Pennies in wort boil?

[DarkBrood]

I just read in the 2007 BYO article "Metallurgy for Homebrewers" by Palmer that adding a 1"chunk of copper pipe or some copper pennies to the boil can be beneficial to the yeast....has anyone tried this with pennies? (All of the copper pipe I have on hand has old lead-loaded solder all over it.) How many pennies should be used to achieve the ideal amount of copper for a 5-gallon batch?

As a former coin collector (when I was a kid), I know the pennies varied in contents over the years....certainly the all-steel 1942 coins are out, but are the old "wheaties" better than more modern coinage (and which year was it that they increased the zinc content)? What would be the best method for cleaning (I use Idophor for sanitation....does that react with copper?)...I know better than to scrub them with a wire brush, but don't want the grime of however many years (and hands) getting into my wort....

 

[Ace_Club]

Just get yourself a copper immersion chiller and that will take care of it.

 

[JNye]

cute idea, not necesary. get some yeast nutrient if you are concerned.

 

[RCCOLA]

Dang, thought this was going to be a thread about a super cheap source of wort.

 

[beninan]

I initially thought the title of this thread had some other word other than "Pennies"

 

[castlefreak]

I just throw my copper chiller in 10 minutes before the end of the boil. I'd get a little piece of real copper tubing if you're not going to use a copper immersion chiller. You don't have to sanitize it, since it'll be boiling.

 

[lumpher]

Just get yourself a copper immersion chiller and that will take care of it.

+1. that's what i do. by coincidence, all i could find were copper immersion coolers

 

[BoxofRain]

I initially thought the title of this thread had some other word other than "Pennies"

Owch!

 

[350_Malibu]

I'd keep the dirty assed pennies away from your beer wert!

 

[beninan]

Owch!

I call it, Jock Strap Stout

 

[ChuckO]

Modern pennies are zinc with a flash coating of copper. You definitely do NOT want zinc in the wort. Any small scratch in the surface copper will cause problems. If you aren't using a copper chiller coil then get a cheap copper fitting from a hardware store and use that.