What are the materials of the brewery equipment?

Whether it is home-brewed beer or professional craft brewery, craft beer is undergoing a renaissance. The real beer rice began to pay more attention to beer flavor, rather than exquisite advertising.
To get a specific flavor, professional and business winemakers spend their time and energy on the selection of raw materials. Use wet hops or dry hops? What kind of malt is used for brewing?
In all these choices, some brewers will look at the brewery equipment as not very important. This is a very dangerous idea. This may not be very important to some brewers. But, the metal in brewing tanks, fermentation tanks, and other equipment tank have a huge impact on flavor. Metals that are difficult to sterilize increase the risk of bacteria in beer. Metals that react easily with wort add an unpleasant metallic taste. The best raw materials for brewery equipment must be easy to clean and not produce other odors.
Stainless steel has gradually become the standard metal in the brewing industry because of its easy cleaning and excellent corrosion resistance. But it is not the only option, the brewing equipment is also made of copper and aluminum. Each metal has its own characteristics and advantages. Even if the stainless steel is used as a production material, there will be many differences.

Copper

Before stainless steel entered the market, copper was the metal of choice for manufacturing brewery equipment. Copper has excellent thermal conductivity and is also a reliable metal for manufacturing brewery equipment. Of course, it is also the easiest metal to manufacture, and you can choose to make your own custom equipment. But, when the price of stainless steel becomes cheaper, the popularity of copper will drop sharply. At present, most brewery equipment will choose stainless steel as the production material.
Copper is not completely inert to beer, but it will build a stable oxide layer under suitable conditions. Copper with an oxide layer will not bring the metallic taste to the beer (that is, prevent chemical reactions).
Copper is also easy to clean and maintain. You can use detergent or sodium percarbonate cleaner to clean regularly, which can ensure the cleanliness of the copper and the integrity of the oxide layer. But, excessive scrubbing is actually detrimental to it. A healthy oxide layer will give the copper a dull and matte surface, and will no longer have a bright or shiny surface.
Also, more oxides are not better. Copper produces a toxic blue-green oxide, which is called patina. If you see blue-green anywhere on the copper brewing equipment, you need to scrub thoroughly with vinegar or oxalic acid cleaner. Also, bleach and hydrogen peroxide will blacken the copper and will become unable to prevent corrosion.

Aluminum

Aluminum can be made into brewing tanks, but it should not be used to store beer for a long time. The thermal conductivity of aluminum is half that of copper, but it is better than stainless steel. Although the thermal conductivity is worse than copper. But, aluminum also has important advantage-under normal brewing conditions, it will not be corroded by beer or add any metallic taste to the beer. If aluminum is exposed to other metals (including copper) for a long time, it will corrode, and short-term contact is acceptable. Under normal circumstances, brewers using aluminum brewery equipment will choose 3003 or 3004-grade aluminum because of their excellent corrosion resistance.
You can use cleaners that are almost the same as copper cleaners to clean aluminum. It is recommended to use odorless detergent or percarbonate cleaner. Bleach and other corrosive cleaning agents have been eliminated. The inability to use corrosive cleaners on aluminum is a problem for professional brewers. Using milder detergents to do more work with inefficient tools, brewers need a quick and effective disinfection method.

Stainless steel

The use of stainless steel to manufacture brewery equipment has become a standard in the beer industry, and most homebrewers dream of having a complete set of stainless steel brewery equipment. The stainless steel brewery equipment is easy to sterilize, inert to beer, corrosion-resistant, and durable. Some brewers hope that the appearance of the brewery equipment is copper because the color of copper is more attractive to consumers. Now, it is possible to add copper cladding to the periphery of the stainless steel inner tank. Because copper does not come into contact with the beer, there will be no shortcomings of copper brewing equipment mentioned earlier.
You can use cleaners that are almost the same as copper cleaners to clean aluminum. It is recommended to use odorless detergent or percarbonate cleaner. Bleach and other corrosive cleaning agents have been eliminated. The inability to use corrosive cleaners on aluminum is a problem for professional brewers. Using milder detergents to do more work with inefficient tools, brewers need a quick and effective disinfection method.

Stainless steel replaced the oldest brewing storage tank, wooden barrel

Stainless steel tanks need less space than wooden barrels. Because high-pressure scrubbing and disinfection techniques can be used, stainless steel tanks are easier to clean and lower maintenance costs. Also, stainless steel tanks can be manufactured in much larger sizes than wooden barrels.

During beer brewing, stainless steel can prevent battery corrosion

First of all, we need to understand the corrosion of galvanized batteries. When two metals or one metal and contaminants (such as dirt) are very close in the electrolyte (such as beer), the current will pass through the electrolyte to form a chemical battery with metal as the lead. Active metals will be ionized as a result, and the ions and oxygen will react with each other to produce galvanized corrosion. The conductivity of stainless steel is lower than other metals used in brewing. Also, the corrosion-resistant layer of stainless steel can resist oxidation, thereby preventing galvanic corrosion during the brewing process.

Most of the brewing equipment is made of stainless steel

In the past, copper was used to manufacturing everything from pipes to brewing equipment. Almost all brewing equipment made of stainless steel is used in brewing. Generally speaking, 304 or 316 stainless steel will be selected for manufacturing. Because these two kinds of stainless steel have good corrosion resistance and perform very well in daily brewing. 304 stainless steel is a cost-effective material. 306 stainless steel has better corrosion resistance and the price will be higher. For parts that will not be exposed to extreme temperatures, 2205 stainless steel is a viable alternative.

Stainless steel will not produce any odor during the brewing process

Because beer is acidic, it is corrosive in tanks and pipes. Also, beer may also contain living microorganisms that can cause corrosion and structure. So, metals are required to have good corrosion resistance, and stainless steel is an excellent choice. Stainless steel has very good corrosion resistance, it can prevent the abnormal smell produced by corrosive electrochemical by-products during the brewing process.

Types of stainless steel

Stainless steel is alloy steel with a bright, long-lasting silver finish. The chromium content of this alloy is 11-26%. Also, adding different proportions of nickel can improve toughness, and adding titanium can improve weldability. Currently, there are many types of stainless steel. Most of them are magnetic tool steel, called 400 series stainless steel, but it is not suitable for brewing. The stainless steel type used to manufacture stainless steel fermentation tanks and brewing equipment is the non-magnetic 300 series.
Of course, there are many types of stainless steel in the 300 series. The most common materials used for brewing are 304 and 316 stainless steel. The most brewery equipment is made of these materials. This is because both 304 and 316 stainless steel have very good corrosion resistance and are easy to weld. The materials used to make brewery equipment should avoid the use of other 300 series stainless steel, especially 303. 303 stainless steel has poor corrosion resistance and is much more difficult to weld.

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