Bees in brew!

[danceswithbeer]

This last Sunday I brewed a mini-mash Honey Porter, as the boil got going I noticed bees starting to enter the garage and fly around the brewpot, at any time there were 10-15 bees around. When I emptied the brewpot through the counterflow wort chiller I found a dead bee at the bottom of the brewpot, and when I flushed out the chiller another bee came out of it! I suppose they won't harm the brew as they were boiled. I guess the 2 pounds of honey in the extract attracted them to the boil. Making mead next, I expect a swarm! Any similar incidents?

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

This last Sunday I brewed a mini-mash Honey Porter, as the boil got going I noticed bees starting to enter the garage and fly around the brewpot, at any time there were 10-15 bees around. When I emptied the brewpot through the counterflow wort chiller I found a dead bee at the bottom of the brewpot, and when I flushed out the chiller another bee came out of it! I suppose they won't harm the brew as they were boiled. I guess the 2 pounds of honey in the extract attracted them to the boil. Making mead next, I expect a swarm! Any similar incidents?

No similar experiences, but I do note that your user name is one letter away from danceswithbees! I'm sure someone wittier then I could come up with a catchy name for your apicultural brew...Honeybee Porter seems woefully obvious.

 

[Darth Konvel]

No similar experiences, but I do note that your user name is one letter away from danceswithbees! I'm sure someone wittier then I could come up with a catchy name for your apicultural brew...Honeybee Porter seems woefully obvious.

At least you could put "Honeybee Porter ... Now made with 100% real Bees!" on the label. (It's too early in the morning, I've got nothing )

 

[david_42]

I have yellowjacket hornets zooming around during the brewing process. Haven't found any in the brew so far, but that's what strainers are for. I've had mouse nests in the kettle. Not during the boil fortunately. According to Palmer, anything smaller that a crayon or a bat shouldn't bee a problem.

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

According to Palmer, anything smaller that a crayon or a bat shouldn't bee a problem.

That would be a wicked Halloween brew! I occasionally see some in the yard around dusk...

 

[Darth Konvel]

That would be a wicked Halloween brew! I occasionally see some in the yard around dusk...

I've already been told that I look like a warlock stiring my mash tun and boil pot. Throwing a real bat or two in would raise too much suspicion

 

[Walker]

Just go all german with the name for this: Honigbienebrau (honey bee brew)

-walker

 

[sudsmonkey]

A Bee In Every Bottle ! We had too much rain here over the past 2 weeks. Ran the ants into the house to escape the flooding, I guess. Woke up one morning to an airlock full of drowned ants. They were on the air side, not the beer side. Poor bastards.

 

[david_42]

Not that I care even slightly for the suffering of ants, but dying within sniffing distance of homebrew is a sad thing.

 

[El Pistolero]

Woke up one morning to an airlock full of drowned ants.

My mom had a bunch of mean sisters too, but I never thought about shovin em in an airlock.

 

[Rhoobarb]

Yes! I brewed an IPA two Sundays ago and it was the first time I had brewed in the garage and not the backyard. Every once in awhile a bee would fly into the garage. As I was siphoning into the fermenter, I saw a dead bee floating in the wort. Luckily, I had a sanitized strainer and I scooped the happy bee out!

 

[sudsmonkey]

I'd have left him in until the secondary stage. Wonderous things are often discovered by accident. Bee brew might be the wave of the future.

 

[El Pistolero]

Kind of like the worm in the bottom of the bottle of mezcal.

 

[sudsmonkey]

Exactly. The Brew that stings. I could see it becoming a big thing. Wish I'd have dumped those ants in the secondary now ! Might've been fire ants.

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

If only we had scorpions around here...

 

[El Pistolero]

Down here we have palmetto bugs...they're like a 2 inch long cockroach. What do you all think?

 

[sudsmonkey]

You know there are black widows in the Triangle. If I used one of them, I think I'd just kinda steep it prior to the boil and then throw it out.

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

You know there are black widows in the Triangle. If I used one of them, I think I'd just kinda steep it prior to the boil and then throw it out.

Yeah. I've never been bitten by a black widow, but I have had Rocky Mtn Spotted Fever! Perhaps a tick... We could do a group brew and you have to include the insect/arachnid of your choice. Kind of a homebrewtalk.com Fear Factor.

 

[sudsmonkey]

Yeah ! Ticks would be a more N.C. kinda brew, though the mosquto would also work. It just takes so many of them for a five gallon batch.

 

[Walker]

the crawlspace under my house it crawling with Brown Recluse spiders. Can we say Tissue Necrosis?

My thinking when I moved in here was tha I was going to keep my carboys there. Then I opened the door and saw what was waiting to eat me.

Haven't been back there since, but maybe if we're brewing critterbeer.

-walker