copper pipe

[DEMPSEY]

Throwing this out there for opinions. I have being trying to finish the build on my brewery and have committed myself to all stainless steel tanks and pipe. However the cost of say 1 12mm straight connector is €50. With all the various bits to be still got in stainless steel is making my eye's bleed, so, I am considering using good old imperial size copper with bog standard CHEAP brass fittings. They will work as well as S/S and I know about the blue poision but can anyone shed any other points about using brass and copper. :-/  

[Ciderhead]

I know about the blue poision but can anyone shed any other points about using brass and copper. :-/  

Whats the blue poison unleaded solder?

[DEMPSEY]

Whats the blue poison unleaded solder?

I knew someone would ask that and of course off I went searching the wiki and such to come up with a smart chemistry answer,then I thought,feck it Will is the resident chemist and he can give the  Cu2+ + 2 OH[ch8722] [ch8594] Cu(OH)2 answer. I will give the laymans answer.
If you drink it it will fooking kill you.

[Ciderhead]

Whats the blue poison unleaded solder?

If you drink it it will fooking kill you.

I love it when we get technical on here 

[Shanna]

Hi Dempsey

Planning to use copper piping for dip tubes in my boiler and also for a bottom drain in my mash tun. The chemical you mentioned will form on the copper. I plan to get a large tub of acetic acids crystals and use a hot dilution of this to clean of the copper between use of the boiler and the mash tun.  I reckon if I clean everything first,  then dry it and  store it in a vacuum bag for future use.  This is probably me being paranoid.

If you want to split the cost of buying stainless steel 1/2"   tubing  please give me a shout.

Shanna

[DEMPSEY]

Stainless steel pipe is not too expensive,not much difference between it and copper pipe,it's the fittings that are rediculous.

[Shanna]

Hi Dempsey

Any hints on where I can but buy the tubing by the metre? Also how easy is it to bend stainless steel tubing to fabricate something like a dip tube?

Shanna

[Dodge]

Strange to hear about issues with using copper or brass fittings since copper has been used in brewing for ages

I have copper and brass both in the mashtun and boiler and have had no issues.

The acidity of the wort does cause an issue with corrosion between dissimilar metals but it would take a very long time to notice anything

[JD]

The blue-green patina that forms on copper is commonly known as verdigris. It consists of a mixture of things but its primary component is copper carbonate. Those of you who are into organic potato growing will know this as the active ingredient in Burgundy mixture, an organic "friendly" fungicide that is used to kill blight.

Cleaning copper of all verdigris is recommended. Drying it thoroughly and storing it in a dry place will prevent it occurring. Cleaning your copper before every brew session is the alternative (and what I do myself).

Acetic acid is good for cleaning copper (particularly when the acid is heated) but it needs to be rinsed well afterwards. Otherwise, you'll end up with copper acetate which is another component of verdigris and is also toxic.

Using a percarbonate cleaner (such as PBW) for copper is good but Starsan is probably the best of the lot (and is what I use myself). Rinse the copper afterwards. Do not leave the copper in contact with Starsan for more than say an hour as the acid in Starsan will start dissolving the copper. 

Do not use a bleach based cleanser as the chlorine oxides the copper. These oxides will be taken up by the wort and will end up poisoning the yeast.

/J

[JD]

Also, just to reiterate, copper is actually a very good metal for brewing. Like all equipment, it just needs to be cleaned properly.

My own system is three stainless steel kegs plumbed with brass fittings and copper pipes. Just make sure everything is dry when you're finished and that you clean the pipes with a flush of Starsan (followed by a rinse) at the start of the next session and there will be no issues.

/J

[Dodge]

Good response.

As with anything brewing related, keep everything cleaned and sanitized

[DEMPSEY]

I read somewhere in the past that having some copper in your system is good as when wort passes through it,it takes something from copper.

[DEMPSEY]

So the old adage,if its written down,it must be true.

[Shanna]

Hi there

I was not necessarily trying to suggest copper was bad for brewing as I am completely new to this.  I had however noticed that I was d song copper corrosion on my immersion chiller.  This is because my shed had problems with damp due to a partially leaky roof and a galvanise roof. I did not want to have to take everything apiary and and clean and dry it after each brew.  This is probably naivety on my part thinking that if I use stainless that I can reduce the amount of cleaning required.  I think I will proceed with the user of copper piping and just clean and dry as suggested.  I already have soaked the immersion chiller in an citric acids solution to clean the crud from it.

Shanna

[Will_D]

I read somewhere in the past that having some copper in your system is good as when wort passes through it,it takes something from copper.

Someone on another forum made a claim that there is zinc in copper, and zinc is good for yeast. If there was zinc in copper it'd be called, eh, zinc. If it was a copper zinc alloy it'd be called brass.

Well done young Tube.

Gold star this wek!

I see you have ben paying attention to my chemistry lectures