Dead Mickey, do I tell them?

[Bensiff]

I converted my 20 gallon Stout to be capable of fermenting, so I had a long blowoff tube running down to a 5 gallon bucket with leftover starsan from the brew. Upon post fermentation cleanup I discovered a mouse had decided to take a swim in the sanitation bucket and met his end. Oh well, not going to waste 10 gallons of saison, just named it Dead Mickey. Question is, should I tell folks or let them be none the wiser?

 

[johngaltsmotor]

With sanitizer in the bucket the chances of anything making it into the fermenter are slim to none so why rustle their feathers. But don't lie if they ask, just brush it off as a humorous anecdote.

 

[JR_Brewer]

"Ok, uh, we found this mouse in a bottle of Elsinore beer that we bought at your beer store, eh? And we heard that when that happens you get your beer free."

 

[wardens355]

Serve each glass with a mouse trap fitted with some fancy cheese.

 

[unionrdr]

I'd say no as long as no suck-back occurred between the blow-off jug & the fermenter. Why freak then out if the beer's OK?

 

[gfinockio]

"Ok, uh, we found this mouse in a bottle of Elsinore beer that we bought at your beer store, eh? And we heard that when that happens you get your beer free."

Exactly my first thought!

I'd tell everyone about it.

 

[Bensiff]

The blowoff was 5' so I'm not worried about suck back. But that bucket and blowoff tube have been retired from future brew operations. I'm thinking when I ask people who come to my house if they want to try some Dead Mickey, if they don't ask what the hell the name means, they will never know. I do think if I bring this to the homebrew club I will let everyone know ahead of time to cover my butt though.

 

[cernst151]

HA! I love the story and I love the name. I wouldn't give half a thought to any concerns with the beer. I'd tell the homebrew club just because it's a good story.

 

[jekeane]

to bad it wasn't a stout you could've gone with the black plague.

 

[bu_gee]

I'd tell 'em... On their second sip. Then I'd offer to share my necropsy results.

 

[grainbill]

If I knew Mick took a dip in a bucket with direct access to my brew I probably wouldn't drink it...how do you know for sure Mick wasn't in your fermenter beforehand and worked his way down through the blo off tube. I've seen mice get through holes the diameter of a dime...and you've heard about rats getting into toilets from sewer lines... Might call it Rats Ass and give it to the neighbors...

 

[bu_gee]

If I knew Mick took a dip in a bucket with direct access to my brew I probably wouldn't drink it...how do you know for sure Mick wasn't in your fermenter beforehand and worked his way down through the blo off tube. I've seen mice get through holes the diameter of a dime...and you've heard about rats getting into toilets from sewer lines... Might call it Rats Ass and give it to the neighbors...

Just to squick you a bit, how would you know that no mice were in any brew you made using a blow-off tube unless you watched it 24 hours a day?

 

[ubnserved]

Nice thing about beer.... no known pathogens hazardous to humans can grow in beer.

Thinking of more names.... was it male or female?

Ps I wouldn't eve worry about it. The grain you brewed with ad a hell of a lot more than a mouse near it.

 

[Bensiff]

If I knew Mick took a dip in a bucket with direct access to my brew I probably wouldn't drink it...how do you know for sure Mick wasn't in your fermenter beforehand and worked his way down through the blo off tube. I've seen mice get through holes the diameter of a dime...and you've heard about rats getting into toilets from sewer lines... Might call it Rats Ass and give it to the neighbors...

If that mouse jumped into the bucket of starsan, climbed up a 5 foot tube, dove into a 20 gallon Stout tank, took a swim, then crawled up a stainless wall, crossed the bottom side of a stainless lid, then back down the tubing only to die in the starsan Id drink it just to honor the guy and would rename it Dead Mighty Mouse.

 

[ubnserved]

How about mouse drop ale, 'drop' of course has 2 meanings in this case. Being this close to Halloween maybe zombie mouse brew.

 

[Bensiff]

to bad it wasn't a stout you could've gone with the black plague.

Ironically enough. I have this tap already...

 

[unionrdr]

Well, how about "Creeping Death? Kinda fits...

 

[boondocksaint]

I would def drink your Farmhouse Mouse Ale....Or Mer-Mouse Saison?

 

[mrmcdowe]

I would be pissed if you gave me that beer! Gross! I would dump it sorry!



Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[Bensiff]

I would be pissed if you gave me that beer! Gross! I would dump it sorry!



Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

Given how many rodents were around the grain in the field and as it was processed before I bought it, I'm honestly not worried. I'm more likely to fall ill from sweeping my garage up and breathing in the dust from the floor Mickey was running around on.

 

[geoffey]

You either tell people before you serve it to them, or you don't tell them at all. I can imagine many, MANY, people not understanding the physics of the airlock. That and the just plain gross factor could have many people pissed off at you if you tell them AFTER they drink it. You'll be blamed for every illness for the next few months!

Anecdote related to this: When I was in England for a semester in college we visited an old farm which used to make cider. The one take-away I can remember from it is that they open fermented the cider in these huge wooden vats. They told us that mice and rats would climb in there and drown all the time but were always left in there during fermentation because it turned out the enzymes (or something to that effect - this was 15+ years ago) were good for the cider and made it taste better. We all laughed, . . . but most of us stuck to only drinking beer the rest of the semester and laid off the cider.

 

[CJ1]

I would drink it without thinking twice. Everyone has had mice a heck of a lot closer to their food than that mouse was to your beer.

 

[mrmcdowe]

If you want to drink it do it! My problem is giving it to someone and not telling or telling after. I feel we as brewers have a responsibility to error on the side of caution on sanitary things.

Yes mice are in the grains at times. But you boil that out. The thought of a dead mouse in the blow off bucket then having it come any where near my finished product makes my stomach I'll. IMHO


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[Bensiff]

I'll tell them, but I will hold to the name as my legal disclaimer .

 

[hunter_le five]

How did the Mausbier turn out?

 

[Bensiff]

So far, interestingly. I started it with the DuPont yeast, which crapped out on me in the 1.030's...typical for that yeast. So I tossed in some 3711 because that is a beast. It took things down to 1.012 before calling it done. So, higher than anticipated; but it's good enough to not toss. I racked it into a 10 gallon Corsair distillery gin barrel. Corsair does spiced rum, empties, and then puts gin on it so there is some amazing stuff going on in that barrel. I just hope it meshes with the saison. It was tasty when I racked it and am hoping the barrel turns it into a flavor bomb and not a mess. Perhaps I will pull a sample this weekend.