Brew Pot Question

Mashing
1

I was wondering what the issues are with using an Aluminum brew pro opposed to Stainless?

Cheers

2

None.

3

So why is everyone concerned with Stainless pots?

4

they look nicer :slight_smile:

5

Stainless cleans up better. You can always make it look like new.

6

Having used both, I like how aluminum is easier to drill into for adding valves, etc. But I also like stainless steel because it’s shiny :smiley:

7

Some good reading and discussion about this commonly asked question: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/faq-alu … les-49449/

8

I’ve used both too. I like the aluminum pots because they’re much lighter and they conduct heat better, although the aluminum encapsulated bottom SS pots conduct heat well too. SS is easier to keep clean and you can use caustic cleaners on them unlike aluminum. You also have to season a new aluminum pot by boiling water in it for a half hour to build a passive oxide layer and you need to be careful not to scrub it off when cleaning it, I’ve found mine clean up easily with hot water and a sponge. At the end of the day for me was cost, quality SS pots are about twice as much as a comparable thick bottom aluminum pot.

9

I boil in a keg. It’s not shiny. But you can boil 10-15 gals at a wack if you want.

10

I’m an aluminum guy too. I’ve been looking at the shiny stainless steel for the last month or so, but have trouble buying one of them. If I’m going to buy something new, I want the one thats $250 or $300 and there are a few other things I could spend that money on…so I’ll stick with the tried and true aluminum.

11

I am an aluminum guy, I bought my pot off this gal on craigslist 17 gallons pot for 60 bucks. Also i prefer aluminum over stainless because its cheaper, lighter, conduces heat better than SS, also the (18") large base gives allows my burner to heat more surface area.

12

I read something about aluminium pots causing cancer, but then again what doesn’t these days? Steel is prettier and easier to keep clean but aluminium is lighter and much cheaper. I have an 8 gal aluminum bean pot that i use to heat water and then the keggle. I would say size makes much more of a difference than the material it’s made of. Do yourself a favor and look more in the 12-15 gal range unless you plan on doing 10 gal batches, then go bigger.

13

Aluminium was thought to cause Alzheimer’s back in the 60’s, but this was disproven in the 80’s. It pretty much all started with the observed relationship that “grandpa hasn’t recognized me ever since he bought that new aluminium cook set”…

…okay, maybe it wasn’t exactly like that, but something along those lines.

14

Aluminum carries along a lot of urban legends, but few truths :slight_smile:

Aluminum is a lot more heat-efficient than stainless and doesn’t contribute anything to your beer. After cleaning it passivates almost immediately so no reason to have to boil for a half hour or any other old wives’ tales.

If aluminum was bad, 99.9999999% of all restaurants would be shut down and we’d all already be dead or retarded. I might be retarded, but I stopped blaming that on my mom’s aluminum pots long ago :slight_smile:

If stainless is cost-prohibitive for you, aluminum is just fine.

15

OK, those last two posts got me laughing out loud here in my office. Now people are wondering about me. Thanks guys, that was some funny stuff.