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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  Primetabs ("Mike Sharp")
  SOSB Save Our Sinking Beer ("swamp")
  RE: Cooper's vs PrimeTabs ("Brian Lundeen")
  Re: Cooper's Drops - my first experience (Demonick)
  Whiplash and Gekko body. Corny beer, out of control  controller, green beer ("Dave Burley")
  Re: Cooper's Drops ("Richard S. Sloan")
  re: beer in San Antonio (Rob Zamites)
  San Antonio ("Spencer W. Thomas")
  moisture content of fresh hops ("Janie Curry")


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Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 20:29:38 -0700
From: "Mike Sharp" <rdcpro at hotmail.com>
Subject: Primetabs


Robert Marshall muses that:

"I'll be trying Primetabs somewhere down the road. They just seem like
an 
easier product to use."


It sounds like they are WAY easier to use.  They're nice and dry, and if
you're quick with the capper, you can even use them to bump up the
carbonation in a previously under-primed bottle.

Regards,
Mike Sharp




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Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 23:41:55 -0400
From: "swamp" <swamp at phlo.net>
Subject: SOSB Save Our Sinking Beer

Ok people here is what we know:
 - Belgian Strong Ale Brewed on 5/15 (maiden voyage) 
 - 1.080 Original Specific Gravity (stormy activity, WLP550)
 - Racked to Secondary on 5/29
 - Fare amount of flocculation observed in secondary. (conditions cloudy but
clearing)
 - Racked to bottles on 6/12 (note used left over turbinado sugar for priming)
 - 1.013 Final Specific Gravity

Ok so here it is. Had planned to allow the beer to age for 4 or so months.
But, paranoia and curiosity called for a little taste yesterday. She is
completely flat, no carbonation what so ever. We fear that the yeast is gone
and will have to resort to desperate re-pitching.

After a little searching, this is what we've heard:
 - Be patient the high alcohol content will inhibit yeast activity. Wait
another month and check again.
 - Agitate the bottles it provoke what yeast is left from their slumber. Wait
and try again.
 - A "pinch" of dry yeast and priming sugar can be added to each bottle and
re-capped. (whoosh this sounds risky)
 - And my own personal theory is to dump all bottles back to a fermenter,
re-pitch, what for signs of life, re-prime, and re-bottle. (Ugh, don't really
want to go through it all again)

So who can help us save our beer, with some quick reassurance and or expert
knowledge and experience? If "bottle" pitching sounds like a reasonable course
of action, will the dry Nottingham prevent the high fluffy peaks of head, we
have sailed for so long?

Thanks,
 -Darren	
- -- 
+---------------------------------------------+



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Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2004 08:51:31 -0500
From: "Brian Lundeen" <BLundeen at rrc.mb.ca>
Subject: RE: Cooper's vs PrimeTabs

> Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 17:52:30 -0700
> From: Robert Marshall <robertjm at hockeyhockeyhockey.com>
> Subject: Cooper's Drops - my first experience

> I still have about half a bag left over, so will use them again, 
> probably trying them with only one drop per bottle, but I'm thinking 
> I'll be trying Primetabs somewhere down the road. They just 
> seem like an 
> easier product to use.
> 
Sounds like you had the same experience that I've heard from other
people. My mail order supplier up here in Canada, Paddock Wood, is now
selling the drops because they say that they can't get the PrimeTabs
anymore. 

Why Domenick, why? Do you hate Canadians or something? Are we not worthy
of your little sugar pills? I tried contacting you by email many months
ago about this and I never heard back from you, so maybe a little public
prodding will get an answer out of you. Seriously, is your product
available in Canada? I would really like to buy it, but not if I have to
deal with customs and cross-border shipping costs. I'll batch prime with
some table sugar before I go that route.

Cheers
Brian, in Winnipeg



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Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2004 07:27:34 -0700
From: Demonick <demonick at zgi.com>
Subject: Re: Cooper's Drops - my first experience

Robert,

Send your snaily to info at primetab.com and I'll send you a couple packs of
PrimeTab.  

Domenick Venezia
Venezia & Company, LLC
Maker of PrimeTab
(206) 782-1152  phone
(206) 782-6766  fax
Seattle, WA
demonick at zgi dot com
http://www.primetab.com



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Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2004 11:15:26 -0400
From: "Dave Burley" <Dave_Burley at charter.net>
Subject: Whiplash and Gekko body. Corny beer, out of control  controller, green beer

Brewsters:

Our nearly ephermeral Ozzie, Graham Sanders,  ( You are still on this mortal
coil and not using a ghost writer I presume) is suffering from Whiplash.

Having been hit by a Japanese who was driving my golfcart some years  ago, I
suffered whiplash and fiddled around with it for a year, going through all
sorts of antics and seeing all sorts of "legitimate" doctors, neurosurgeons,
massage therapists, etc.  So I can well imagine you are not pleased at the
prospect of continuing this much longer.

What worked for me was going in desperation to a Chiropractor. Before this, I
considered this to be a complete waste of time and that these guys were akin
to charlatans. But a colleague had been whacked from behind at 50 miles per
hour ( 80 kph) while he was sitting still at a traffic signal.  Can you say
whiplash!  He suggested I go to his chiropractor who cured him in three days.

