two questions

[OldHooky]

I thought of brewing a batch on the spur of the moment, and no time to make a starter. I just transfered a batch to secondary, and thought about adding the fresh wort to the yeast at the bottom of the primary. Anyone ever do this?

Second question is: I found a mouse inside my grain container. He/she hasn't been there long since I brewed last Sunday. Are there any worries about using the grain? I assume that most breweries have a certain amount of fecal matter in their grain(how can they avoid it?) I figured with the boiling it should be safe.

[danno]

I've never pitched directly onto a yeast cake, although lots of people have done it (I reuse yeast as often as possible, though, it works every time...) I've seen pics where people just pour the new wort into the old carboy... obviously with this method you'd probably want to do a darker beer than the previous batch...

Secondly, I think you're right. other than the "eww" factor, the boil will kill anything nasty... you could even call the batch "dead mouse stout"...

[brewmonkey]

I used to have a cat I kept in the grain room for that reason. One day the health inspector told me the cat was a no-go. When I explained to him what 4 tons of malt might attract he changed his story. :D

Like has been said, the ewww factor is the big thing. The amount of matter in the grain that might make it to the boil is small and the boil should take care of it.

[Otis_The_Drunk]

Yes you can reuse the yeast.

I'm with the others with the mouse situation.
You have a lot more grain in one brew than a mouse can excrete.

BTW, don't tell any of your friends that there was a mouse in the grain until after they have finished a beer :D

[OldHooky]

I just dumped the new wort into the old carboy, on top of the old yeast. I've never seen a fermentation start so fast. Within 2 hours it was bubbling like crazy. I went down this morning and the airlock was blown out.

As for the name, I've settled on "Browneye Ale"

Thanks for the help.

I'll never forget the look on that mouses face when I opened up the grain bin. I'll never figure out how he got into that rubbermaid container.

[ray m]

Heh heh heh......"Browneye Ale".................that's awesome!

[MrMethane]

Originally posted by OldHooky
I'll never forget the look on that mouses face when I opened up the grain bin. I'll never figure out how he got into that rubbermaid container. Those little bastards find their way into everything. I have had one this year who was nearly uncatchable. He would avoid all my traps, he ate the food off of them without triggering the trap. I had to resort to the glue traps, though I think they are a bit cruel I was getting sick of finding mouse crap everywhere and throwing out food that he got into. But he even avoided the glue traps.

I moved my grain bin up high because I was worried about him getting into it, although I don't know how he would have, but he got into lots of things I never thought he would. I actually haven't checked to make sure that he didn't but I will tonight after reading this. At least now I don't feel so paranoid, knowing that its possible..

He did manage to get up onto a table in my kitchen which was away from the walls and has tiny round legs, I still haven't figured out how he got up on it. I have since caught him, the bastard finally made a mistake. I came out into the kitchen and he was on that table again, he saw me, paniced and jumped off right onto a glue trap. Victory is mine.

[ray m]

Mr.Methane, for future reference if you ever have a mouse problem again: Last winter, I had a family of 13 mice living in the wall of my upstairs bedroom. I tried for 2 months to catch the damn thins with both spring traps and glue traps, laden with peanut butter. The peanut butter would be gone and the trap didn't snap shut.

I finally got to my boiling point and called terminix. The key to mouse traps is you have to put 2 traps right next to each other, longways. When a mouse gets to a trap, it'll jump over it. So, when you put two traps together, it jumps over the 1st & lands on the 2nd one. I did this with the glue traps and caught everyone of those little bastards in 5 days!!

[BluesHarp]

This is great...grown men bragging about finally outsmarting a 2 oz. rodent...

It's true, though, isn't it? Those little buggers are mighty clever...when they want to be.......:D

[MrMethane]

Originally posted by ray m
The key to mouse traps is you have to put 2 traps right next to each other, longways. When a mouse gets to a trap, it'll jump over it. So, when you put two traps together, it jumps over the 1st & lands on the 2nd one. I did this with the glue traps and caught everyone of those little bastards in 5 days!! Thanks a lot ray, I'm sure I'll have more of them, I probably already do. This was the second one I caught this year and its not even winter yet. When it gets cold they come in. I'll have to set up some more traps in this fashion.

Its actually pretty damn remarkable how mice have evolved to now understand our standard traps and avoid them. I wonder if they teach their young how to or if its instinctive. They must have some knowledge of these traps because they identify them and either circumvent them or just steal the bait.

lol BluesHarp, I have to admit I was pretty excited to catch that little guy he evaded me for over a month eating things I never thought he could reach. When I caught him I even gloated over him like an evil villian in a 007 movie.

[ray m]

Originally posted by MrMethane:
________________________________________
Thanks a lot ray, I'm sure I'll have more of them, I probably already do. This was the second one I caught this year and its not even winter yet. When it gets cold they come in. I'll have to set up some more traps in this fashion.

Its actually pretty damn remarkable how mice have evolved to now understand our standard traps and avoid them. I wonder if they teach their young how to or if its instinctive. They must have some knowledge of these traps because they identify them and either circumvent them or just steal the bait.
________________________________________

Just one more li'l tidbit of info: If you have a family of mice, you'll catch the parents first. When the "kids" start realizing mom & dad ain't comin' back, then they have to fend for themselves and start going after their own food. Then you'll start catching them, usually 2 or 3 at a time. I'm sold on the glue traps....put a decent sized dab of peanut butter in the middle of it for bait and you'll definitely get them. Mice can't resist peanut butter! I would say if you put the glue traps out w/ peanut butter and aren't catching mice and the peanut butter is not being eaten, then you no longer have a problem.
:)

[MrMethane]

Originally posted by ray m
I would say if you put the glue traps out w/ peanut butter and aren't catching mice and the peanut butter is not being eaten, then you no longer have a problem.
:) I actually had several glue traps armed with peanut butter out for a while and this other mouse had just ignored them completely for over a month. I thought my probelms were solved until I went to get some food out of the pantry and found the mouse got into just about everything that wasn't in a can or jar. I had to toss a ton of rice and pasta. Thats when I sought vengeance.

I put a trap in my pantry where I had found eaten food and i caught the first mouse, then I put another in there with peanut butter and I haven't caught anything since. This new mouse kept avoiding it. I only managed to catch him because he got careless. Every now and then I'd come out in the kitchen at night and he'd quickly run and hide under the counter so I put a glue trap out right in front of where he kept going. But nothing, I only managed to catch my girlfriend...several times actually. The mouse, however, had avoided this trap for a long time. Then I startled him one night and he jumped right onto it.

I never did replace that trap, I should set another one in case there is a family there. I want to take all those little buggers out. I tried to be nice at first, in fact I actually took the first one to work, which is far from my apartment, and let him go in the woods. But now I'm out for blood, I let the other one die stuck to the glue trap. Right after I caught him I put him outside in the cold. Just before I put him out there I looked him in the eyes and said "Look at me and when you take your last breath remember me......I did this to you"

Thanks again for the advice ray, these mice are driving me insane as you can tell. I was getting pretty close to riggin up some sort of automated motion sensitive gun turret to take to f*ckers out.