Paper Clip Brew

Hi, I was brewing tonight and I use a paperclip to hold the funnel off the rim of the carboy so the air can escape... anyway the damn thing (paperclip) fell into the brew. Should I bother fishing for it or leave it there for the week until I rack to 2ndary?

I almost would say leave it in there but I just thought of an ideal way to remove it. If you can find a strong enough magnet, use the magnet on the outside of the glass to attract the clip and hopefully you can drag the clip via the magnet close enough to top of the carboy to grab hold of it.

you didnt clean your ear wax out with it first did you?

Are paper clips fermentable?

Either way, I'd keep it quiet. If the reinheinsgebot police find out, you're days are numbered. Can you say "Fresh Fish"???

Id remove it. i dont know how quickly paper clips rust.

OtherWhiteMeat said:

Id remove it. i dont know how quickly paper clips rust.

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Can't rust without oxygen...I'd leave it unless the magnet trick works.

El Pistolero said:

Can't rust without oxygen...I'd leave it unless the magnet trick works.

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AH, didnt know that.

El Pistolero said:

Can't rust without oxygen...I'd leave it unless the magnet trick works.

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If you aerated the wort (which I'm sure you did), there is oxygen in it. It will rust.

However... don't worry about it. Things that rust are made of iron. Iron is good for you, and no paper clip is going to rust so much as to affect the flavor of 5 gallons of beer.

Just leave it alone... my opinion.

-walker

Unless you can easily remove it via the magnet method, don't worry about it. Any other efforts to remove it would probably present a larger contamination risk then the paperclip itself.

If you are on city water, you probably have more rust in your tap than you would in 5G w/ a paperclip in it..

I guess I got on-line too late to recommend a magnet...a bunch of you already beat me to it!

I was out cleaning up the garden and tilling...then I put up some snow fence to help keep the corn husks off my lawn for when the farmers start harvesting...

Cheers.

homebrewer_99 said:

then I put up some snow fence to help keep the corn husks off my lawn for when the farmers start harvesting

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Did you leave yourself a gate so you can filch an ear or two until then? Boy I used to live on Illinois field corn in the fall...good chewy stuff, and you can't beat the price.

We don't have any fences around here. No need for a gate. The field is open.

I just made like a large "U" shape to catch any husks that blow in the breeze.

I know I won't get all of it, but I get tired of picking them up and then "harvesting" them myself when they get caught up around the back of the house.

Other than those, the rest of them can go all the way to Indiana for all I care.

Back to the paperclip... If you do decide to leave it in there, let us know how it goes. I've got a big box of them I wouldn't mind adding to my next brew. Maybe a few nails...

sudsmonkey said:

Back to the paperclip... If you do decide to leave it in there, let us know how it goes. I've got a big box of them I wouldn't mind adding to my next brew. Maybe a few nails...

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Yea Man Me too!

You guys have an iron deficiency?

Gives new meaning to "metal head".

funny thing... iwas cleaning out my equipment this morning and I found the paperclip on the floor near the sink... apparently I was all worried for nothing!

Yes, but was it the same paperclip?

I suspect it may turn out to be one of your better batches. Just leave it in.

El Pistolero said:

Yes, but was it the same paperclip?

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Yeah, El. P's got a point. Could be that the yeast just gone an muched up ya paperclip, so now ya gonna get Iron Brew!

You can call it a Steel Reserve 211 clone.

Lockjaw Lager (or ale, as it were)! Or perhaps, as the paperclip has been unearthed, something else entirely fell in?

According to John Palmer, anything smaller than a bat or a handful of crayons shouldn't be a problem.