brass or stainless

[Philjobooboo]

Looking to covert a pan to a boiler. So brass fittings or stainless?

 

[bobsbeer]

I don't think it really matters from a beer point of view. There are differences depending on what chemicals you use in your cleaning regime, but it's mainly aesthetic. There is also an argument that a small amount of copper in the wort is good for the yeast. But one thing to bear in mind with brass is lead content. Nowadays most brass fittings have a low lead content, but depending on their source the opposite may be true. But don't be put off brass as thousands of people use brass fittings in their brewery and make good beer.

 

[adomant]

From a commercial point of view brass is fine for potable water but not considered food safe and should not come into contact with wort / beer so fine for hlt but recommend SS for boiler or fermenter.

That said, it wont do any harm for home brewing, the amount of copper / zinc leached into wort will be small and may even have some benefits - it takes a lot to achieve copper poisoning.