Dead mouse in carboy

[wwwdotcomdotnet]

Last summer when helping my parents out with some duct work I was under their house in a crawl space and noticed a 5 gallon glass carboy but never thought much of it since I hadn't started brewing yet. The house was built in the 50's and by the looks of it, it has probably been down there since. It was in perfect shape, but there was a dead mouse in it! Would anyone advise me not to use it? I am thinking that soaking it in bleach numerous times would take care of anything nasty in there once I get the cadaver out

 

[xxdcmast]

I would grab it and use it. Bleach, oxyclean, starsan, iodine the hell out of it. Basically give it a good clean/soak and then sanitize before you put your beer in it.

 

[wwwdotcomdotnet]

Maybe I'll use it as is. Ever hear of that asian liquor with baby mice fetuses in them? I'm sure the dead mouse residue will just add flavor. MMMMM, residue.

 

[menschmaschine]

Well, since you're still alive, you didn't get hanta virus.

Bacteria is your main concern at this point. Clean the $hit out of it and sanitize the $hit out of it. After that, it's all mental.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Take it to Elsinore Brewery.

 

[staffVAJoe]

I do not think you should be able to post questions like this without pictures ... ...

I'm just saying

 

[wwwdotcomdotnet]

I'll definitely get down there next time I visit and grab it. And here I was about to buy one from some dude on CL. This one will have wayyyy more mojo.

 

[ChshreCat]

You should use it to make wine. See?

It's right there on the wheel.

 

[wwwdotcomdotnet]

I will definitely take a picture of it when I grab it. I plan on getting over there this weekend for the holiday. Hopefully it is as I remembered. I'm almost positive it was a 5 gallon carboy, but could be a 3 gallon. Stay tuned.

 

[kornkob]

And now you have a name for your brewery:

Rodent Corpse Brews

 

[JesseRC]

I wonder if you could use some caustic cleaner on it first like BLC, then rinse , pbw for a week, then rinse and starsan.

 

[2nd Street Brewery]

I got a couple of old carboys from a friend who stopped brewing that had a couple of dead mice in them. No problem with cleaning them out and reusing them. Once you get all the crude out and steralize them good it's no biggy

 

[Gordie]

Take it to Elsinore Brewery.

I'm so bummed that someone made the Elsinore reference before I could... drat...

 

[Ceedubya]

I'm so bummed that someone made the Elsinore reference before I could... drat...

Take off eh? Hoser just sort of rode in on my coattail!

You can make your first brew a Hantavirus Hefeweizen.

 

[conpewter]

Definitely use it, a good long oxyclean soak would probably be enough, a soak with bleach water as well wouldn't hurt. Then plenty of rinsing and your regular sanitizer.

 

[DeathBrewer]

Use really hot water and oxyclean and let it soak overnight. Rinse and repeat. Then rinse well and sanitize. That outta do it.

 

[eschatz]

Take it to Elsinore Brewery.

That's freaking awesome...

 

[homebrewer_99]

Mike: So, how was that last batch?

Ike: The mice were committing suicide to get a taste of it!!

 

[ChillyP]

When you say mice corpse.....is it with or without the flesh still on it?

 

[bigbadMF]

Thats happened to me more than once... sanitized and used and just fine....fur gets stuck in yer teeth tho...

 

[ghpeel]

DUDE me too! I found a 5 gallon glass carboy that was about 50 years old in my parent's shed. Had 2 dead mice in it: one skeleton and one dried mummy. My regular house ale is called 'ZOMBIE MOUSE ALE'.

 

[danorocks17]

maybe people should quit using mouse traps and just put a couple of carboys in their house for rodent control

 

[BierMuncher]

I wonder how many time that little sh!t tried scampering up the glass walls trying to get out.

 

[Dr_Deathweed]

I wonder how many time that little sh!t tried scampering up the glass walls trying to get out.

Now that there is just morbid

 

[sempf]

This is the funniest thread in recent memory. We need a thread about brew names. I named a beer "Leaden Lager" because I broke my hydrometer into the first batch. Now I ceremoniously dip a lead sinker in each batch.

S

 

[pompeiisneaks]

LOL nothing like a little lead poisoning to make the beer better

 

[jcdillin]

I hear it adds sweetness

 

[conpewter]

I hear it adds sweetness

Well only in a lambic

Even some inorganic compounds are sweet, including beryllium chloride and lead acetate. The latter may have contributed to lead poisoning among the ancient Roman aristocracy: the Roman delicacy sapa was prepared by boiling soured wine (containing acetic acid) in lead pots.

 

[wwwdotcomdotnet]

I didn't end up going into the crawl space over the weekend to get the carboy. It was pouring rain so I figured I'd wait for better weather. I don't know when I am going there next, but probably sometime within the next month. Pics to follow, of course.

 

[cactusgarrett]

Quick word of advice - don't tell ANYONE who you think will drink ANY of your beer about it, unless you don't want them to EVER drink your beer again, or you know they'll be cool with it. You'd be surprised what freaks people out.

 

[DeathBrewer]

I'll drink it. It's not like I've never had mouse carcass before.

 

[mw20]

I had a dead mouse in my carboy a couple of years ago. Clean, bleach, rinse, no problems. The first batch after that did have me kind of nervous, but I'm still here and all the beer has been good. P.S. My mouse was still pretty much intact and had kind of started to turn to jello!

 

[giligson]

I'll drink it. It's not like I've never had mouse carcass before.

Sure - anyone ever hear of hotdogs?

BTW I remember a post recently where one member had a dead mouse in one of his stored open bottles.

 

[zac]

Mouse bodies? Heck... how many PPM rat poop is in the grain YOU use everytime you brew....

I'm not saying I like it, I'm just saying.

 

[llazy_llama]

Mouse bodies? Heck... how many PPM rat poop is in the grain YOU use everytime you brew....

I'm not saying I like it, I'm just saying.

About 5,000 ppm, but that's because I have pet rats, and I'm working on an experimental Rat Poo Roggenbier.

 

[carnevoodoo]

About 5,000 ppm, but that's because I have pet rats, and I'm working on an experimental Rat Poo Roggenbier.

Rodenschatzenbier.

 

[eschatz]

Rodenschatzenbier.

Hey!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[PavlovsCat]

The German word for mouse fur is: Mausepelz with an unglaut over the "a". Your friends and probable home brew consumers would just think it was a fancy German beer name.

Or.. Mauseknochen = mouse bones

 

[Clayton]

ya this happond to me too.. i had some carboys stored in my barn and one of them had a dead mouse in it.. it was just a pile of bones and fur, you coulds see where the maggots cleaned it right and then turned to flys and flew off.

It was mega gross I just filled it up with water a bleach and let it soke then cleaned as normal. i store my carboys on there side now in carboy crates got a bunch of them from a local bottaling company