Would you use a carboy that has had a dead mouse in it for 10+ years?

Found a carboy in a relatives basement that has been the final resting place for two of the critters for a looong time.

Would you use it?

If its never going to be safe for brewing, can I use it for something else?

Clean it, sanitize it, and brew in it. Glass is very forgiving.

Just use it. The mouse has long since dried up, and anything bad associated is long gone. Clean it, sanitize it, make sure there are no scratches, and get to fermenting!

Empty it and fill it with bleach water for a couple of days. Scrub really well and repeat. Rinse well.

It should be good to go.

I'd use it.

Fingers said:

Clean it, sanitize it, and brew in it. Glass is very forgiving.

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+1,000 It'll be fine. A fortunate find. Heck you could just leave 'em in there!! Make a new recipe! Ratfink Pale. Dead mouse Maibock. Rat DRAT Dubbel. :rockin:

I would never use a dead mouse in my beer. It's much better to use live ones. You could probably just steep a dead one, but live ones must be mashed. Actually, smashed and mashed would be best.

Sounds like a plan. I originaly bought 1, 3 gallon carboy, and now this will be the 10th, 5 gallon working volume carboy, all hand me downs. Talk about a pipeline, they are all full and only 1 with starsan.

Catt22 said:

I would never use a dead mouse in my beer. It's much better to use live ones. You could probably just steep a dead one, but live ones must be mashed. Actually, smashed and mashed would be best.

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HA HA HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!! That sounds simply breath taking!:rockin:

Catt22: Would you advise a protien rest with that?

that protein has been resting for 10 years already!

use it.

soak overnight with some oxyclean in there, brush down with carboy brush, sanitize and fill!!

yes................

Take it to the liquor store, and try and get a free 24 pack of elsinore. I heard they have to give you free beer for that

Heck yea, I'd use it...I just wouldn't tell the wife about the critters.

Take off, eh?

QueenCityALER said:

Heck you could just leave 'em in there!! Make a new recipe! Ratfink Pale. Dead mouse Maibock. Rat DRAT Dubbel. :rockin:

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Or Guinness, considering the origin of their "distinct" flavor back in the day was rats and rat droppings. Mmmmmm

I'd use if the mouse had been dead 10 years or 10 minutes.

Acumen said:

Catt22: Would you advise a protien rest with that?

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Of course! For the live ones it is suggested a step smash then a stepped mash after the requisite protein rest.

Making beer with the mouse may not be the best option. You could make a wonderful chili if you could collect enough of them and the hides could be made into a fine jacket. A mouse is a terrible thing to waste.

beesy said:

use it.

soak overnight with some oxyclean in there, brush down with carboy brush, sanitize and fill!!

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I would advise against using Oxyclean on the mouse and a carboy brush would be much too large anyway. If you must brush the mouse, something much smaller would be more appropriate. Maybe a toothbrush or vegetable brush would be a better choice. Oxyclean will remove most of the aroma and flavor components of the corpse. Is this what you really want?

As you already know, I already have!

What I thought was a small pile of dead leaves, turned out to be a mummified mouse. I used a carboy brush, flushed it with water, rinsed with a jet sprayer, then cleaned with A one cleanser (like oxyclean). I didn't sanitize because, at the time, I thought the A one was a sanitizer, and my beer still came out OK with no contamination. I have since found Star San and love the stuff. I've had a batch of Ed Wort's Apfelwein in it now for about a month since the beer and it's showing no signs of contamination.

Go for it.:rockin:

There was a dead mouse in a carboy that was in my basement. It hadn't been used since my dad stopped brewing in the early/mid 90's. I sanitized and brewed "Wretched Rodent Pale Ale", my first non MrBeer brew. So yea, I agree. Go for it!

"Blind Mice Triple" (three blind mice) will have to be in the works, although in this case it was only 2. Maybe a "Doppel Blind Mouse Bock" is a better name, although a third could always be included in the mash.

Ha, no I just got it! The Better Mouse Trappist Ale!!!! Perfect!

I will provide the recipe in a week or two after I brew it!

Cool! I named mine Mouse Nuts Brown Ale!

Reno_eNVy_446 said:

Or Guinness, considering the origin of their "distinct" flavor back in the day was rats and rat droppings. Mmmmmm

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And a credible source for that story is?

Not if the mouse was still in there....OTOH, pretty easy to clean glass, as has been outlined previously in this thread.

I have two glass carboys I got from my grandfather which he estimates to be about 60 years old, from an old spring water company in the hills of upstate NY. My parents used them for a while to make wine, and I have taken them over. I love them, the glass is very thick and strong, I dont think I could break one if I wanted too.

carl spakler said:

And a credible source for that story is?

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It's legend, but here's how it goes:

When Guiness was first making their beer, of course, it was a success. One day, the health inspector came around and asked them to drain their vats to do an inspection. At the bottom of the vats, they found many dead rats. Guiness removed the rats and continued production. All of a sudden, the beer tasted horrible. Guiness came to the conclusion that it was the rats that gave the beer such a desireable taste, but the health inspector wouldn’t allow it, so they bought pieces of meat and threw those into the vats, and that is what makes Guiness what it is today.

No I would not use it at all, if you want you can send it to me and I will deal with it accordingly.