Safety of my mini mash tun

[Sturg78]

Hello All,

I have cheaply updated my little 2 gal Legend Igloo cooler to a spigot and ss braid mash tun and wanted to double check with you folks the safety of the tun. I have a sink supply ss braid I have removed the tube from and it is clamped to a brass female hose fitting with a hose clamp.I found a cheap 3 dollar spigot that fit into the premade hole and screwed that in as well.



My question is how safe are these items for hot liquids and potability of the beer:

1) Is the legend cooler a BPA grenade waiting to happen?

2) Is there any cleaning protocol I should abide by before using the SS braid?

3) Is the brass hose fitting food grade? (Salvaged from old wort chiller) Is there anything I should be doing to clean it before using it?

4) I do not have a T-splitter thing for the tube and will end up just closing off the other end. Somehow. How should I close the end of the SS Braid?

Thanks for the help as always. I will feel better knowing I will not be poisoning my guinea pigs with these experimental batches

 

[outside92129]

1) You'll be fine. Lots of threads on the issue, here are two i just found via google:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/cooler-mash-tun-285832/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/rubbermaid-cooler-materials-id-solved-204344/

2) maybe some PBW in case there's some residual oil on the braid.

3) brass may or may not be food grade. And the definition of "food grade" has changed over the last few years (lead content in brass). But it's such a tiny part it won't matter. Pickle it if you're still concerned (for a topical cleaning).

4) zip tie, pipe plug...

p.s. as long as you more or less stick by the general instructions (HBT, palmer, etc) you won't poison anything except your liver. Worry more about burning yourself or getting cut by broken glass, the odds of these happening are approaching 1 : )