Should I be worried about this? (Calling all chemists)

General Homebrew Discussion
1

So I’ve been messing with IPA recipes and techniques.  I have never bothered with trying to weight down hop bags for dry-hopping, but I thought I’d give it a try this time.  As I am not a 19th-century British schoolchild, I do not have marbles on hand, which I know are the recommended weight of choice.  I was racking my brain for something to use, then I saw my tool box.  Why not use the attachments for a socket wrench?  Stainless steel, able to be sanitized…boom, I have http://www.google.com/imgres?q=socket+wrench+set&um=1&hl=en&safe=off&client=safari&sa=N&rls=en&biw=1272&bih=605&tbm=isch&tbnid=lQ0dxi-EuUQfCM:&imgrefurl=http://www.cdsct.com/products/show-2666.html&docid=vFcwxC5ThScm5M&imgurl=http://www.cdsct.com/uploads/201008/Socket%252520Wrench%252520Set.jpg&w=350&h=262&ei=JmZrUJihMMTz0gGuqIDwAQ&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=263&sig=103855574045057058693&page=1&tbnh=115&tbnw=154&start=0&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0,i:119&tx=84&ty=80 weights.

Then after muscling them into the carboy neck (they bunched up in the bag and it was harder than I thought), and racking the beer, I noticed that despite the weight, the hop bags were still on top of the solution.  Fantastic.  Well the hops were wet, and hopefully it didn’t matter.  Later found out that weighting down the hop bag really isn’t worth the trouble.

THEN I found out that the socket wrench attachments weren’t stainless steel.  They were chrome/chromium-plated steel.  Usually for socket wrenches, they use cheap chrome.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromium_toxicityChrome is toxic.

So I ran home, racked the beer out of the carboy, and it does smell fantastic.  It seemed to taste good, but I haven’t been feeling great and I’m not sure my palette is the sharpest.

The attachments did not appear to have any corrosion.  There were some flecks on the inside of them, but then I looked at the attachmenets I didn’t use, and they had the flecks as well.  However, I do know that beer pH is usually well below 5, and could likely corrode something like this.

As I do not want to poison myself, my wife, friends, or family, should I dump this beer?  Its one of my better IPAs, and would sting like hell to dump it.

Anyone familiar with corrosion of chromium on steel?

2

I made the exact same mistake once.  I wasn’t aware that it might be poisonous but I dumped it because it tasted like metal.

3

Don’t worry, the chrome is in metallic form and unless you see corrosion there shouldn’t be any significant chromium dissolving.  Theres chrome in stainless steel too for that matter.  Chromium is actually an essential nutrient, albeit at low levels.

4

Thanks!

So is that metallic taste I’m now perceiving just in my mind?!

5

[u]Hexavalent Chromium[/u]

6

I’m having a tough time finding the subsection and/or appendices on “Dissolved ppm of Chromium VI when exposed to home-fermented alcoholic beverages in quantities under 5 gallons and its potential to cause renal failure or off-flavors that may cause the moron who exposed them in the first place to get points deducted in a BJCP-sanctioned competition”

7

"Occupational exposure to hexavalent chromium can occur from inhalation of dusts, mists, or fumes containing hexavalent chromium, or from eye or skin contact with hexavalent chromium. "

Of course, soaking and drinking it is not necessarily occupational exposure.

Perhaps it is not a worry unless you vaporize and inhale your beer?

I dunno.  If it tastes funny I’d dump it.

As far as toxicity, I doubt you’re looking at dissolved amounts of any significance.  But, IANAD.  And my municipal water comes through lead pipes.

8

Hexavalent chromium ions are the bad stuff.  The most common form is trivalent chromium.  I have not attempted to strain my brain, but I don’t see why metallic chromium would be converted into the most oxidized form of chromium (hexavalent) in a reducing solution, beer.  If you haven’t packaged it yet, I would bottle condition so the yeast can eat it and also make the beer even more reductive as an additional safety measure.

9

I use the glass “rocks” for aquariums as weights.  I put them inside a hopsock inside the mesh bag of hops.

10

Have not packaged, but was planning on bottling.  Right now its sitting in a bottling bucket that has been purged with CO2 at room temp.  I introduced about 2 packs of gelatin, most of which will precipitate out, but maybe I will bottle this saturday/sunday and leave them for a few weeks.  So you think by bottling, the yeast consuming the additional sugars will cause any ‘leeched’ metallic chromium will precipitate to the bottom (your word, “reductive”)?  Will gelatin help, or will that only cling to proteins?

11

By keeping a reducing environment, there shouldn’t be any hexavalent chromium as opposed to the relatively inocuous trivalent chromium.  Gelatin might or might not pull out some chromium; it might help and I don’t see how it would hurt.

12

Know the risk, and then determine your risk tolerance.

Me?  I’d bottle it and drink it without giving it a second thought.

But, next time I’d invest in some marbles (they’ve made it into the 21st century - see eBay).

13

Or just throw the hops loose into the carboy. They’ll settle out ok without a bag, and its less hassle than trying to wiggle something in of out of the carboy neck.

14

Or you could dry-hop in a C-keg.

15

Finally, some actual wet hops!

Or a bucket.  Or use pellets and skip the bag.

16

As I rarely take beers off the  yeast for conditioning, i typically dry-hop in the primary, in a bag, so i can take them out if it gets the flavor/aroma profile I want.  I needed the yeast cake on this one though, so I transferred to a carboy.  I probably just won’t weight them next time.  Or I split it into two batches, weighted dry hops in one, equivalent weighted dry hops in the other.  I will see if myself or 10 tasters can tell the difference.