Brewing around a cat

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ianhoopes

ianhoopes

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I am starting my first brew this Sunday at my apartment. My fiancée and I have a huge polydactile black cat, and his hair somehow ends up everywhere. He's an awesome animal, but he loves to be in the kitchen with me when I am cooking or working (which is regularly).

I'm planning to lock him up for the time period of my brew, but I wonder if anyone has best practices for avoiding any lingering cat hair that might be around, or cleaning the stuff up? I can't see it normally but when I sweep the kitchen, I'm usually left with a tiny ball of his hair. We brush him constantly too.

If anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them. I'm planning to get up early this Sunday and give my kitchen a scrubdown before I get to brewing, so I'm hoping that takes care of most of it. I figured, a lot of people frequent this forum and surely at least ONE of you has a cat.

Thanks all!
 
This:

KickCatA.gif
 
You can shave the cat..lol just kidding. I am curious what people with pets have to say about this because a buddy of mine i just got into homebrewing is worried about dog hair.
 
remman4 said:
We call cat hair "garnish" at our house
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think you just may have to live with the occasional bit of hair...keep the cat in another room and try to avoid any blowing fans or cross breezes between cooling and pitching/sealing up the carboy...

You could always just call yourself "Catfuzz Brewing"....
 
My longhaired cat loves watching me brew, whats the big deal if a few hairs get in? On the hot side I can't see this being an issue at all.
 
I have 2 long haired dogs, so I'm familiar with the problem. I brew outside, and yes some hair may get into the kettle. I simply fish them out. I'm more worried about the cold side of things anyways.

I wash my carboy with a pump sprayer, upside down, and once rinsed, I cover it with cling wrap + a rubber band, and they stay that way until they are to be filled.

So from the end of the hose (cold side) to the carboy is where it's critical. While the wort is being transferred from kettle to carboy (via a ball valve, hose, plate chiller, hose), I use a sheet of paper towel that's been dipped completely in sanitizing solution, and I keep it over the neck of carboy while it's filling. Once filled, I put the stopper + airlock on top.

I've never noticed any dog hair in my beers (other than the kettle).

MC
 
Jokes aside, I would make sure my bottling bucket is covered when using it if you bottle. I use tinfoil.

Like someone else posted, no issues on the hotside, but don't let anything in while packaging.

AlleyCat Ale.....Puss-N-Boots Porter.....Siamese stout...??????


Pez.
 
Soak the cat with star san? Two fold, cat is now sanitized, and cat is now pissed off and won't want to be near you!!
 
Somehow I gave my wife persmission to have three cats at our place and I've never had a problem with it. I only worry about keeping them out of the area when I'm wrapping up a brew (chilling, aerating, and pitching) or bottling/kegging. Any other time, the boil will take care of anything that "floats" in the air - germs, hair, dust, etc.

The one cat was "locked" in my enclosure last night for a bit while I was working on some wiring and he wouldn't leave me alone, so I let him be my assistant by monitoring the inside of the enclosure.
072c6101.jpg


I haven't had an infection yet.
 
I wouldn't worry about it. I'm sure every batch I make has several drops of my sweat in it and at least a few dog hairs. No problems so far :D
 
Got a dog and 2 cats but I put one cat out and the other is hiding all the time from the dog. However, the dog doesn't come near me when I'm brewing. I just look his way and he runs. Got close once and I used some can air to scare him (no, not at him, but near him). It worked great.

I'm sure every home has something that can cause problems but you just work around it and try your best to keep things sanitized and clean.
 
I have two dogs. Both shed like crazy. Dog hair can be found on everything no matter how well we clean. Every batch ends up with a couple dog hairs in it. It will fall out of suspension with the yeast :rockin:
 
We have 3 cats and 2 of those sometimes show up while I'm brewing. Mostly to yell at me for paying too much attention to the boiling pot and for not petting them this instant, when I'm trying to keep my hands clean. I'm sure a bit of cat has has found itself in my brew. We call this "House Flavor". ;)

Mike
 
I have a cat who loves to brew with me. I just wipe down the counters before I start to get any existing fur up. Then put the cat away when I am going to pitch the yeast. Once I had a price of fur in my fermenter, beer came out great. Don't worry and be happy you have a fury brewing buddy.
 
If you wipe down your counters near where you're brewing, and don't have a lot of breeze in the house, the cat hair shouldn't be a problem. I have two cats, and I've never had a problem with cat hair in my beer. I just make sure that my space near the level of the kettle and other equipment is wiped down and I cover any equipment with sanitized tin foil that needs to stay cat-hair free.

I'm fortunate that my cats know that the counter and stove area is off-limits, so I don't have furballs running around my kettle. That would be an extra level of difficulty.
 
