Albany, N.Y. – The news that a brewer from upstate New York was planning to replenish the beer in a 133-year-old salvaged bottle had put an end to the wind in the skin of a Long Island brewer who has already scuba diving.

Jamie Adams, owner of Saint James Brewery in Holbrook, announced Wednesday that he planned to release his new beer next month. He created it from yeast that he carefully grew from bottles of beer that he recovered in 2017 from the wreck of the Oregon SS, which sank off from Fire Island in 1886.

Adams, who plunges nearly 20 years into the wreckage from a depth of 135 feet, was stunned when he saw an Associated Press article during the weekend describing the project of another brewer to use Oregon yeast.

"One of the divers that I had recruited to help me find these bottles with the intention of making beer had given one to this other brewer, without my knowledge," Adams said.

Adams heard about it when the State University of New York at Cobleskill announced that students were trying to grow yeast in a wreck bottle donated to Bill Felter from Serious Brewing at Howes Cave. It was expected that Felter would create a new beer if the students were successful.

"I called Felter and he agreed not to use yeast," Adams said. "I am happy that we can settle this amicably without having to take legal action."

Felter told the Post-Standard in Syracuse that he had scuttled his plans out of respect for his farm brewer. "I do not want to walk on their toes."

Oregon is "dear and dear to Long Island divers," said Adams, a former Wall Street trader who began brewing and diving after September 11th. "It was the Titanic of his time. It was built as a luxury liner to transport passengers between New York and Europe. "

The wreck is buried at 75% in sand, which moves after the storms to discover various parts of the ship. "In 2017, we found that the area around the first-class dining room was accessible. This has not been the case for years, "said Adams.

Adams and other divers used a dredge to discover artifacts, including porcelain, silverware and beer bottles with intact cork stoppers. Through his research, he determined that the bottles contained classic ale.

"We opened some and spread a few different yeast strains," he said.

After performing many batches of tests since 2017, Adams had a yeast strain which he was convinced that it would work properly.

"We call it SeaKing New York Ale," Adams said. Its launch is scheduled for March 9 at the annual Brewers' Festival of New York in Albany.

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