Stainless steel in fermenter

So on Wednesday I transferred my very first batch (a citra ipa I made up) into a secondary, because I was anxious to start batch #2. It spent 2 weeks in primary. Today I started dry hopping (2 oz citra leaf) planning on 5 days of dry hopping. I took a new stainless steel bolt from work, cleaned the hell out of it, and put it in a muslin bag with the hops to weigh it down into the beer. (After sanitizing, of course). Now I'm kind of curious as to whether or not I'll taste the metal (or smell it) in my final product. I can smell it on my hands. Not too worried (I relaxed, didn't worry, and am enjoying a heady topper). Does anyone have any bad experiences with using stainless in a fermenter? Taste? Scent? Just curious...


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Well the cool and trendy fermenters are made completely from Stainless. So I would guess you would be okay.

Do you know what grade stainless the bolt was? It might seem like a silly question, but how do you know it was stainless?

lol, not a silly question. The maintenance man at work told me it was stainless. And he's a very knowledgable guy. (Not throwing away the theory he may be wrong) I'm a cheesemaker, not an engineer, or maintenance man. I turned my first wrench at age 15 haha. So I have no clue. Does none stainless steel give off a scent, while stainless doesnt? If so, I'm going to pull that sucker out, and dry hop without the muslin bag.


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And I've no clue the actual grade.


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I use a chunk of stainless to weigh down my hop sack too. Nope, you won't taste it.
The grade isn't important, as long as it isn't that cheap 406 stainless they use on appliances and bbq grills(it will rust over a long exposure to moisture)...and I assure you your bolt is not that. It is probably hardened 302 or 303.:rockin: