Printing problems make me want to quaff hops.

[sonofabish.livejournal.com]

A few handy pointers on the care and raising of your guinea hen

Just kidding....

I am wondering if there is a place locally where I can get print-outs done from my laptop. For work I run this proprietary piece of software and need to print reports from it, but my printer is not cooperating, despite my best pursuasive techniques involving whiskey and crowbars. So I need to be able to jack into another printer so I can produce my reports, keeping my boss happy and stop the collective gnashing of teeth that is occurring from Alaska to Newfoundland.

Yet another reason why this community rocks my socks....

Thanks for the all pointers. I downloaded and installed cutepdf and was able to convert my reports to PDF form and can now go to my friendly local print shop to print them out, keeping my Russian Masters and Technical Directors in theaters from coast to coast happy.

Now, if anyone can tell me where to get hops....

--- ducking ---

Comments

[ron_newman]

Can you print to a PDF file, then put the PDF file on a flash drive or a CD and walk it over to a copy place? I tagged this as office services, where you'll find a variety of suggestions. The most local place is Princeton Printing, in the little plaza next to Starbucks.

[valadil.livejournal.com]

If you can't already print to PDF, try this (http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/).

[rxrfrx.livejournal.com]

Use CutePDF (http://www.cutepdf.com/products/cutepdf/Writer.asp) to print to PDF, then print the PDF.

[magid.livejournal.com]

... as for hops, that's easy: the Modern Brewer (http://www.modernbrewer.com/) on Mass Ave.
:-)

[komos.livejournal.com]

Actually, that was the problem. The Modern Brewer hasn't had the varieties I've needed of late. It's more than a little frustrating having a friend pick things up for a brew only to be sent home with a note that says, "We don't have it. We don't know when we'll get more. This is just as good."

[magid.livejournal.com]

Would the West Boylston store have any other sorts?

[komos.livejournal.com]

They haven't offered to have it brought over. Best I've gotten are recommendations to try online.

[coorr.livejournal.com]

Just as good hops? thats odd. Either you have the right hops or you don't. What varieties are you looking for?

I suggest checking this place (http://www.beer-wine.com/) out. They have a warehouse store in wouburn if you can get over there. You can also mail order from them but that seems like a waste when they are so close.

[komos.livejournal.com]

For instance... I wanted Fuggles, and my friend was sent home with Challenger. Willamette I could understand since it's at least from the same rhizome if from a different growing region, but Challenger is a high AA bittering hops and doesn't have anywhere near the same subtlety.

[coorr.livejournal.com]

Out of fuggles? And they don't know when they will get them back in? Man, whats happening over there. I haven't brewed beer in about 6 months (Ive got plenty in stock) so I haven't been into the modern brewer.

Try the link I posted above. You should be able to get Fuggles there, though it is out of the way if you don't have access to a car.

[komos.livejournal.com]

I'm mobile, and will do. Thanks!

[davelew.livejournal.com]

Try calling first; a month ago, Beer&Wine hobby in Woburn was saying that they would only sell hops along with grain and yeast as part of a recipe, to discourage hoarders and stockpilers. This annoyed me, because it made it clear that other people had built up their stockpiles before I got a chance to build mine.

As for the hops question...

[http://users.livejournal.com/deviant_/]

... I can't help you get hops, but I might be able to help explain the current situation.

Well, really I'll just point you at this article (http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10337782) from The Economist (http://www.economist.com).

Re: As for the hops question...

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

oh crap! just as i start to get into hoppier beers...

Re: As for the hops question...

[davelew.livejournal.com]

Nobody has hops right now.

Global hop acreage has declined from a max of 236,067 acres planted in 1992 to 113,417 acres planted last year because hop prices were so low they weren't worth planting. Some people have been warehousing alpha-acid extract from the bumper crops of the 1990s in the hopes that they could sell it at a profit when prices went back up. This had the effect of further depressing prices, decreasing the hop acreage, until the warehouses full of alpha acid ran out.

Then, the same year that the stockpiles ran out, hail storms in central Europe destroyed half the hop harvest there.

So, nobody has the hops you want. Next year will be worse. Sorry to be blunt, but that's the truth.

Conventional wisdom is that the American "C" hops (Cascade, Chinook, Centennial, Columbus) will be unavailable, because they were converted into alpha extract for SABMiller. The noble German varieties (Tettnang, Hallertau, Saaz) will be unavailable because they got FUBARed in the hailstorms. I've heard rumors that Glacier, Sterling, Vanguard, Liberty and Simcoe will still be available. No, I've never used any of those varieties, either.

(Oh, and I've seen other people claim that Challenger is a sub for Fuggles or EKG, and I don't agree with it either).

[ape-foolery.livejournal.com]

This post was not only hilariously written, but also very educational in its comments. Thank you Davis Square livejournal, always a pleasurable reading experience.

[pearlythebunny.livejournal.com]

We have hops that grow like weeds in our yard every summer. Sometimes the plant grows about a foot a day. Seriously. (A former tenant used to brew beer in the basement, and he only took part of the plant with him when he moved.) Have you considered growing your own hops? They seem to be easy to grow because I have never done anything to the plant in our yard, and it comes back every year, growing completely over one side of our garage.

[artemii.livejournal.com]

i agree that growing hops in this area is really easy to do for most cultivars. it does take the vines a couple years, generally, to get well-established though.

[ron_newman]

If the OP wants to add Hops to his Subject, the strange combination of tags here will make more sense to those who stumble across it later ;-)

[sonofabish.livejournal.com]

Done. :)