I started out brewing many years ago with my mothers old chipped and dented,
enamel canning pot. Worked fine. Never noticed any off flavors. They say
it gives the beer an iron taste but I think it is mostly BS. How much iron
can get into the wort during a one hour boil? I'd say not to worry about
the pot and buy a better one when you can afford it. As to the stale malt
in your first kit, I'd be surprised if that were the problem. I'm not
saying it wasn't but it is more likely that you had an infection some where
along the way. I just brewed a decent ale out of some old malt that was at
least five years old and was in a container that was not air tight. I
tasted it first and it didn't have any off flavors. It's possible for it to
go bad. I have had a batch in a plastic pouch start to swell before I got
around to using it. I used it any way and the beer was fine.

Doug
"Kidder" <traviskidder@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:6vPke.25951$dr1.11104@tornado.ohiordc.rr.com...[color=blue]
> Hello, I'm somewhat new to homebrewing. About 2 years ago I bought a
> Brewers
> Best equipment kit, bought a Red Ale kit, and a 19 quart enamel stock pot.
> The red ale didn't turn out the way I wanted it to......way too cidery due
> to stale extract. Last time I go with BB kits. Anyway, I read a message
> somewhere that enamel pots are not recommended but they didn't really
> explain why. I read that they can chip and that's no good.
>
> So now I'm getting back into it with much anticipation and going with
> fresher ingredients. Since I live in Dayton, Listermann's will be my
> supplier of choice as Dan says they turnover extracts rather quickly so
> that
> they are usually always fresh.
>
> Can anyone shed some light on the whole enamel issue? I imagine it's fine,
> I've never cooked anything besides brew in it. I'm also upgrading to
> swing-top Grolsch style bottles. I think an English Pale Ale or Brown Ale
> is
> on the agenda next for me.
>
> Please let me know as I would greatly appreciate it. Also, has anyone gone
> through Listermann's? I thought Dan posted here a lot a few years ago, not
> sure if he does anymore though.
>
> Many thanks,
> Travis
>
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