I hate how mice love barley

[Shoemaker]

Opened up my closet, low and behold, my bags of grain, which were already milled, have holes from mice. One of them, the grain is completely out, so I won't be using that. A couple of others, just the bottom corner have holes in them and it looks like a little grain was eaten.

Should I use these? I'm afraid the grain got stale, contaiminated from mice/air.

 

[SumnerH]

If they're just little bags (probable since they were milled) I'd chuck 'em, but I'm a little paranoid. If they're 50 lb sacks or something, I'd discard some from around the entry point and keep.

I also buy pre-milled grain, just enough for the next brew or two. I keep it in my brew kettle with the lid on, which is on a high shelf in the basement--that's relatively mouse-proof. When I'm actively brewing, I set it on the kitchen counter until the kettle's clean and dry and ready to put away again.

I read an article or a post on an old commercial German brewing text once that someone was translating; it was pretty amusing that something like a third of the book was dedicated to the care and maintenance of your cats and other means of keeping mice at bay.

 

[Sawdustguy]

I am a little paranoid also. I would heave them. I know Hanta Virus is very rare but it is fatal 33% of the time and with my luck it would bite me in the ass. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[hamiltont]

We have a guard cat, literally. She's run people off our porch & rode the neighbor's dog home a few times (she has some pretty nice spurs on her boots). Never had a mouse problem.

 

[pernox]

From the Army's website regarding Hantavirus...

* Use only tap, bottled water, or water that has been disinfected by filtration, boiling, chlorination, or iodination for drinking, cooking, washing dishes, and brushing teeth

Seems to me that boiling will render water potable in cases with possible Hantavirus exposure. I would have to assume that the 90-60m boil we do on our beers would have the same effect.

Please note that I'm not a microbiologist and if you use your grain and get yourself dead or maimed, don't send your disembodied spirit after me, 'kay?

source

 

[Sawdustguy]

From the Army's website regarding Hantavirus...



Seems to me that boiling will render water potable in cases with possible Hantavirus exposure. I would have to assume that the 90-60m boil we do on our beers would have the same effect.

Please note that I'm not a microbiologist and if you use your grain and get yourself dead or maimed, don't send your disembodied spirit after me, 'kay?

source

I agree with what you say but my concearn is with mouse droppings being in the grain. You get Hanta Virus from inhailing infected mouse poop. With my luck I could just see me inhale a facefull of grain dust infected with Hanta Virus. As I said in my first post, tounge in cheek, it's my luck that I would get the virus when in fact it is a very, very rare disease.

 

[Shoemaker]

Haha well I don't see any mouse crap near the holes- they are pretty small so I doubt the mouse actually went in the bag. From what I see, they just nibbled through
It. I'll let you know if I die from my homebrew, lol

 

[marzsit]

i store bulk items in clean, galvanized steel garbage cans that i bought specifically for food storage, haven't had a problem since. i used to use plastic cans, but the rodents chewed through the plastic pretty fast...

 

[Sawdustguy]

Haha well I don't see any mouse crap near the holes- they are pretty small so I doubt the mouse actually went in the bag. From what I see, they just nibbled through
It. I'll let you know if I die from my homebrew, lol

Does that mean if you die from your homebrew, you will never speak to me again?

 

[skirunnr]

FYI - mice don't have bladders. I'm not saying the mice were running around urinating on your grain, but that's a concern in my industry (very similar processes to brewing - including storage of "mouse food" that is NOT intended for mice).

 

[evanmars]

FYI - mice don't have bladders...

-ish

These guys are gonna be pissed when they realize how much time they wasted on these studies...
http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v5/n9/full/nn902.html

http://www.jurology.com/article/S0022-5347(09)02615-9/abstract

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/167/3920/996

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8293542

http://tpx.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/26/1/128

http://toxsci.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/60/2/279

Sorry, bored at work...

 

[EoinMag]

It's not that they don't have bladders, they are incontinent and just piss all the time.

 

[skirunnr]

Wow, that's the last time I take for granted the word from a PhD who is certified by the Department of Public Health and American Board of Medical Microbiology (someone I work with).... my apologies.

 

[david_42]

I've got a couple Rubber Maid containers where they've chewed through the side or top.

On a separate note: Boss Bailey snagged another Silvertail Squirrel today. They have set up house-keeping in my crawl space and try to chew through the ducting. Makes a heck of a noise, but I'm more concerned about the wiring down there.

 

[Mikethepoolguy]

Does anybody know a good urologist for my robo hamsters?

 

[richkev]

hmmm, that's interesting. I use Vittles Vaults to store my grains. Anyone ever have any problem with mice chewing through those? They seem pretty solid, but mice have a way of getting into almost anything...

 

[Jethro]

I thought the Hanta Virus was carried by deer mice. I dunno what I'd do if I was on your shoes; prolly depends on how many beers I've has on brewday.

Do you actually seen any droppings in the bag? I might try and salvage what I could. You are doing a 60 min. boil after all...

Ever see what FDA allows in processed food? I hear they have limits on how many bugs and rodent hairs allowed in foodstuffs and it isn't zero.