I was so bunged up, the Chiropractor had to body block me against the wall but
he popped the two out-of-place vertebrae and the feeling returned to my hand
in a couple of days after a year of screwing around with a conventional
approach.

I now understand that medical doctors can fix chemical problems and
chiropractors can fix mechanical ones. Find a good one and give it a try.

You can still fake it when SWMBO gets that glint in her eye.
- ------------
Also, I recall reading many times about using a rooster to add body to an ale,
so I wonder if your gekko ale will benefit from a better mouthfeel?
- -------------------
Mel Kemp is dehydrating some sweet corn and plans to brew with it.

Mel I would just cut it off the cob fresh and cook it to gelatinize the
starch. Pass it through a blender or food processor quickly  as I do my cooked
whole barley and you will have something which you can use right away and no
bother drying it or trying to grind it. For those less fortunate individuals
without access to fresh corn try using fresh frozen corn.

- ---------------------
Dave Weeks is having trouble with his controller.

Often the problem is with the cable connections and not the thermocouple.
Check that out first.  It may be as simple as applying some silicon adhesive
to seal up the insulation.

I'd talk to Omega  at  www.omega.com and see what they have to say.
- ------------
Jim, I'd keep that Jockey box which dispenses green beer until next St Patty's
day or rinse the tubing with vinegar and then water before storing it. Blow it
out with some air.  If kept under CO2 pressure it will be unlikely to do this,
as what you have is likely a copper oxide/hydroxide/carbonate which is soluble
in the dilute acid of the beer. It would be a good idea to rinse the tube with
vinegar and water before you use it each time if it stays empty.

 .
Keep on Brewin'

Dave Burley




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Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2004 08:40:33 -0700
From: "Richard S. Sloan" <rssloan at household.com>
Subject: Re: Cooper's Drops 

- --Robert Marshall spoke of overcarbonation from Coopers Carbonating Drops.

IIRC the packaging suggests 1 drop for a 12 oz bottle and 2 for a 22oz
bottle. I have found that 1 drop in a 12 oz bottle is more carbonation than
I like and 2 in a 22ozer is way overboard. My beers usually finish between
1.009 & 1.013 so its not like I have a lot of leftover sugars. Now that I
keg, I use them for an occasional left over bottle or two that won't fit in
the keg and go with 1 drop in a 22oz bottle. I have also used them for
carbonating beer in a growler. 2.5-3 drops in a 64oz growler does a good
job. It is a convenient way to prime when you are doing just a couple
bottles.




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Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2004 11:10:47 -0500
From: Rob Zamites <popeye at zamites.net>
Subject: re: beer in San Antonio

"3rbecks" <3rbecks at sbcglobal.net> shaped the electrons to say:

>Any suggestions as to where I might be able to find good local beer in San
>Antonio? I had heard several months ago that Paul Farnsworth was in the
>process of opening a brewpub.
>Thanks for your help
>Rob
>Kansas City, MO

Well, Rob, in a nutshell, there's only one brewpub in San Antonio. The Blue Star
Brewing Company on S. Alamo Street has a pretty good selection of beers, nothing
to go crazy over (IMHO), but clean and tasty. The food is hit-or-miss, and is a
bit procey.
As far as the Farnsworth/Cementville project, it's a bust. The latest from the
rumour mill is that they are selling the brewing equipment (Cementville used to
be The Laboratory Brewing Co.), but keeping the serving tanks, and going to have
Great Grains in Dallas contract brew for them. The people I know that are close
to this project say the GG people don't have the capacity or desire to contract
brew for a San Antonio based operation.
It's a pity really, that the 8th largest city in the US has *ONE*
brewery/brewpub -- while the state capitol, Austin (A mere 70 miles away),
supports 5 or so. I myself was hoping that the Cementville project would have
happened, as I was hoping for a crack at the asst. brewer's job there.

Good luck!

Rob
Chesterton, IN

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Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2004 14:16:07 -0400
From: "Spencer W. Thomas" <spencer at umich.edu>
Subject: San Antonio

I was in SA this spring.  I was not impressed by the beers at Blue 
Star.  If you've got a car, you might consider driving about 30 miles 
out I-10 to Boerne to visit the Dodging Duck.  They had a couple very 
nice beers and the rest were well made.  If you're just looking for 
beer, then the Flying Saucer (also out I-10 to the west, but not so far) 
is a multi-tap with a great selection.  I was there on a Monday, which 
was (IIRC) $2 pint day.  All but 5 or 6 of the beers were $2/pint.  Wow!

Dodging Duck Brewhaus: http://www.dodgingduck.com/pages/1/index.htm
Flying Saucer: http://www.beerknurd.com/

=S





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Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2004 22:40:04 +0000
From: "Janie Curry" <houndandcalico at hotmail.com>
Subject: moisture content of fresh hops

Brewers,
My hop vines are starting to bloom!  I plan to brew an IPA and pick the hops 
right off the vine and put them in the kettle.  I would like to calculate an 
equivalent measure of green hops equal to one once of dry hops.  I have no 
way of determining the % alpha acid, so I figure I will just use an 
equivalent weight measure and estimate % alpha based on the ranges for a 
particular hop variety.

I suppose that I could pick a certain amount, weight it, dry the sample, and 
then weigh it again and determine the moisture content.

Does anyone know the percent moisture removed when drying hops?

Todd in Idaho



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