Plastic coolers / mash tuns used in home breweries

[JonGoku]

I forked this thread off of a similar thread HERE.

Hi Jon,

Welcome back. Unless you have some really compelling reason to use PEX, like you have a big roll of it and all the fittings already and it'll be free, just stick with copper or SS. It's proven to work and you'll have the piece of mind of never wondering if you're tasting plastic in your beer.

Thanks Derrin, you're right of course, and to the extent of the PEX 'T' and Valve I'll probably just use the standard parts, but to the extent we are worrying about plastic taste in our beer, what about the mash tun itself? I know your system is pretty bling but for those using converted coolers as mash tuns should we be worried since they are also made of plastic? I hadn't really thought of it till now, but I'm sure others (maybe even in these boards) have given this some thought or research, and if so any thoughts here? Following Derrin's reasoning (which is sound I add) should coolers be avoided if possible? Are there some that are ok and others that aren't?

[backyard brewer]

I'm not even sure what kind of plastic the interior of a cooler is made of. All I can really say is I've made plenty of award winning beers in a "Roller Cube" mash tun for years and not a single judge every used the word "plastic" on a score sheet.

[jward]

My understanding is that coolers are made out of food grade HDPE.

[oc eric]

All I use are the coolers and my beer tastes fine...sorta

[JonGoku]

Well, I assumed there wasn't a big issue with coolers since the majority of home brewers use them as mash tuns and if there was an issue, we'd know about it by now right?

It sucks not having a firm answer on the PEX tubing but since there is no equivalent "the masses have used it with no plasticky taste complaints" response like there is with the Coolers, then I guess the default answer should continue to be "it should be avoided as an unknown risk" (i.e. why use it if it could be bad).

P.S. I realized I mixed thread topics but oh well