How dangerous is it?

[Mash Monster]

FWIW
Here is a direct lift from JaDeD brewing website :-
Copper is a much better heat transfer material and will provide the optimal chilling speed. The thermal conductivity of copper is 20 times greater than stainless steel. Copper also provides a yeast nutrient for healthy yeast production during fermentation and is naturally antimicrobial.
I have no idea if their claims are true !
Obviously I was sucked in by their advertising and use my Scylla chiller to great effect I just rinse it off after brew day and leave it on a shelf in the garage.
Each to their own

 

[AJA]

Copper salts are toxic, but not that toxic. E.g. copper sulphate is used in schools with any particular risk mitigation. If in doubt you can cleaner the cooler first as others have suggested, but no way will more than 1g end up in your wort.

A move to SS would be a downgrade imo. It's much less effective at heat transfer, to the extent I'm surprised that some commercial coolers are made with it.

 

[Clint]

I'm sure in work we've made wound dressings containing copper and silver.

 

[The Baron]

You are right Clint they even make pillows with copper in the thread with claims of being antimicrobial but there is a difference between ingesting it and putting it on a wound.
I have a copper chiller and have used it in my early days of brewing but I always do no chill and have done for years so I can not tell you if I have copper poisoning but my risk if it is a risk is minimal.
Can you remember when asbestos was safe and was used everywhere in Garages, oven mittens, heat pads used in school labs, internal roof tiles etc

 

[Clint]

Can buy plenty of copper pots and pans...

 

[AJA]

Can buy plenty of copper pots and pans...

And aluminium, and teflon coated.

 

[Clint]

Bit of useless info...a knight would only eat off a silver plate.

 

[MashBag]

@MikeB @gavp1979
No chill for me is an integral part of no-brewday.

Benefits..
Water cost.
Water waste.
Time saving.
Kit space saving.
Kit cost saving.
Family Life.

Newbies getting interested in brewing, are often put off by "6 hour brewday if it goes well" type comments. But are OK with "Saturday morning" which is quite achievable hot fill & nochill.

 

[MashBag]

FWIW
Here is a direct lift from JaDeD brewing website :-
Copper is a much better heat transfer material and will provide the optimal chilling speed. The thermal conductivity of copper is 20 times greater than stainless steel. Copper also provides a yeast nutrient for healthy yeast production during fermentation and is naturally antimicrobial.
I have no idea if their claims are true !
Obviously I was sucked in by their advertising and use my Scylla chiller to great effect I just rinse it off after brew day and leave it on a shelf in the garage.
Each to their own

Absolutely agree. My retired chiller was a jaded copy 25l 99°c to 25°c in 6 - 8 mins. But still to slow.

 

[MashBag]

I'm sure in work we've made wound dressings containing copper and silver.

For burns if memory serves.

 

[MikeB.]

@MikeB @gavp1979
No chill for me is an integral part of no-brewday.

Benefits..
Water cost.
Water waste.
Time saving.
Kit space saving.
Kit cost saving.
Family Life.

Newbies getting interested in brewing, are often put off by "6 hour brewday if it goes well" type comments. But are OK with "Saturday morning" which is quite achievable hot fill & nochill.

All for time saving, and one less thing to clean, may give it a try next brew day and see how it goes.

 

[gavp1979]

@MikeB @gavp1979
No chill for me is an integral part of no-brewday.

Benefits..
Water cost.
Water waste.
Time saving.
Kit space saving.
Kit cost saving.
Family Life.

Newbies getting interested in brewing, are often put off by "6 hour brewday if it goes well" type comments. But are OK with "Saturday morning" which is quite achievable hot fill & nochill.

Thanks for your thoughts. I can normally manage a brew in a morning with chilling but I don't worry about getting it all the way down to pitching temp. I generally get to below 30 and then stick it in my fermentation fridge and pitch the yeast later on that day once the temp has stabilised. I always try and weigh up the benefits of no chill but for me it would mean buying more kit not less (I already have 2 immersion chillers but zero no chill cubes) and also spreads the day out longer (I would need to transfer from the cube to the fermenter and then clean the cube). Can guarantee that I will still consider it next time it is mentioned though

 

[Sadfield]

Bit of useless info...a knight would only eat off a silver plate.

Gladys or Michael?

 

[Clint]

Sir Lancealot! Don't you know anything?

 

[Sadfield]

Interesting that none of the listed benefits of this 'upgrade' pertain to beer quality.

Newbies getting interested in brewing, are often put off by "6 hour brewday if it goes well" type comments. But are OK with "Saturday morning" which is quite achievable hot fill & nochill.

I could starting a six hour brewday at 6 am on Saturday, that'd be Saturday morning, too. Not that it takes me 6 hours.

 

[Buffers brewery]

I enjoy a 6 hour brew day. If you don’t enjoy it why do it?

Oh, for the beer!

 

[Clint]

I love the brew day but even with my "4" off...which is only really 3,all my time gets hijacked with things...fishing isn't included in this!
I'm still contemplating chucking a few kits in the mix as buying beer is painful unless it's something different or research.

 

[Buffers brewery]

I do enjoy a bit of "research" myself.
As for copper, I think my kit comprises equal quantities of stainless steel and copper. I don't use acetic acid in any of my brews so not worried about Verdigris. I recall reading an article regarding the storage if alcoholic beverages in copper containers as being not a good idea.
Most of the pipes in my house are copper and I'm of the view that once the copper surface is oxidised it's pretty stable and not a concern.

 

[Brew_DD2]

I'm pretty sure the most dangerous thing in home brew is the ethanol.

Absolutely this. I think generally as a society we can be guilty of worrying about things that carry no/low risk, whilst overlooking the things we do every day that carry far greater risk to our health.

I have a colleague who proudly tells me that she has chucked out all of her aluminium pots, and doesn't consume anything that has come into contact with aluminium, because "it causes Alzheimer's". If her Facebook is anything to go by, she doesn't seem so concerned about the impact of the amount of drink she ingests.

 

[Clint]

Most Indian restaurant cooking is done in aluminium pans...