Dead mouse (little F'er)

BrewSwag 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
G

Gropo

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2010
Messages
139
Reaction score
0
Location
Leavenworth WA
I'm brewing tomorrow. Today I get everything out to clean and organize, and there's a dead mouse at the bottom of my carboy. By the level of decomposition, I'm guessing he/she probably died about a week ago. Needless to say, the carboy reeks to high-heaven. Will a bleach cleaning de-funkify and sanitize it, or should I consider this vessel trash material?
 
deadmau5.jpg


Toss it.
 
Take the shot. If it works, then you are all good. If it dosent then toss it.
 
If it were me, I think I would have difficulty getting over the psychological factor; a little mold resulting from improper cleaning technique is easily overcome, but a dead animal? I put as much emphasis as possible on sanitary brewing, and I think I would get rid of it simply to maintain peace of mind.
 
Really? No way I'd throw it away. I know it's gross, but we do (speaking for myself) eat meat. What's a mouse? Meat! I'd try some oxyclean for the smell factor, some very hot water and a day or two to soak. If it's glass, what's the harm? There's not that much that sticks to glass.
 
kansasbrew said:
Really? No way I'd throw it away. I know it's gross, but we do (speaking for myself) eat meat. What's a mouse? Meat! I'd try some oxyclean for the smell factor, some very hot water and a day or two to soak. If it's glass, what's the harm? There's not that much that sticks to glass.
Click to expand...

+1 if it is glass...

Bleach soak over night, rinse LOTS
oxy free over night, rinse
star san
ready for use.



FYI a box of plain (not the ones with chemicals/lube) of condoms would save you all this headache to begin with...Just stretch one over the opening and you are debris free until ready for use!
 
It's sitting out in the yard right now with 1/2 a bottle of bleach and 6 gallons of water (it's glass BTW). I'll just primary tomorrow's batch in my 5 gallon carboy w/ a blow-off tube. With enough bleach cleanings, I'm guessing that it HAS to come clean. What stumps me is how the hell it got in there. The nearest thing that it could have jumped from was at least 12" away. The little bastard hit the bull's-eye.
 
If it's glass you're fine. Glass can endure damn near anything and be fully cleaned and sanitized as long as it's not cracked.

If it's a better bottle I give it a 50/50 chance you can recover it. It's definitely worth trying.
 
kansasbrew said:
Really? No way I'd throw it away. I know it's gross, but we do (speaking for myself) eat meat. What's a mouse? Meat! I'd try some oxyclean for the smell factor, some very hot water and a day or two to soak. If it's glass, what's the harm? There's not that much that sticks to glass.
Click to expand...

Yeah...but who ever found a nice juicy steak at the bottom of a carboy :p
 
That depends on the... condition of the condom.

I would go ahead and hit it with bleach, PBW/oxyclean and bleach again. Your bleach solutions should be STRONG. I bought a 5 gal carboy from a coworker with a skeletal mouse in the bottom (package deal with 4 more sans-mouse skeleton) and did the same with no problems to date.
 
PBW or Oxi-Clean is going to do more than bleach. Oxygen cleaners attack organic soil on surfaces (and with Mr. Mouse, you've got one great big hunk of organic soil in your carboy. Dump in a half-cup and fill it halfway with hot tap water. Soak overnight, empty, and inspect. If there's anything still visible, repeat, otherwise go to your sanitizer of choice (Star San would be mine).

I don't ferment in glass carboys, but I sure wouldn't chuck one over a mouse. Tip: I keep the necks of my carboys covered with aluminum foil when not in use.
 
Zamial said:
...FYI a box of plain (not the ones with chemicals/lube) of condoms would save you all this headache to begin with...Just stretch one over the opening and you are debris free until ready for use!
Click to expand...
It's better to find a dead mouse in a condom?
 
wait, a Half a *BOTTLE* of bleach? F@CK, I'd be more worried about bleach contamination, than a shotglass of half-rotten meat!

I clean dead meat off my skillet most nights, and I throw some overlooked samples out, too.
I *NEVER* clean dishes with bleach.

You will be fine. Heck, we survived the Plague.
 
As was mentioned earlier, make sure you rinse the carboy very well after using the bleach solution so you dont end up with any band aid flavored batches. I'd hit it with oxy clean after rinsing it out just to do a double cleaning.
 
Keep the carboy, clean it out well. Bleach will do the job. This happened to me a while back, I filled the cleaned carboy with water and a double dose of bleach (1/2 cup) and kept the full carboy soaking for a week, then named the next batch in the mouse's honor: "Dead Mouse Stout". No worries, relax and have a home brew! Certainly this was a good lesson to keep the carboy plugged up when not in use.
 
I obviously over bleached (1/2 bottle), but I've got irrigation so I'll probably stick a hose in there and let it run for a full day (the death smell is totally gone now). Then I'll PBW it and rinse it again. No more uncovered carboys in storage; a piece of aluminum foil would have avoided this head ache.
 
If I found that I would freak out, rinse the bottle with hotwater+bleach+dawn,fill it with wort and get a new cat. Seriously, I keep about 200- 300 lb of grain in stock in my den, I do not have mice. Get a female cat. They kill just for the fun of it,the males won't bother to hunt unless they are hungry.
 
after a good bleach bath and cleaning you could always stick it in the oven @400 degrees for a while. turn off stove and just open the door and wait till it cools off! guaranteed to kill anything that could harm beer!!
 
in my experience oxy clean should take care of everything. ive bought some bottles that were...gross, to say the least and oxy clean made them look nice, sexy and clean.
 
This just goes to show, keep all carboys full of beer at all times.

Oh and I'd go with a latex glove before a condom. Inside out if it has that powder. Gloves are cheaper than rubbers.
 
Dead mouse won't do anything to glass. Just scrub it good and hit it with a little bleach.

Ain't no thang.
 

Similar threads

CallMeKiupid
Kiupid's Mead Guide for Beginners (like me)
Replies
3
Views
1K
Barzahl
B
T
First All Grain Brew is in the fermenter(long)
Replies
5
Views
1K
beren
beren
MyOwnHoney
Looking for a critique and guidance on my first round of meads (4 batches - testing 2 different yeasts at different ABVs)
Replies
2
Views
1K
MightyMosin
MightyMosin
day_trippr
Yet Another Fermentation Fridge Build
Replies
4
Views
2K
day_trippr
day_trippr
MightyMosin
My yeast notes
Replies
3
Views
2K
MightyMosin
MightyMosin
InkBird 300

Latest posts

Back
Top