Flat hose - need to be food grade?

[Cully]

I am planning to fill my Buffalo HLT in my Brewzeebo by hosepipe from the kitchen tap 50 feet away. I fancy getting a cheap flat hose to do the job but would it have to be food grade? Or does it not matter as its going to get the arse boiled out of it?

this is the one I was looking at


http://www.groupon.co.uk/deals/national ... =aff_1&nlp

[boingy]

Technically, yes, it needs to be food grade. Boiling will kill bugs but not necessarily get rid of any chemicals that might leech out of the hose.
In practice the most likely downside is that you might get a bit of a plasticky taste to your first few batches. At you use the hose more, this will diminish.

If you want to be 100% sure then get yourself some food grade hose aimed at caravans/boats but it won't be as cheap as that flat one you found.

[Cully]

Aye, looks like 25 - 30 quid for the caravan stuff, Boingy - but if I need it I'll get it. Not planning to treat my water for the first few brews to get the process right before anything else, so the fewer "added" taints/flavours - the better. I am a couple of weeks off getting my 60 ltr copper, then its all systems go.

[Eric]

I agree it could introduce a plastic smell/taste. I use one for chilling, but use 10 litre foodsafe containers from Dunelm to carry water which could be an alternative. Like the smaller one pictured below but with a carrying handle one will safely carry 8 litres avoiding spillage. Alkalinity is treated while they are in these or can be used to transport hot water from the combi. I've 3 which stack to save space when not in use, cost about £3 each and find all sorts purposes. Just a thought.

[Grumpydev]

This is the hose I intend to use - never managed to get any food safe connectors though, although I guess that's far less important because there's much less of it in contact with the water.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/380481351053

[Fil]

This is the hose I intend to use - never managed to get any food safe connectors though, although I guess that's far less important because there's much less of it in contact with the water.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/380481351053

fwiw thats the stuff i have been using for the last year or so without any probs..
and i use genuine hozelock connections on it rather than cheaper knock offs

[Cully]

Eric you just hit the nail right on the head for me. At That price its a no brainer. Thank you

[boingy]

Actually, yeah, sometimes we miss the simple, obvious solution. For a while I was brewing in the garage but fermenting in the house and I was always plotting a cunning pump and hose solution to transfer the wort. In the meantime, I just used two 3 gallon young's brewing buckets to transfer the wort. Cheap, easy to store and, crucially, easy to keep clean.

[Cully]

Aye, I was that way with my cheap buffalo - ready to send it back and agonize over getting something else because that had changed the hole shape. Took Wezzel to point out that you could get along fine with the tap thats on the thing. Easy to fall in to blinkered thinking.