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I am again contemplating the creation of a mash tun and was in Lowes this afternoon browsing their plumbing section and came across their PollyAlloy PEX section. This stuff is much cheaper than their brass fittings and I was wondering if anyone had or heard of any use in a brewery system? Since these are designed to replace traditional copper hot and cold residential plumbing I would assume that they food safe(???).
Although the fittings are slightly different and not technically "barbed" I'm sure they could still be used as such.
They also have these which although I'm not sure how I'd fit something into the non "barbed" end look to be a fairly cheap valve as well.
Initially, I'd say 'go for it!' Seems like 'necessity is the mother of invention' lives strong with home-brewers! Could work out well...
Are you thinking of the T section for the manifold inside the cooler, and the spigot for the drain on the outside?
I'd want to be sure that the fittings were water-tight at temperature. Wouldn't want scalding hot liquid suddenly flying all over yourself. (right Derrin? )
I'd also be sure to keep interior diameters on par with standard fittings, so that the wort drains well through the system. Gotta keep a good flow! No need to create back-pressure and slow down the runnings.
Final thought ... how much $$$ would that save you over more standard fittings? Is it worth the difference for an unknown?
Good luck!
--LexusChris
"A woman drove me to drink, and I hadn't even the courtesy to thank her." – W.C. Fields
I've heard of people using CPVC for a mash tun manifold but never PEX. I looked at PEX briefly when the price of copper shot up as an alternative to wrap my conicals. PEX is also used in radiant floor heating systems so I was hoping it would have a poor insulative value but not enough so to make it worthwhile so I went with copper, but I digress.
You just don't need that much material to make a manifold, so i say stick with copper or better yet a SS braid. i think you'll spend more money trying to figure out how to make it work well than just buying the braid or copper or CPVC in the first place.
Well I was thinking of going the braid route, but instead of the single strait braid I would do a longer braid attached to a T fitting. Something like this...
The rest of the design would pretty much be the same as in these instructions. Brent posted in another thread. I figured why buy 20" of SS braid for $5 when I could get 72" for less than $8 and most likely get a faster sparge (batch sparge of course).
I have a braid like in the image above... It works quite well even with fly sparging (83% efficiency consistently). However, if you want to build a copper manifold, lemme know I have a bunch of rigid copper here. I'll give you enough for a manifold (yes, FREE or for the cost of a brew or two).
It's been a while and the idea never panned out, but the main concern was a health one. Assuming fittings could be Jerry rigged, I would still not want to put something into a system that was slowly leaking poisons or off flavors into the precious wort.
PVC fitting will leach solvents at brewing temps...I would avoid using them in any fashion other than for cold water.
JonGoku wrote:It's been a while and the idea never panned out, but the main concern was a health one. Assuming fittings could be Jerry rigged, I would still not want to put something into a system that was slowly leaking poisons or off flavors into the precious wort.
DrDually wrote:PVC fitting will leach solvents at brewing temps...I would avoid using them in any fashion other than for cold water.
JonGoku wrote:It's been a while and the idea never panned out, but the main concern was a health one. Assuming fittings could be Jerry rigged, I would still not want to put something into a system that was slowly leaking poisons or off flavors into the precious wort.
Thanks Chris, that part I was aware of though, and also one reason I was trying to confirm if there were any similar worries with PEX.. Any clue about PEX?
Here is a link to a PEX FAQ...it is rated up to 200 degrees, however one site says 180 degrees http://www.ppfahome.org/pex/faqpex.html
Something to consider is the possible issue of taste...at elevated temps, water and/or wort may pick up undesirable flavors...hay, maybe we could invent a new BJCP catagory for PEX or plastic flavor
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.
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?
To not totally derail this PEX thread, I created a new thread on plastic coolers in brewery systems HERE.
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I have so little free time to call my own it's driving me crazy. I haven't given up yet, though.
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