Dry hopping with galvanized steel

So the other day I tried dry hopping in the keg for the first time and to weigh down the hop bag I threw in a bunch of stainless fittings. However, one of them happened to be a 2 inch long galvanized pipe nipple. I realized my mistake after 1 week when I pulled out the hops and the fitting had lost its shiny coating. The beer has a noticeable metallic taste. Is it safe to drink? If so will the metallic taste dissipate with extended aging? Thanks

Why would you want to drink a beer that had a metallic taste when you know you put a galvanized piece or metal in your beer? I believe part of the coating reacts with liquid and plaque breaks off and forms a metallic taste. I wouldnt drink it.

BradleyBrew said:

Why would you want to drink a beer that had a metallic taste when you know you put a galvanized piece or metal in your beer?

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Metal flavored beer is still beer and i'm not one to discriminate. I just want to know if its safe.

It's hard to say whether or not it's safe. Galvanized metal is zinc plated. Beer is acidic. Zinc dissolves in an acidic environment. Zinc is toxic at high levels. If I could taste it, that'd be a good enough reason for me to dump it.

Meh. Much ado about most likely nothing.

I bet the whole pipe thing is in your head and the "metallic" taste is just the yeast bite of a green brew...

Cheers!

Thanks for the help guys, I think I'm gonna let it sit for a week or two and see what happens. The taste has already diminished slightly since yesterday.

I recently did almost the same thing, except all the weights I used were the wrong ones. It's been about a month, the metallic taste is gone, and it seems OK. I haven't drank more than two of the beers in one night, but I've never felt any ill effects. I still contemplate just dumping it though, you never know the long term effects of something like this. I also don't really offer it to guests since it's questionable, which is another reason I may just dump it.

Since you only used one, I'm guessing the flavor will fade quickly and drinking it all would be fine. But for me, having it in the back of my mind while drinking it is kind ruining the experience..