Brass Needle valves

[Stillamathing]

O.K. Super newb on the whole distilling thing. I am a novice wine and liquer maker who is looking for a way to recycle bad wine, and crank up the alc%. I am looking at building a valved reflux still, and have a quick question about the brass needle valves. Is brass a safe materal to use? Will the disstilate and the brass not react in a harmfull way

[LeftLaneCruiser]

O.K. Super newb on the whole distilling thing. I am a novice wine and liquer maker who is looking for a way to recycle bad wine, and crank up the alc%. I am looking at building a valved reflux still, and have a quick question about the brass needle valves. Is brass a safe materal to use? Will the disstilate and the brass not react in a harmfull way

If they were, do you really think that everyone advises to use them...

KJH

[Fourway]

the distillate will not react with brass, the problem is that some brass has free surface lead from the casting/forging process.
It is widely believed that you can remove this surface lead by bathing the brass parts in a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and white vinegar until the parts get very bright (leave them too long and they'll turn black).

I don't know whether this really works or not but I do it anyway.

[Stillamathing]

Thanks for the cunstructive reply Fourway! The reason I asked this question is that a plumber friend informed me of the lead in brass during casting. He also said you could test for it with peroxide and vinegar, and if it turned black then it was no good. He was pretty sure however that all brass contained a small amount of lead. Perhaps he is wrong? How much lead is too much lead? I was under the impression that even a small amount of lead is harmfull, in the long run. I don't wish to poison my friends or myself.

[Fourway]

Thanks for the cunstructive reply Fourway! The reason I asked this question is that a plumber friend informed me of the lead in brass during casting. He also said you could test for it with peroxide and vinegar, and if it turned black then it was no good. He was pretty sure however that all brass contained a small amount of lead. Perhaps he is wrong? How much lead is too much lead? I was under the impression that even a small amount of lead is harmfull, in the long run. I don't wish to poison my friends or myself.

all my info is anecdotal.
http://www.brewinfo.com/mybrewery97/mybrewery3.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
that page says there's lead in brass but you only need to remove the surface lead and you'll be fine.

I've tested my product for lead a bunch of times, never found any.

[Guest]

Brass itself is a mixture of copper and tin, both of which are ok for a still. Any problems woudl be contamination from casting or not cleaning oils of of the fittings.