Brass wort chiller??

[kbuzz]

I was chatting with my father-in-law about the home brew process...got to the part about cooling and I told him that I just currently use an ice bath, but would like to eventually get a coiled wort chiller...after describing what it was, he told me that he had an old one that he found a long time ago, but never really knew what it was or anything so it's just been sitting in his basement...I said I'd gladly take it off his hands Went over the other day to find that he's been working on getting it fixed up, cleaned and usable again...sautering new hose connectors, polishing up a bit, etc...

Here's the thing, it looks like it's made of brass and not copper. I don't have the heart to tell him that most of the ones I've seen are copper, so I'll be taking it either way...but what are the potential downfalls of using this if any??

 

[ihomebrewing]

Brass has lead in it. About 2%, if I'm not mistaken.

I would say that the surface area of contact with boiling hot wort is too large to consider using it.

I wouldn't mind seeing a picture of it. It sounds interesting.

 

[Bobby_M]

Take a picture of it. I've never heard of brass coiled tubing. Even if it was brass, I doubt it would be leaded because lead is only added to brass when it's going to be machined.

 

[Sean]

Nothing to add just want to see a pic.

 

[VegasBrew]

There is a method used by some small-scale beer brewers to reduce the amount of lead salts on the surface of fittings that come into contact with the beer using mild acid passivation . One simple method is to mix 2 parts common vinegar (5% acetic acid) with 1 part hydrogen peroxide (3%), then soak the object in the solution for 5-10 minutes. The brass should turn a pale, dull yellow color; if it darkens, then the immersion was too long so the part should be cleaned and re-done in a new batch of the solution. There are also some commercial solutions designed for passivation of lead on brass fittings and fixtures. Do an Internet search on "brass passivation" to locate additional resources.

Took this quote from http://www.finishing.com/101/95.shtml because i was too lazy to type it out my self. It is also quoted in "How to Brew" I believe as well as being a topic on Brew Strong. I have cleaned brass fittings this way with no ill effects.....so far.

VB

 

[lgoolsby]

Nothing to add just want to see a pic.

Ditto

 

[kbuzz]

Thanks for the replies so far...I'll post a pic when I pick it up...he wasn't quite finished yet.

Wait...can I post pics without being a paying member??

 

[TANSTAAFB]

Thanks for the replies so far...I'll post a pic when I pick it up...he wasn't quite finished yet.

Wait...can I post pics without being a paying member??

Yep, you just have to host them in photobucket or something then copy the image link and paste it in. Helps if you resize a little too.

 

[kbuzz]

Just as a follow to this, my father-in-law wasn't able to finish work on the brass chiller. There were too many leaks in too many areas and he didn't feel that it was worth repair...

Since he felt bad that he had gotten my hopes up about it, he went and got a length of copper and made me a copper wort chiller instead.

What a guy!!

Gonna use it for the first time here this afternoon...brewing a pineapple pale ale