Scorched Aluminum Brewpot

[Skarekrough]

My first attempt to brew using a propane tank burner I managed to scorch the heck out of the inside bottom of my aluminum turkey fryer pot.

The contents inside bonded to the bottom and no amount of scrubbing and soaking has been able to get it out.

I've brewed a batch or two since, but I've always been a little leery of it.

Should this pot get replaced? Is there anything I need to worry about with it? Any super-secret techniques I might want to try to remove it?

Thanks!

 

[BendBrewer]

Oxyclean isn't recommended for aluminum as it removes the oxidized layer but in your case, I would try a good long soak in that and scrub with a green scrubby. You will have to build your layer back up but that's not a big deal.

 

[electronjunkie]

I had the same problem from pouring in LME and not turning the burner off. Stupid noob. It will put a nasty acrid taste in your batch that is tough to remove.

I tried many things including ovencleaner, nothing worked.

Finally I scraped mine with a razor blade, then sanded the rest with several grit sizes of sandpaper I had. I'm sure I removed a thousandth or two of aluminum, but its plenty thick enough. The aluminum is much harder to remove than the scorched sugar. I then boiled it for an hour before reusing to seal the oxide layer back.

Anyone have a better way, please let us aluminum pot users know

 

[BendBrewer]

Anyone have a better way, please let us aluminum pot users know

Go All Grain. You'll never scorch another pot. :rockin:

 

[Ichthy]

Guys the "oxide layer" is just hard water stains. AL is reactive and forms an oxide layer as soon as it's in contact with oxygen (air). If you put vinegar in an AL pot it will remove what everyone refers to as the oxide layer, but it's just minerals from the water.

Scrub the crap out of that pot with a green scrubby or some light sandpaper and you'll be fine.

 

[KevinW]

Oxyclean isn't recommended for aluminum as it removes the oxidized layer but in your case, I would try a good long soak in that and scrub with a green scrubby. You will have to build your layer back up but that's not a big deal.

I agree especially with building the oxidized layer back. I soaked a batch of bottles in Oxyclean in my brewkettle (it was the best I had at the time). The next batch afterwards had a noticeable metallic taste.

Good luck!

 

[electronjunkie]

Guys the "oxide layer" is just hard water stains. AL is reactive and forms an oxide layer as soon as it's in contact with oxygen (air). If you put vinegar in an AL pot it will remove what everyone refers to as the oxide layer, but it's just minerals from the water.

Scrub the crap out of that pot with a green scrubby or some light sandpaper and you'll be fine.

Yes Aluminum oxide forms instantly in the earths atmosphere, but it seems like the oxide layer thickens after boiling. It gets dull really fast.

This procedure is also recommended in the HBT wiki.

I tried the green scrubby but wore a hole straight through it I scrubbed so hard and very little crud was coming off.

Using a razor blade was the best method I found. Helps to have one with a handle like the ones for scraping windows.

 

[Ichthy]

The dulling is all of the hard water minerals building up. We can a lot of veggies in the summer in an AL canner and if forget to add a tbsp or so of vinegar it instanly turns black or grey on the inside, but it's gone next time I add vinegar. I'm not trying to be argumentative, I just think people make to big a deal about the oxide layer and how it's dangerous to remove.

I like the idea of a razor blade. Someone also suggested sandpaper. Maybe some 220 would work nicely?

 

[Skarekrough]

Scrubbing straight through? Like, through the bottom?

Ugh....

 

[klyph]

Scrubbing straight through? Like, through the bottom?

Ugh....

I believe he meant he wore through the green scrubby pad.

 

[electronjunkie]

Scrubbing straight through? Like, through the bottom?

Ugh....

Wore a hole through the pad to my fingers.

 

[Skarekrough]

Ahhh...yes. Went through the scrubby pad too.

Looks like I need about five minutes and the orbital sander to fix this.

 

[specialkaye]

Ahhh...yes. Went through the scrubby pad too.

Looks like I need about five minutes and the orbital sander to fix this.

More power, always the better option.

 

[sportscrazed2]

I too would like a definitive answer on this. I thought the oxidized layer was a good thing you should build up before brewing? also my pot has some stains on the top and on the lid is there a way to remove these? i want my pot to be in the best brewing shape when i do another batch next weekend or so

 

[jmendez29]

I didn't have any kind of build up, but I did have some scorched stains on the bottom of my aluminum pot. I did eventually get them off of there, but it wasn't with anything abrasive. I made about 3 gallons of homemade spaghetti sauce. Cooked it for about 10 hours. When I was all done, there was nothing on the bottom. Looked just like the sides.

 

[electronjunkie]

I didn't have any kind of build up, but I did have some scorched stains on the bottom of my aluminum pot. I did eventually get them off of there, but it wasn't with anything abrasive. I made about 3 gallons of homemade spaghetti sauce. Cooked it for about 10 hours. When I was all done, there was nothing on the bottom. Looked just like the sides.

I'm thinking that heat (like 150-170*), and some type of medium to week acid (like spaghetti sauce or maybe vinegar) combined with many hours might do the trick.

I used a paint scraper.

If you have stains on the outside of your brewpot I wouldn't worry about it, but a paint scraper or an orbital sander would do the trick.

An orbital sander might take away aluminum that you don't want it to if your brewpot bottom is not perfectly flat. This is why I didn't use my orbital sander.

 

[fineexampl]

I'm thinking that heat (like 150-170*), and some type of medium to week acid (like spaghetti sauce or maybe vinegar) combined with many hours might do the trick.

I used a paint scraper.

If you have stains on the outside of your brewpot I wouldn't worry about it, but a paint scraper or an orbital sander would do the trick.

