Interesting that I was just breezing through one of Papazian's books today &
he happens to mention in the Brewing Wares section about enamal pots, he
says they are inexpensive & easy to find but wear out after time, subject to
chipping, fatigue & so on.

He goes on to say that if you are a hardcore homebrewer the money you spend
on enamel pots would buy you a nice hefty Stainless. I went to the local
Coors distributing warehouse & bought retired kegs for $10 each (all in tip
top shape btw), 5 minutes on Ebay I had three 1/2" brass ball valves, three
304 Stainless nipples & a trip to my local brew shop bought me the "bulkhead
conversion kits" all for under $30. Granted it was another $20 to plasma
the top off & drill the 7/8" hole for the bulkhead kit, but hey...you try to
buy 3 fully fitted, 15.5 gallon 304 Stainless kettles for $100. I do need
to get a bazooka tube and a false bottom, that will be the most expensive
parts, but hey I haven't done too bad so far. (I'm not cheap, I'm frugal,
plus I'm a big do-it-yourselfer).

Just like using copper/brass fittings (I use brass on my keg kettle &
elsewhere) enamels work just fine, I wouldn't use them to ferment in though.
Prolonged contact with exposed steel/copper/brass inside may lend to the
metallic off flavors everyone mentions. Everyone says copper/brass leach
nasty stuff into your wort/beer, but if you look at some of the huge old
timey brewing kettles...what are they made of...uuuuh...well, they were
called Coppers for a reason.

Long story short, even the man who (literally) wrote the book on homebrewing
suggests it's ok to use enamels, do it!! Actually, I used one when I
started too (not that I'm comparing myself to Papazian, not even close).
The only thing I noticed is the beers I brewed in the enamels didn't store
very long, perhaps it was the kettle, or perhaps it was something I did
wrong, the world may never know.

Wow..sorry I tend to harangue...if you want to, use an enamel pot. HEH!

Best luck

Kent

"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
>
>[/color]