3 dogs here.. i don't think i've ever eatin a meal without finding a dog hair.. but i manage to brew beer without getting any in.. no fido in kitchen when im brewing and all windows door closed if im doing anything that needs good sanitation..... then i get naked scrub any dead skin cells off my body with steel wool.
wait... i might not do that last part..
 
my cat is actually my brewing partner - he knows not to get up in the process but he's always hanging out close by.
as for the cat hair problem - never found one in a finished beer, but there certainly is hair around the apartment. i dust, sweep and vac on a weekly basis so that keeps it at a manageable minimum.
 
I have a beerhound of a cat. Always supervises the brewing. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Brew Buddy.jpg
 
barneygumble said:
This is my reccomendation. Then I would brew the cat.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry you don't like cats, but do you really think it's funny to "joke" about harming someone's pet? Seems like if you don't like cats you should probably just not bother reading a thread like this.
 
Kosch said:
I'm sorry you don't like cats, but do you really think it's funny to "joke" about harming someone's pet? Seems like if you don't like cats you should probably just not bother reading a thread like this.
Click to expand...

My husband and I have a cat we love dearly, but my husband is from Peru where people are known to eat cats. We joke about it all the time.

Ben58 said:
I have a beerhound of a cat. Always supervises the brewing. I wouldn't have it any other way.
Click to expand...

A cat that big must have a pretty good tolerance for beer!
 
I brew outside. If a cat follows me outside, it is usually too distracted by the birds to mess with my brew, and the fire does a good job of keeping the cat back as well. The wind does a good job of keeping the cat hair out, but you have to make sure to rinse off your brew kettle and mash tun really good prior to using them. You never know when they were inside it last. Inside the house it's a bit harder, but putting a bag or box on the floor usually does a good job of keeping a cat entertained enough to leave you alone for a few minutes. The hardest part is that they rub against everything "mine, mine...and mine" :drunk:
 
snccoulter said:
Ohh my lets get uppity about something that no one would do.
Click to expand...

Heh.

Once you go dog, cats seem like roaches.

After I got married we went through a bunch of cats. I liked them just fine, but I finally got a dog, then another, and honestly I hope we never have another cat again. We still have 2 of them, and they shed like CRAZY. It's everywhere. (my dog doesn't shed at all - vizsla).
 
I have a loving wife 4 cats and dog sit my mother in laws dog for months at a time. If I ever find a pet hair in my beer I will still drink it ;)
 
I used to have a k-9 but upgraded to the k-10. ;)

I have a cat and it is REALLY easy to keep him under control. We feed the beast a can of wet food about 30 minutes before I start brew day. He eats until he can hold no more then hops up on the bed and sleeps for 6 hours...
 
barneygumble said:
This is my reccomendation. Then I would brew the cat.
Click to expand...
barney, I gave this some serious thought... Boiling, definitely out. Steeping, probably still a little too hot. Once the wort has chilled though, you could probably get excellent O2 transfer by trying to keep the cat in the liquid for awhile. Sorta like dry hopping...:D
 
I brew with 2 cats and a dog, the dog leaves me alone and stays with my girls parents while the cats want to know what's going on right when it's happening. I spilled about 1/4 cup of wort from my kettle to primary and the cat that is usually scared of me braved up, and slowly sniffed around until she found the beer I spilled and looked at me for confirmation lol. As she got closer to my primary which was on the floor while I transferred from kettle to primary I did the usual stomp best her and she left for the next few hours.
So far I haven't had any cathouse ale or cat lagers. :fingers crossed:

Is it an option for you to lock the cats into a different room, a bathroom or a closet for a bit while you do your job?
 
I think that's what I'll be doing. Our cat Lando is a bit clingy to have around during the process I think, so we'll put him up in the office with a nice bowl of soft food while I brew. Thanks all! This was a humorous thread.
 
ianhoopes said:
I am starting my first brew this Sunday at my apartment. My fiancée and I have a huge polydactile black cat, and his hair somehow ends up everywhere. He's an awesome animal, but he loves to be in the kitchen with me when I am cooking or working (which is regularly).

I'm planning to lock him up for the time period of my brew, but I wonder if anyone has best practices for avoiding any lingering cat hair that might be around, or cleaning the stuff up? I can't see it normally but when I sweep the kitchen, I'm usually left with a tiny ball of his hair. We brush him constantly too.

If anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them. I'm planning to get up early this Sunday and give my kitchen a scrubdown before I get to brewing, so I'm hoping that takes care of most of it. I figured, a lot of people frequent this forum and surely at least ONE of you has a cat.

Thanks all!
Click to expand...

I've been brewing with 5-6 cats around for 14+ years. Not a problem. I just wipe the counter off before I use it for beer stuff. Don't worry about the cats.
 

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