Messages

646

The Pub / Re: Oh My Aching Foot!

« on: March 23, 2011, 08:31:17 PM »

A needle in the big toe will only generate positive results if you are having a flare up at the time.  I would be very surprised if your internal medicine or family doc would attempt this.  They generally leave that up to the orthopedist as they are more experienced in injecting and aspirating joints.  More often than not, treatment is generally based on the symptoms and response to treatment vs. a lab analysis of joint fluid.  Definitely ask what you can do to treat gout prophylatically.  Sometimes it is easier to prevent gout than to treat a flare up.  It is certainly less painful   FYI, gout shows up in lots of other joints and areas other than the big toe: ankle, knee, elbow, wrist, hand, and tendons.

647

The Pub / Re: Oh My Aching Foot!

« on: March 23, 2011, 07:11:22 PM »

It is not uncommon to have a gout flare up with a normal uric acid level.  I see it quite often, actually.  The best way to determine if you truly have a gout flare up is to send fluid from the affected joint to the lab to evaluate for crystals under the microscope.

648

The Pub / Re: Oh My Aching Foot!

« on: March 23, 2011, 01:49:17 PM »

As someone who works in an orthopedic office here is my recommendation/cyber medicine:
1. Ibuprofen likely will not be a strong enough anti-inflammatory.  Indocin or Indomethicin is first line in treatment of gout flares.
2. See your family doc or an orthopedist.  You will need a perscription for the indocin.  There are other medications that they can also use to treat your current symptoms and prevent recurrence of gout flares as weithman5 stated above.
3. An orthopedist can give you a steroid injection into your joint to give you very quick relief.  Sometimes they will aspirate some fluid and send it to the lab to confirm you truly have gout in your big toe. FYI the shot hurts like hell.
4. Sometimes there is a stiff soled sandal or post op shoe you can wear to unload the foot when walking until your symptoms subside.  
5. Yes, diet restrictions will help minimize but not prevent future gout flare ups.

Good luck! Too bad you are in Hawaii and not Omaha.  I could get you the hook up today

649

Classifieds / Re: Wanted: 10 Gallon Corny Keg

« on: March 17, 2011, 08:00:32 PM »

$165...that is not a horrible price.  It might be hard to find much better.

650

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Beer Not Flowing From the Keg

« on: March 17, 2011, 06:55:43 PM »

I love a happy ending.  The next time you dry hop without pellets, try one of these on the outpost to keep it from getting clogged:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/catalogsearch/result/?q=surescreen

651

Classifieds / Re: Wanted: 10 Gallon Corny Keg

« on: March 17, 2011, 02:17:03 PM »

I would watch ebay periodically over the next couple of weeks/months.  Usually one turns up alot cheaper.  You just have to be patient.  That is where I found both of mine. Love them for primary fermentation!

652

Classifieds / Re: Wanted: 10 Gallon Corny Keg

« on: March 17, 2011, 02:00:16 PM »

http://cgi.ebay.com/Brand-New-Factory-10-Gallon-Corny-Ball-Lock-Keg-/290543855712?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43a5c36860

Happy Hunting!

653

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Beer Not Flowing From the Keg

« on: March 16, 2011, 07:11:54 PM »

What would be in there that it would be clogged?  Did you dry hop?  You don't even have to take the keg apart if you don't want to.  Release the pressure with the bleed valve.  Increase the pressure a couple of volumes and then hook the gas up to the out poppet on the keg. This should blow whatever is in the way out of the tube.  Unfortunately, it will stir up your beer a bit and you may have to let it settle out a bit again.  The other concern is: Are you sure your temp is at 39F?  I have heard of people thinking there temp is warmer than it actually is and then come to find out that they have frozen their keg.

654

Equipment and Software / Re: Hop back vs. Randall (pros & cons)?

« on: March 14, 2011, 02:31:03 PM »

Why not both?  I know it is not a DIY project, but the Blichmann Hop Rocket can be used for both functions.  Cost difference will probably be nominal after you factor in parts and labor.

http://www.blichmannengineering.com/HopRocket/HopRocket.html

655

Zymurgy / Re: 2011 Zymurgy topics

« on: February 17, 2011, 09:32:15 PM »

water and mash pH

656

Beer Recipes / Re: Fuller's London Porter. Help me make it.

« on: February 16, 2011, 08:52:12 AM »

This might be a good place to start. 

http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/721

They attempted to clone the beer on CYBI on The Brewing Network Friday.  I have not listened to the show yet, but it should point you in the right direction.

657

Ingredients / Re: Decarbonation by Boiling

« on: February 05, 2011, 09:54:06 AM »

Thanks Martin! Great info!

658

All Grain Brewing / Re: Vienna Lager water profile...

« on: February 04, 2011, 02:24:08 PM »

Kai,
Thanks for the tips!  I am a faithful follower of your blog. I love your evidenced based brewing.  Allright, enough of the love fest   I have actually performed your procedure for my local water and did send it off to Ward labs as well as my tap water and some R/O so I knew my actual water values.  I went back and looked at the results and it did work.  It took my Ca+ from 61 to 39ppm, HCO3 from 190 to 59, and CaCO3 from 161 to 156.  So, it made a difference in my bicarbonate.  I am sure I made some errors along the ways..  My chemistry is a little rusty from my pre-med days.  I do have a GH/KH test per your blog as well, so maybe I will do that test this weekend and match it against the slaked lime test I did earlier.

Martin,
I can't wait to see how you calculated the post boil numbers and how those stack up against my slaked lime experiment.

Thanks again guys!

659

All Grain Brewing / Re: Vienna Lager water profile...

« on: February 04, 2011, 08:35:04 AM »

Martin,
How did you calculate the post boiled numbers for the Vienna water?  This has been a hot topic of converstation with our LHBC in Lincoln, Ne., recently.  We are considering preboiling some water off and sending it to ward labs, but if there is an easy (easy being a relative term ) way to calculate this I would love to know.  Thanks.  And I agree with the topic about Vienna.  Daniels and Fix's info seems to agree and I have been diluting my water with R/O water when I brew my vienna and the vienna flavor is fantastic!

660

Ingredients / Re: When to add Coconut and what type???

« on: February 03, 2011, 11:49:40 AM »

I toast the coconut and add it to the secondary.  Shredded or flaked will work just fine.  I have read Maui brewing adds it in the mash, boil, and secondary.  But, I can't get them to confirm this.  I have heard of people using coconut extract with good success as well.  Use the organic stuff that is free of preservatives.  You can usually find this in the organic section of your local market or some place like Whole Foods.

I would not use coconut milk as this can get rancid.

As for the myth that coconut affects heard retention due to oils, I can state this as false!   If anything, this may help?  I have made my award winning coconut porter 3 times with over 2lbs/10gallons and the head retention that I get on my beers is only exceeded by IPAs and some Belgians.  So, add the coconut without fear of losing head retention.