Did I ruin my wine with steel paint mixer?

[Junk-Man]

First time making wine. I bought 5 gal juice from u-brew store and fermented, racked, secondary'd
Went to de-gas last night and used this paint mixer
When I removed from the wine (about 25 mins) the mixer was discolored (dull grey instead of shiny) According to the manufacturer's website it is nickel plated steel.
I tasted the wine and it has a slight tang to it (not sure if this is the quality of my fermerntation, or if it came from the tool)

so what do you guys think? any one use one of therse to degass before? Is it safe or should I dump

 

[A_McG]

Does the paint mixer feel rough? If so the plaiting definitely came off, not sure if you can save it. Others may have an idea. With any brewing always use food grade plastic or stainless steel.

 

[Junk-Man]

didn't seem rough, no. Just dulled
will double check when I get home and post photos

 

[Maylar]

Nickel is pretty resistant to corrosion even in an acid environment. Unless it turned black I'd say it didn't react with your wine. Not sure why it would dull though.

 

[A_McG]

I've been thinking about if might have been nickel painted, less than $20 and manufactured in China. I wouldn't be surprised to find it only spray coated and not plated. A pic would certainly help to see how it changed in appearance tho.