Turns out carbon steel is different from stainless steel: a cautionary tale

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choosybeggar

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May have ruined a perfectly good Cascadian Dark Ale. I purchased ball bearings to weigh down hops bags for dry hopping. This was the maiden voyage. After a week in the beer @ 64 F the bearings had a gray-black patina and foul burned rubber smell (some of which was imparted to the beer, I'm afraid; see attached photo-the bearings were bright silver). At first, this made no sense b/c I though I purchased stainless steel bearings but on review of my receipt, they are carbon steel. And on review of carbon steel, turns out it's not corrosion resistant. Sh*t!!!:mad:

bearings.jpg
 
You're probably ok. They're not rusty yet. :)

The 'foul burned rubber smell' sounds like a sulfur smell, which I'd guess is from the yeast. That should age out.

Have you tasted it yet? If not, I'd take a sample.
 
Stainless steel has more chromium (the element that makes stainless steel "stainless steel") than carbon steel. That's about the only difference. I don't think carbon steel will hurt your brew, especially for that short period of time.
 
Looks like corrosion on the balls is minimal. Looks to me more of a chemical attach as to "rusting". When carbon steel blues its a thin layer of corrosion that ends up protecting it from further corrosion. I think your OK and lucky.

304/304L or 316/316L is best for food grade needs.
 
Looks like corrosion on the balls is minimal. Looks to me more of a chemical attach as to "rusting". When carbon steel blues its a thin layer of corrosion that ends up protecting it from further corrosion. I think your OK and lucky.

304/304L or 316/316L is best for food grade needs.

Yup. You got a few almost rusty blue balls.

bosco
 
the issue i'd be more concerned about is they were probably shipped with a corrosion-resistant grease.
 
You bought ball bearings for this purpose? Seems like a marginal idea. I'm sure in your kitchen you have plenty of SS or glass things you could have used; e.g. a spoon, shot glass, .... Just do the magnet test and yer good to go. Oh well, live & learn. :(

Hope the beer turns out ok. Not sure I'd be too interested in trying it though...
 
This will be off the main topic but if there is a dollar tree store near you see if they carry glass beads in a bag for $1. I get 8-10 dry hop sessions from each bag w/o reusing the beeds. I boil these in water with the hop sack for 10 minutes prior to using them.
 
Thanks for all the replies. I though about the oil coating and boiled the bearings in cascade dishwasher detergent prior to use. I think I'll discard this batch, though.
 
This will be off the main topic but if there is a dollar tree store near you see if they carry glass beads in a bag for $1. I get 8-10 dry hop sessions from each bag w/o reusing the beeds. I boil these in water with the hop sack for 10 minutes prior to using them.

If not, go to a toy store and buy a "pente" game. That comes with those glass pellets. Also, florist shops sell them for cut flowers that need water and no soil.
 
This was my concern. That, and as a steel worker (sheet, but still steel) I can tell you that stuff is DIRTY.

I get a similar "burnt rubber" smell with all stainless hose clamps. I think it's definitely a protective grease/oil on there. I boiled mine with dish soap and soaked in isopropanol, the smell was still there but very faint.
 
Doesn't carbon steel put off iron, which in small doses is good for the body but bad in high doses?
 
If you won't drink it, I'll forward my address.

The vapor pressure of steel at room temperature is phenomenally low, and I'd be impressed if your dog could find some by smell. You? Good luck! There were breweries that used cast iron vessels in significant parts of their process not all that long ago, and at least one vintage brewery in France is still doing so. You may end up with a different water profile than you planned, but they worked it out. There will never be as much iron in your beer as there is in the burger that you ate with it. When people take iron supplements, they may take over 100 mg of elemental iron several times per day. The body regulates iron levels largely by regulating absorption. If the body doesn't need it (and you don't have hemochromatosis) it will just pass through and make for black feces.

