dry hopping in the keg

[paryfon]

so i picked up some 440C stainless steel ball bearings thinking that they would be good to use to sink a nylon mesh hops bag. the thing is, they smell very metallic to me and now i am paranoid they will make my beer taste like metal. has anyone tried using these for this purpose before? or should i have just gone with marbles like most people?

 

[deepcdan99]

Have you cleaned them in a solution of PBW? Do they smell metallic or like petroleum? Where did u get them?

 

[stpug]

You don't HAVE to sink the mesh bag, it will eventually sink on it's own. However, I also like to encourage the bag to sink but simply use clear glass gems like these:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CAY7VYM/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

To your point, definitely clean those bearings and see if they still stink afterwards. If they DO, then reconsider using them this go around. You can always try letting them sit in a glass of water for a couple days and then taste it to see if anything comes through. If it does then the alcohol in the beer will make it comes through even more.

 

[ShinyBuddha]

+1 for glass cleaned and sanitized

 

[paryfon]

i cleaned them with dish washing liquid to get the shipping lube off. i'll try PBW for a few hours and let you guys know how it goes. thank you very much for the input!