An orbital sander might take away aluminum that you don't want it to if your brewpot bottom is not perfectly flat. This is why I didn't use my orbital sander.

Your first option here is correct. I scorched many a pot/pan's interior. Best way to get it off is just to use it and it'll wear off, or in some cases, just flake right off. Add some acidity to some water and boil the living hell out of it followed by scrubbing with a greenie. It'll come off.

 

[electronjunkie]

Your first option here is correct. I scorched many a pot/pan's interior. Best way to get it off is just to use it and it'll wear off, or in some cases, just flake right off. Add some acidity to some water and boil the living hell out of it followed by scrubbing with a greenie. It'll come off.

I would advise against using it to brew beer. I know from three batches that a scorched brewpot will not only affect the flavor of your beer considerably, but could even ruin it.

My Petite Saison tasted terrible, so bad that I threw it out. My previous 2 Belgians had a weird slight acrid off-flavor (bitterness on the back of the tongue) that I could not nail down the source of. I am a noob and did not know that if the bottom of your brewpot has some large black spots that might be a problem.

A growing large portion of my brewpot was scorched. I have not had this acrid off-flavor since I scraped and sanded. It really only took a few minutes with the right tools. I have spent more time writing and responding about it on HBT and twitter than I did fixing my problem.

Do not brew beer with a scorched brewpot. It will suck.

How did I figure it out? I wash yeast. I drank some of the (cooled) water that I wash the yeast with that had been boiled. There is no question where the acrid bitterness came from.

However you remove scorched brew, don't use it for beer until you get rid of it.

 

[Sardoman]

The bitterness you describe in your yeast slurry could be the yeast themselves. I'm not saying it couldn't also be from the scorched spot on the bottom of your pot, but I have been led to believe that some of the bitter compounds from the hops will stick to the yeast and make them taste very bitter after fermentation. I know that spent yeast from large breweries is often used in animal feed and as a nutritional supplement. It has to be "debittered" so that it will be palatable. Google "debittering yeast".
Just food for thought.

 

[electronjunkie]

The bitterness you describe in your yeast slurry could be the yeast themselves. I'm not saying it couldn't also be from the scorched spot on the bottom of your pot, but I have been led to believe that some of the bitter compounds from the hops will stick to the yeast and make them taste very bitter after fermentation. I know that spent yeast from large breweries is often used in animal feed and as a nutritional supplement. It has to be "debittered" so that it will be palatable. Google "debittering yeast".
Just food for thought.

Thats an interesting theory, but it doesn't explain why I get these off-flavors with a fresh 3711 Saison or fresh 1214 Yeast.

Two of the three batches I noticed the flavor in were new yeast packets, as I did not have a 3711 and had been through 5 batches with my 1214 so I used a new packet.

The third batch was one where I tried to remove the scorching with a greenie pad but got nowhere. This apparently opened up enough scorched nasties that even after thorough washing, still put terrible flavors in the beer.

It also doesn't explain why the water that I wash my yeast in that is boiled in the same brewpot had this same bitter and acrid aftertaste prior to using for yeast washing.

I am 100% sure the problem here was an excessively scorched brewpot. There is no other explanation for not only why my yeast washing water (boiled-then-cooled-water) had this acrid-bitter flavor but also why my beer started to have a progressively worse acrid-bitter off flavor, and why now they taste fine after removing this scorching from the brewpot.

Scraper, orbital sander, acid, or hardcore elbow grease, get this scorchedness off your brewpot before you taint another batch.

 

[Sardoman]

I stand corrected.

 

[specialkaye]

Your first option here is correct. I scorched many a pot/pan's interior. Best way to get it off is just to use it and it'll wear off, or in some cases, just flake right off. Add some acidity to some water and boil the living hell out of it followed by scrubbing with a greenie. It'll come off.

Um, "just flake right off" into what ever you're cooking, be it beer or spaghetti sauce. I think I'd opt for boiling some vinegar water or a good scraping/sanding. My mom was a professional cook, with her own TV show for a while, and if I said I'd just let it cook off into what ever happened to be in the pot, I'd be wearing the pot. And, she'd probably be beating the outside of it with a metal spoon going, "Hello, McFly...." I'm just sayin'.

 

[dfc]

I use a metal scouring pad on my stainless steel pot sometimes. It seems to remove anything I don't want in the pot.

 

[dfc]

Um, "just flake right off" into what ever you're cooking, be it beer or spaghetti sauce. I think I'd opt for boiling some vinegar water or a good scraping/sanding. My mom was a professional cook, with her own TV show for a while, and if I said I'd just let it cook off into what ever happened to be in the pot, I'd be wearing the pot. And, she'd probably be beating the outside of it with a metal spoon going, "Hello, McFly...." I'm just sayin'.

Could your family not afford clothes?

 

[Toga]

Get some easy off oven cleaner, give it a good dousing and let it soak per the directions. It should just rinse off when done with little to no scrubbing Repeat as necessary.

 

[fineexampl]

Um, "just flake right off" into what ever you're cooking, be it beer or spaghetti sauce. I think I'd opt for boiling some vinegar water or a good scraping/sanding. My mom was a professional cook, with her own TV show for a while, and if I said I'd just let it cook off into what ever happened to be in the pot, I'd be wearing the pot. And, she'd probably be beating the outside of it with a metal spoon going, "Hello, McFly...." I'm just sayin'.

Meh, whatever man. I wasn't implying use it for beer or food. I meant to use the vinegar/water in a boil of just that. So, yeah, McFly yourself or something.

 

[specialkaye]

Meh, whatever man. I wasn't implying use it for beer or food. I meant to use the vinegar/water in a boil of just that. So, yeah, McFly yourself or something.

Okay, I didn't get that from what I read. At least you didn't tell me to "flake off."