I’d never heard of passivation before - thanks, will definitely do that before my first attempt.

Cool - I avoid acids for cleaning, mostly just use iodophor and steam

I do brew mead sometimes - I’ll probably be switching between mead, beer, and wine over time. Do you think those flavors will start carrying over between batches? I’ve had pretty good luck so far with plastic, and I’m hoping stainless is fine as well since it’s a harder material.

What do you normally do for secondary with mead? I could get a glass carboy, but I hear those are prone to shatter when moved…

I only use iodophor and sometimes hot steam, so I think I should be ok. Good to know some chemicals will etch it though