I got some new balls.

[sablesurfer]

Stainless. Well, I thought they were going to be stainless. Needed something to weigh down my hop bags.

Need some metallurgical input. These don't look so stainless once I got them. Hope you can see in the picture where there is rust or abrasion or something on two of them.

I am figuring, that 'steel' balls are what we want right? :fro:



(This was the topic you were expecting right?)

 

[JonM]

Judging by the label, are these replacement balls for the Labyrinth game? Not something food grade?

 

[sablesurfer]

Judging by the label, are these replacement balls for the Labyrinth game? Not something food grade?

Eh, yep. Didn't find anything on Amazon listed as food grade, and I figure steel is steel is steel? Now, the label does not say stainless, which is what I thought I was ordering.

 

[agrazela]

Look like chrome-plated mild steel to me.

But just for fun...

 

[blizz81]

Search for "pinballs in beer", does not end well.

 

[TheMadKing]

My girlfriend gave me blue balls for christmas, so I think you win.

If they are rusting, I would guess that those are just chrome plated steel balls. Stainless can rust given the right conditions, but it shouldn't be that easy.

You could probably pick up some stainless ball bearings that would do the trick though. Just make sure you soak them in oxy first because there's probably machine oil residue on them.

Another Idea is glass marble shooters, but I'm not 100% sure they wouldn't crack in the heat, I think that one is worth testing.

 

[JonM]

"How were you supposed to know that was Iron Balls McGinty?"

But seriously - can you get your hands on an extra stainless steel spoon? That's what I'd use. I've also been known to use the ball from my disassembled three-piece ball valve.

 

[sablesurfer]

My girlfriend gave me blue balls for christmas, so I think you win.

LOL!

Another Idea is glass marble shooters, but I'm not 100% sure they wouldn't crack in the heat, I think that one is worth testing.

Yeah, these are for dry hopping, and I have yet to find any glass marbles that don't have some form of defect for holding onto crud. So looking into the stainless.

Thinking this was wasted $7...but with Prime I didn't pay shipping at least.

 

[sablesurfer]

"How were you supposed to know that was Iron Balls McGinty?"

But seriously - can you get your hands on an extra stainless steel spoon? That's what I'd use. I've also been known to use the ball from my disassembled three-piece ball valve.

Oooo....both good ideas. Doh.

 

[sablesurfer]

Huh, well that is interesting...pinballs in beer.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=6142570&postcount=12

 

[TheMadKing]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/310205600572?lpid=82&chn=ps

Here's an ebay search that might be helpful

 

[zmanzorro]

+1 on marbles.

I've also used whiskey stones.

 

[iijakii]

I use some extra SS couplers/nuts I have. I'd probably just run to HD and buy a couple large SS bolts if I didn't have these already...

 

[muels]

I use an old keg post that I cross threaded


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

 

[Scriv]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CNM03D2/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[jekeane]

Stainless steel chain is a thing too.

 

[Yooper]

This must be a dumb question, but why? Why does someone need something to weigh down their hops bags? I can't get a grasp on that at all, so I'm not sure what to suggest.

 

[podz]

I am figuring, that 'steel' balls are what we want right? :fro:

What you want is glass marbles.

 

[kh54s10]

Just toss the hops in. No weight needed. They will absorb the wort without being weighed down. If you need you can push it under with a sanitized spoon.

I read in one of these threads that someone uses a shot glass.

 

[DrunkleJon]

I would say that since you already bought the balls to test them out. Regardless of what kind of stainless you buy be sure to clean any manufacturing oils well then passivize with an acid solution, let dry then for the hell of it put one in a jar of water and let it sit and see what grows.

I have never bothered sinking hop bags, though I dont use whole hops or really found the need to.

 

[soccerdad]

This must be a dumb question, but why? Why does someone need something to weigh down their hops bags? I can't get a grasp on that at all, so I'm not sure what to suggest.

Just like talkin' about balls is all. Weighting hops is optional .. talking balls is mandatory.

 

[JonM]

I dunno - that pinball thread was kinda gross. Short version - non stainless balls turned jet black and made the beer taste like metal.

