A VERY SERIOUS Poll about bears
 

How often, and for how many times do you re-use a bear?

Obviously, how much you spend on gnome detection/deterrence is largely related to your personal philosophies about brewing, the existence of small supernatural creatures, and your exposure to nuclear radiation. That said, I contacted these guys to come sweep my brew closet and identify likely ingress/egress ports for gnomes, and they wanted $10K minimum. Apparently, the iridium-laced meteorite material they use to detect gnome trails are incredibly difficult to come by...who knew?

Also, my dog's strong attraction to gnomes (apparently he's not the only one has made him a much more effective bear protector. You take what you can get.

Do you mean that your dog wants to chew on gnomes, or has a mis-placed sexual attraction to the little buggars?

Interesting either way.

Brew Faries have ever been the gift that keeps giving by keeping gnomes at bay for relatively little cost.

i like to keep my bears chilled prior to pushing them into the carboy... makes them feel at home and keeps them fresh.

personally, the gnome issue is a little bit of a mystery to me, i've yet to see one with anything but my peripherals but i have noticed their effects... damn little bastids love to harass my bears and get them all riled up, mocking them from outside the carboy.

if there was a clear solution to allowing my bears proper time to do their thing, without the threat of gnomes, i would be all over it, even if it was sold by overprice blichmann... but for now, i'll just have to go with keeping my bears on a cold cycle for freshness

The latter--I have to keep him on a leash when we walk past garden gnomes in the neighborhood. He really needs some friends.

As to the cost of fairy upkeep, I think it probably depends on what level of, erm, remuneration your fairies are accustomed to. Revvy's fairies would, one assumes, require a certain level of upkeep, which might get relatively expensive. My fairies might look like Roseanne Barr, but they get the job done, and don't need anything other than the occasional 10-pack of tacos from Taco Bell.

The effect of overuse of the homebrew end product. This thread.

I dry-bear my beers with a fresh cub each time. Yeah there is more of a chance the gnomes withh get in but thats prime beer-estate that they take up in your primary.

OK I know this is a little off-topic, but can anyone describe the flavor/aroma differences between different types of bears? I've pretty much always stuck with black, since I feel like it complements the darker beers that I prefer. Has anyone tried Kodiak, or maybe Panda? It would be interesting to try a combination of a few, but I don't know whether or not they'd get along in the carboy.

Also, this might be heretical, but any thoughts on koala?

I re-use my bear almost indefinitely. In addition, I find that oxygenating the bear each time with the little wand thingie is very good exercise for both me and the bear.

do NOT use bear pellets. always use whole bears. trust me on this one.