OK so I've got a year and a half and a couple hundred gallons of extract under my belt and I'm super stoked to try all grain!! Making my mash tun now. Already had a 10 gal cooler and SS supply line and a couple of brass fittings. I know brass is OK for water supply but read somewhere about brass leeching poison when soaking in high temps. Sounds crazy to me but would like some other feedback on this (and also a little encouragement on this venture. Lol!) Thanks for your time guys!
Newbie mash tun question
- Thread starter ptadennis
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I heard from a plumber that brass, even lead is ok once water has passed through it over time. An oxide layer builds up so nothing of what is passing through is actually touching the metal. But I'm sure others have heard different. There are lead pipes in a lot of homes, as well as municipal water mains which may be made from lead, not just contain lead. I for one wouldn't worry abput brass or lead or any other metal harming you, but that is my opinion from what I have heard. I use brass and 316 stainless in my mash tun. Hope this helps.
bennie1986
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I'm by no means an expert but I have a brass ball valve and never worried about it. They use brass on the pre made mash tuns you can get from the brew shops so I figure its fine.
This tells all about brass: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass
Brass typically has a small amount of lead in it, which can migrate to the surface when cast and cooled.
If lead is used in the alloy, it can be "smeared" on the surface during machining.
California is not allowed to sell leaded brass, so if you can find out who manufactured it, or what the alloy is, then you may be able to determine if it's safe.
Your choice to use or not.
Personally, I have used brass of unknown alloy, but all my stuff is SS now.
Brass typically has a small amount of lead in it, which can migrate to the surface when cast and cooled.
If lead is used in the alloy, it can be "smeared" on the surface during machining.
California is not allowed to sell leaded brass, so if you can find out who manufactured it, or what the alloy is, then you may be able to determine if it's safe.
Your choice to use or not.
Personally, I have used brass of unknown alloy, but all my stuff is SS now.
Thanks for the responses. I feel a little better now using the brass. I did look for ss fittings but my local diy store was very limited. So... I'll finish this mash tun and look forward to my first all grain attempt in a couple weeks!! Thanks again for the responses!!
pmatson
Well-Known Member
Check Home Depot. They sell lead free brass fittings. Cheers
amandabab
Well-Known Member
I heard it was illegal for service stations to sell air for tires,or drinking water, because it was known to the state of California to cause cancer.
Brass, copper, pex, pvc, cpvc, stainless steel are all fine. I'm a plumber and you guys would flip out if you could see some of the city water mains and building water systems. Im talking about ductile iron, galvanized, asbestos concrete. Most new systems are plastic pipe now though. I think twice about drinking tap water now.
Brass ball valves have a stainless steel ball with silicon washers. But then again, everything's made in Taiwan, mexico or china so buyer beware.
Brass ball valves have a stainless steel ball with silicon washers. But then again, everything's made in Taiwan, mexico or china so buyer beware.
Ha, you must be in Boston or somewhere on the east coast.
CptnRedbeard
Active Member
olz431 said:
Wow. That's pretty messed up. According to John Palmer (and for metal-related brewing questions, who better to ask?) the yeast take up the lead and pull it out of solution at the end if fermentation. I guess that means your home brew is probably one of the safest things to drink in that town!
Although, lead is a much bigger problem for kids with developing brains so maybe a steady diet of beer might not be the solution.
