pot started peeling during boil

[sdufford]

About halfway through the boil, the bottom of my pot started peeling and large flakes of it started floating up to the top. Needless to say I was a bit upset. It's a granite-ware pot, like the one in this link:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BO7C9C/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Now obviously this is less than ideal, and I ended up straining out all the flakes before transferring to the fermenter. What I now have since started worrying about, could this actually be harmful for human consumption? Is drinking the boiled material from my pot gonna give me cancer or something?

I know, a bit of a silly question, but drinking something in which my pot itself boiled into is a bit unsettling to me. I am planning on springing for a high quality SS pot moving forward. You get what you pay for I guess!

 

[frazier]

First of all, are you sure it was paint flakes and not burned sugar coming off the bottom?

In either case, strain and continue. You should be fine. It's a food-grade container after all.

 

[AiredAle]

If the coating is peeling off, then the steel surface of the pot is being exposed, and you will get iron in the beer. This could lead to a metallic taste in the beer. Your are not in danger of dying a gruesome, painful death, the coating itself is a ceramic, and food grade as Frazier pointed out. If the pot is new, and the coating is peeling, take it back to where you bought it, and ask for a replacement.

 

[JJL]

Frazier is right. It could be burnt wort. If the bottom of the pot is still the granite wear color, then it probably is wort. If you have exposed metal at the bottom of the pot, then it is your pot. In which case I would ditch the pot asap because the metal will rust in these pots. If it is flakes from the pot itself, I would be a little hesitant to continue. Especially since it's possible the wort could contain rust particles.

 

[boostsr20]

Probably burnt wort from dumping in a liquid extract. I pull it off for about 30 seconds and never pour it directly into the center pot. Make sure your stirring the bottom as you pour it in too.

 

[thedude00]

When you were cleaning the pot at the end of your brew day did you see any coating missing from the bottom of the pot. The coating of those pot are real hard to get off, it maybe like booster20 said it mite of been burnt extract on the bottom of the pot.

 

[sdufford]

Now that enough people have mentioned it, I'll take a closer look tonight when I get home. I haven't washed the pot yet, so all the evidence is still intact.

 

[Senneffe]

This is why I went with a stainless steel pot.

 

[Shooter]

This is why I went with a stainless steel pot.

Because you were worried the pot would start peeling and big flakes would appear in your wort?!?!?

Man, you are good!

 

[Teromous]

I wouldn't use granite wear if you paid me. When I was a kid my mom bought a bunch of those because they looked sturdy and had neat designs. The enamel did flake off. Worse...the metal underneath rusted. I haven't had any problems with stainless steel.

 

[sdufford]

Wow, you guys were right. Got the pot all cleaned up and it looks good as new, no flaked off spots after all.

So since it was indeed burnt wort, will this affect the final product in any way? Like I said, I strained all the solid flakes out...but perhaps there will be some off flavors present?

 

[tpseabird]

Expect a burnt flavor...you might be able to call it a smoke beer...or not. If your lucky, it will just have strong Carmel flavor. Either way, it will be drinkable!

 

[boostsr20]

Expect a burnt flavor...you might be able to call it a smoke beer...or not. If your lucky, it will just have strong Carmel flavor. Either way, it will be drinkable!

I've had it happen twice. Once was on an IPA and you couldn't tell at all. (2-3 dime size flakes). The other was on an Amber Ale and it had a more pronounced caramel taste than expected. (4-5 quarter sized flakes) Both beers were still good. I really wouldn't worry about it.

 

[thedude00]

You may have some burnt flavor like everyone is saying but at less you dont need to worry a enamel flakes in your beer.

They a cheap enamel pots that flake and they are a mess to clean, Then they are good enamel pot that a really good to cook some things in but they are not good for brewing at all.

 

[sdufford]

Man, I had A LOT of flakes in there doing boil. Like, a pile of them. Like I said though, I strained all the solid flakes out on transfer. Sounds like I'm in for some caramel notes though!

I'm saying goodbye to the granite-ware, taking a look at this SS from amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001AS81BQ/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

What do you guys think?

 

[carnevoodoo]

Man, I had A LOT of flakes in there doing boil. Like, a pile of them. Like I said though, I strained all the solid flakes out on transfer. Sounds like I'm in for some caramel notes though!

I'm saying goodbye to the granite-ware, taking a look at this SS from amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001AS81BQ/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

What do you guys think?

Are you planning on going all grain at any point? If you want to do full boils, I'd suggest a bigger pot. Something like 40 qt. will give you a lot of room.

 

[BendBrewer]

You want the 60 QT. You'll come to enjoy being able to brew 10 gallon batches.

 

[sdufford]

This is my first brew and I'm only boiling on my stove top. I think anything beyond that will have to come later. I figured I should master extract brewing first!

 

[Hegh]

You might want to check out aluminum pots. They're cheaper (I got a 40qt for $85 from a local store, and they're much cheaper online), and just as good. Go for a thicker-walled pot (4 or 6mm), so if you bang it around by accident it won't dent.

 

[stageseven]

For what it's worth, I used a graniteware pot for every batch I've done up until the last one. I bought a larger aluminum pot just because I wanted to do full boils. I never had any problems with the old pot, it was not at all hard to clean, and it was great for cooling quickly after the boil since the walls are so thin. If you drop it or bang it around you might have a problem with the enamel cracking, but if you treat it properly it won't be an issue at all.

 

[sdufford]

For what it's worth, I used a graniteware pot for every batch I've done up until the last one. I bought a larger aluminum pot just because I wanted to do full boils. I never had any problems with the old pot, it was not at all hard to clean, and it was great for cooling quickly after the boil since the walls are so thin. If you drop it or bang it around you might have a problem with the enamel cracking, but if you treat it properly it won't be an issue at all.

You didn't have any trouble with the wort burning easily? What can I do to prevent that? Just stir more often, don't dump the extract in directly on the center?

 

[stageseven]

You didn't have any trouble with the wort burning easily? What can I do to prevent that? Just stir more often, don't dump the extract in directly on the center?

The same thing you would need to do with any pot - remove it from the heat source before you stir in any extract. If it's a gas stove you can just turn the gas off, if it's electric you'd need to move it off the hot element before you put the extract in.

 

[Drye2324]

My son was brewing his first beer from a kit. The stock pot we used began to peel flakes which got in the beer. I am concerned for his health. The flakes that ended on the beer did settle to the bottom. Do I need to worry?

 

[Chadwick]

Stainless steel. Most of us use it for a reason. While I'm sure nobody is in any danger from using granite-ware or whatever else, there is nothing like the durability, dependability, and peace of mind you get from stainless steel. Personally, I wouldn't ever use anything else.

Of course, my preferences in brewing doesn't stop with the mash and the boil. I'm a huge fan of food grade plastic fermentation vessels too. Glass carboys are only a disaster waiting to happen in my opinion. I refuse to use them. The last thing I want to tell my grandkids is the story of how pawpaw loss the use of his hand or some similar horror story.