Pewter tankards and cider

[Dave Ingram]

Hey all,

So I've done some tidying and recently rediscovered my pewter* tankard.
I'm heading out to the Great British Beer Festival this evening, and I
remembered hearing that cider + pewter = tasty tasty lead poisoning.

Is there anything I can do to avoid heavy metal poisoning (although not
before tonight)? I've heard suggestions of coating the inside (and
presumably the lip) with spray acrylic or similar, but that nail polish
(for example) would turn out to be unpleasantly toxic.

Has anyone done anything like this? Does anyone even care? Should I care?


D


* NOTE: not sure if it's actually lead pewter and no idea how to tell.
Still likely to contain heavy metals like antimony, apparently, so point
still stands.

[Paddy Duncan]

What is cider doing at a beer festival ffs?

-----
No virus found in this message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 2012.0.2197 / Virus Database: 2437/5191 - Release Date: 08/10/12

[Dave Ingram]

On 10/08/12 14:38, Paddy Duncan wrote:
> What is cider doing at a beer festival ffs?

Real Cider at a Real Ale festival... and cider is far more tasty than beer.


D

[Sam Kelly]

Poisoning aside, the pewter makes it taste wrong. There are certainly
food grade sealants you can get, but I'd be wary of using anything in
my normal artists' arsenal, and definitely not nail polish because
it'll almost certainly dissolve in even moderately strong cider.

--
Sam Kelly, http://www.eithin.co.uk/

That's it. We're not messing around anymore, we're buying a bigger
dictionary. - Tibor Fischer, The Thought Gang.

[Big Will]

Lead leaching from pewter

In previous centuries, the pewter used to make tankards often contained lead, which exposed the drinker to medical effects ranging from heavy metal poisoning to gout.^[6] This effect was exacerbated in cider drinking areas such as Somerset, UK, as the acid qualities of the cider leached out the lead content from the pewter more quickly. Clay tankards became prevalent in this area. Pewter is now widely lead-free.

Is your Pewter lead-free?   Chances are you would be fine over the course of a single night anyway.

Don't do anything - go have fun!

[Dave Ingram]

On 10/08/12 14:52, Big Will wrote:

Lead leaching from pewter

In previous centuries, the pewter used to make tankards often contained lead, which exposed the drinker to medical effects ranging from heavy metal poisoning to gout.^[6] This effect was exacerbated in cider drinking areas such as Somerset, UK, as the acid qualities of the cider leached out the lead content from the pewter more quickly. Clay tankards became prevalent in this area. Pewter is now widely lead-free.

Is your Pewter lead-free?

I don't know :-( Is there any easy way to test? Also, as Sam mentioned... it does affect the taste.

Chances are you would be fine over the course of a single night anyway.

Oh I know, but now I've found it again I want to start using it regularly.

Don't do anything - go have fun!

Very definitely :-)


D

[David Murphy]

wax the insides.

[Big Will]

Is your Pewter lead-free?

I don't know :-( Is there any easy way to test? Also, as Sam mentioned... it does affect the taste.

I drink from old pewter regularly (80 - 40 years old) at my Grandparents house.  This stuff is fine.  If your pewter is less than a hundred years old, chances are that it is lead-free.

To coat the inside would be a mistake in my opinion, I don't see it providing you any benefit at all.