well so I'm interested to hear what people say here.

 

[Sawdustguy]

Sure, it takes the surface lead off the fittings. The fittings have a minute amount of lead in them for solderability. It's not enough to hurt anyone but usually people feel better when pickling them. Plumbers have used brass in our homes for years.

 

[brewdogskip]

I say F-it. I've used my brass ball valves for a while now and I'm still kickin'. I think there is a lot more to worry about in all the insanely modified foods we eat than in a common plumbing valve.

 

[boss429]

yea listen to brewstrong audio palmer metal pro talks about. use and pickling will protect the outer layer. Dont over do the pickling because then it will do the opposite and will expose the lead. now all brass sold in hardware at least in CA is .5 percent approx lead very little considering the surface etc.. Im just repeating what palmer says check it out.

http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/Brew-Strong/Brew-Strong-09-29-08-Metals-that-Affect-Your-Beer

There you are listen and you will learn

 

[SkinnyShamrock]

My dad is an electrical engineer, is 62 years old, and is perfectly healthy. To this day, he uses his mouth to straighten out the solder (yes, lead-core solder) right before applying it to a joint, because one hand has the roll of solder, and the other hand has the soldering iron in it, so he's out of hands to make sure the solder is straight.

I think you'll be fine.

 

[jasonsbeer]

We had a rather vigorous discussion of this here.

Take home message is you do not need to "pickle" your brass fittings.

 

[Righlander]

We had a rather vigorous discussion of this here.

Take home message is you do not need to "pickle" your brass fittings.

Cool. Because i don't feel like disassembling the damn thing