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Brew pot question

nmode

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Santa Clarita, California
I am considering using a turkey fryer kit as a brew pot set up. I currently make 5 gallon batches. The kit comes with a burner and 7.5 gallon pot (aluminum - I believe).  I thought I would add a valve with a stainless screen for draining off wort into my 6 gallon carboy. Any pros or cons on this?
Thanks for your feedback.
Nick 8)
 
Beer worts are acidic so leaching aluminum into your beer is a concern.  It might give your beer a nasty metalic taste and too much aluminum can be toxic.  Go with a stainless pot - it will last you a lifetime. 
 
I concur with Dave. Aluminum + acid = bad. Some say there is a correlation between aluminum and Alzheimer's. I'd rather not take my chances.

If I were to do it over I would have gotten a more squat pot than the soup can shaped one I have now.
A wide diameter pot gives more surface area for the flame, more surface area for evaporation, and more volume for foaming to prevent boilover.

As it is I lose flame around the bottom of the pot, I have little surface area for evaporation, and it doesn't take much to boil over. Live and learn.
 
The Alzheimer's and aluminum theory was been disproved, and I get no metallic taste at all.  The boil over and heat loss though are good arguments against the pot.  When I bought mine though the combo burner/pot was the best deal out there and has worked great.  Scrubbing the crap off the side after boil over is getting really old though and I'm considering getting a boilermaker or one of the mega-pots from Northern
Brewer.  If I had it to do over again I would. Considering the price, and my brewing experience at the time, the combo was the right choice.
 
There is no worries using Aluminum.  It is a fine metal.  You do want an oxidation layer that protects the metal.  Boil some water in the pot before using it to brew with the first time. 
 
Thanks for all of your feedback on this. I didn't consider the flame surface area and heat loss with the cheaper aluminum pot. I think I'll stick with the stainless brew pot. 
 
I have a turkey fryer that I have used several times to boil wort with no adverse effects, note that I only did a short boil to sterilize the wort on all extract recipes. I suppose if you are worried about aluminum leaching into your beer you should also be worried about PCB's from plastic brew buckets! I tend to worry more about my alcoholism  ;D
PS if you have ever had a FLU shot you were injected with MUCH more aluminum than you would get drinking beer that was boiled in a turkey fryer.
 
Aluminum doesn't leach.  the pot should not be used new to brew in.  It needs an oxidation coating.  Any aluminum that would end up in the word will be used by the yeast.  Yeast are pretty handy that way.  Same goes for stainless too.  They all need an oxidized layer to protect the metal from corrosion.

If the aluminum pot works for your budget and system, then there is no reason not to use it. It is a better conductor than stainless and theoretically, uses less propane to heat the wort. 

Here is a Brew Your Own link that talks about brewing metallurgy.
http://www.byo.com/stories/projects-and-equipment/article/indices/20-build-it-yourself/1149-metallurgy-for-homebrewers
 
A friend of mine uses an aluminum brew pot. I guess I've heard so many conflicting stories that I don't know what to think, and would rather use stainless than worry.

I will never forget the gray alfredo sauce I made in an aluminum pot.  I've got no use for that metal when it comes to cooking or brewing.
 
Thanks again to everyone. I learned more about metal and brewing than I expected. Thanks for the link jomebrew on metalurgy and brewing.
 
Just out of curiosity, I've seen some ads for boilermakers that have a thermometer in the front of them, and generally nice brew pots. The one I have right now cost about 12 bucks and worked pretty well for my first brew. It's stainless steel, although not that high a quality; I'm hoping to be able to use it for at least a few more batches before I can get a better one. Are these pots I've seen advertised for $50 or more worth it? It might come down to whether I can buy another carboy or a pot. I would think being able to brew a good beer is better than making a lot of it, but just wondering what the thoughts were...
 
All I can say is, having started with an 8 gal SS pot and graduating to a couple of Boilermaker's, bigger and better does not necessarily make better beer. But they do enable you to brew with more confidence and enable you to experiment a little more. They also make clean up a little easier (but it's still a pain). But you also have equipment that will probably last a lifetime.

It's really is a simple what it's worth to you. In brewing beer, for me, it's both the journey and the destination so yes, high quality equipment is a worthwhile investment.

 
I have a nice heavy gauge 10g aluminum stock pot I got from a restaurant supply site. Works great. Extremely durable and conducts heat well. Very light, so easy to clean and store.

Boil water in it for an hour before using to build oxide layer. While your at it, measure the evaporation so you can plug that into your boil numbers..

Chris

 
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