The oils on the bearings or clamps are another matter. You may well smell those hydrocarbons. However, if you could not get the oils off in boiling dish soap water and then isopropanol, you are pretty unlikely to to find them dissolving in your beer to create off smells or tastes. I think the sulfur explanation is the one with the ring of truth to it. Give it time. If necessary, scrub it with CO2. Or send it to me, and I'll take care of it!
 
even someone with the most basic knowledge of metal like myself would had knows that you don't want carbon steel anywhere near your beer at all, that stuff is not really properly food safe

Its perfect for blades and swords, but near beer?
no thank you

My first mash tun had a C-steel washer on the inside of it to help lock down the spigot and the batch I made off of that tasted TERRIBLE. granted their where other reasons for this, but the large amount of rust that soon formed on my washer told me that I had to change things real, real fast

at least a valuable lesson was learned ^_^
 
Made the same mistake myself and bearings came out looking like that also. It was BierMunchers Tits-up IIPA that I did it to.
If the bearings made the beer taste this great I'll gladly dig them out of the recycle bin and use them again, but I think I'll use glass marbles next time.
 
even someone with the most basic knowledge of metal like myself would had knows that you don't want carbon steel anywhere near your beer at all, that stuff is not really properly food safe
^_^



I use a carbon steel wok all the time. I don't know any asian restaurant in my area that uses anything but carbon steel woks. My razor and some of my best knives are carbon steel. All the above require a little care to keep them from rusting but if seasoned correctly or kept dry it is certainly worth the trouble in my opinion.

bosco
 
Everyone always asks what to do with the spears/valves out of Sanke kegs. Did you know there's a 316 stainless 3/4" ball bearing in the valve? I have at least five of these kicking around for dry hop weights.
 
i just tie my muslin bags off to a sanitized coffee mug and kerplunk! no money spent! easier to wash and harder to lose.
 
I use a carbon steel wok all the time. I don't know any asian restaurant in my area that uses anything but carbon steel woks. My razor and some of my best knives are carbon steel. All the above require a little care to keep them from rusting but if seasoned correctly or kept dry it is certainly worth the trouble in my opinion.

bosco

how would he had kept carbon steel balls dry....when he dropped them into his beer with the dry hopping? O___O

I mean, yea, I love carbon steel too. Keep it dry, and it works wonders for knives/blades and many other applications (like you said, frying pans)

I just would never let carbon steel ball berrings touch my beer lol
 
Hell I thought thoses were BLUEBERRYS at first.

ya marbles or stainless steel nuts or bolts make sense to me...

Ya... I hope you washed them first or you might be a bit more "regular" that normal...

If you could not feel the oil it probably means that it was of such a low concentation it won't hurt you and I would think if it was a petrolem product much of it would cook away anyway but then again I duh-know...

Good Luck.
 
Looks like corrosion on the balls is minimal. Looks to me more of a chemical attach as to "rusting". When carbon steel blues its a thin layer of corrosion that ends up protecting it from further corrosion. I think your OK and lucky.

304/304L or 316/316L is best for food grade needs.

YA--- it looks like they have been "BLUED". a couple a bit to much...
 
even someone with the most basic knowledge of metal like myself would had knows that you don't want carbon steel anywhere near your beer at all, that stuff is not really properly food safe

Its perfect for blades and swords, but near beer?
no thank you

My first mash tun had a C-steel washer on the inside of it to help lock down the spigot and the batch I made off of that tasted TERRIBLE. granted their where other reasons for this, but the large amount of rust that soon formed on my washer told me that I had to change things real, real fast

at least a valuable lesson was learned ^_^
Dang. I had no idea my high-carbon kitchen knives aren't food safe. You'd think someone would have made the French slap a warning label on my Sabatier chef's knife, at least. Ditto Lodge; how can they sleep at night, knowing I leach iron into my beans every time I make a batch in my Dutch oven? Not to mention my wok.

I gotta start staying out of these old threads...:D

add: what the guy did was add a blued finish to those ball bearings; the same blued finish that was traditionally used on guns. Maybe the next time I get a beat-up old revolver, I'll just clean it and toss it into a fermenter. j/k.
 
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