 

[sablesurfer]

So wait...I was 'assuming' that getting the dry hop bag down into the beer is much more effective than letting the thing just float on top.

What I have seen is I put pellets in the bag, I put bag into secondary, I transfer over the bag of pellets, they swell up and just float the whole bag to the top. Then for the next three days of dry hopping 1/3 to 1/2 my hops are never in the beer.

Are people saying that they don't have that issue?

 

[blizz81]

So wait...I was 'assuming' that getting the dry hop bag down into the beer is much more effective than letting the thing just float on top.

What I have seen is I put pellets in the bag, I put bag into secondary, I transfer over the bag of pellets, they swell up and just float the whole bag to the top. Then for the next three days of dry hopping 1/3 to 1/2 my hops are never in the beer.

Are people saying that they don't have that issue?

When I've dry hopped, I've just dropped pellets in, no bag. After a couple days and sometimes with a very light rousing of a carboy, they'll precipitate downwards. I'll usually cold crash after that, which takes care of any stragglers.

 

[kh54s10]

So wait...I was 'assuming' that getting the dry hop bag down into the beer is much more effective than letting the thing just float on top.

What I have seen is I put pellets in the bag, I put bag into secondary, I transfer over the bag of pellets, they swell up and just float the whole bag to the top. Then for the next three days of dry hopping 1/3 to 1/2 my hops are never in the beer.

Are people saying that they don't have that issue?

I do dry hops in a bag. I use a sanitized spoon or something to push them down. They quickly get saturated by the wort. I do not weigh them down. Tie the bag as loose as possible so there is as much room for the hops to expand as you can get. I use only 1 ounce of hops in a 1 gallon paint strainer bag. I use multiple bags for more hops.

 

[IslandLizard]

[...] I have yet to find any glass marbles that don't have some form of defect for holding onto crud.[...]

I use glass marbles from the Dollar store and they are as smooth and shiny as can be. They're kind of oblong, not spheres. I have boiled them in PBW too.

My wife uses them, her own of course, in a quart take-out container to rinse her paintbrushes out.

 

[sablesurfer]

Well, here is the answer for now...

 

[Yooper]

So wait...I was 'assuming' that getting the dry hop bag down into the beer is much more effective than letting the thing just float on top.

What I have seen is I put pellets in the bag, I put bag into secondary, I transfer over the bag of pellets, they swell up and just float the whole bag to the top. Then for the next three days of dry hopping 1/3 to 1/2 my hops are never in the beer.

Are people saying that they don't have that issue?

They don't have to sink to have the beer permeate them. If your bag of pellets floated, that may happen, but without a bag they just sort of disintegrate. With whole cone hops, they sort of get wet and just stay partly submerged. If there are lots and lots of hops, say, 3 ounces or more in a 5 gallon carboy, I could see someone wanting to get the ones on top in the bottom but that's never been an issue for me at all in the last 10 years or so.

I do use a bag when I hop in the keg, to avoid problems with clogging, but I never weigh that down.

 

[MtnHiBrewin]

I always weight the bag when I dry or keg hop. I've done both in the past without weight, and I believe I get a lot more from the hops, and quicker, when they are more submerged than floating on top.
I use shot or drinking glasses for weight. They are easy to sanitize and will fit through the keg opening. I have used glass marbles a couple of times, but they are a pain because it takes so many.
I nearly always use whole hops for dry or keg hopping, especially keg hopping.

 

[PackerfaninSanDiego]

Well, here is the answer for now...

View attachment 289489

is this over thinking it or what? KISS........

 

[NewJersey]

I bought some 1 1/4" and 1/2" 316 stainless balls. They work just fine

 

[TheMerkle]

Just go to Ace hardware and buy 304 chromium stainless steel nuts. A few cents a piece and theyre legit SS.

 

[Teromous]

Good thing glass doesn't rust.

 

[k1ngl1ves]

My girlfriend gave me blue balls for christmas, so I think you win.

Uh oh...

 

[sablesurfer]

Good thing glass doesn't rust.

That picture, that gives me the absolute heebie jeebies and it is EXACTLY what I envision when I see glass marbles going into a beer. Nasty, germy, dirty, scuffed.....<SHUDDER>