First Friday April 4 (TOMORROW!) – Firestone Walker Propagator
Our First Friday event for April will be this Friday (tomorrow!) 4/4 7:00 at Firestone Walker Propagator in Venice.
They always have a wide selection of different styles available for tasting including sours, stouts, some barrel aged things and yes, even some IPAs…
Their food is also quite good, so it should be the full First-Friday experience!
Parker Waechter – President, Pacific Gravity Homebrewers
April First Friday – Friday 4/4/2025 at 7-10 PM
Firestone Walker Propagator
3205 Washington Blvd.
Marina Del Rey, CA 90292
(310) 439.8264
Southern California Homebrew Festival
The Southern California Homebrew Festival will be held May 2-4, 2025 at Vail Lake near Temecula. Sign up is available now at https://www.calhomebrewers.org/ . Remember, you need to join CHA first, ($10) and then you can sign up for the fest itself. The last day to buy festival admission is April 30, so get to it if you have not!
Ian’s stellar food plan is also available this year, so contact him directly if you would like to participate.
If you have not already contacted Terry Molloy abut attending, please let him know ASAP at tmsoccercoach@gmail.com . If you plan on camping or food with the club, there will be a separate fee payable to Terry. SCHBF fees for tent campers ($35 to Terry) and food plan ($50 to Ian).
This fest is always a blast; you won’t want to miss it.
Competition Corner
We have three competitions right on top of each other in April.
- First of all, the next deadline is the annual Mayfaire Competition. Sign up now at https://competitions.maltosefalcons.com/2025Mayfaire/ . Entries are due due between March 24th and April 11th at local homebrew shops. Judging is right in our neighborhood at Santa Monica Brew Works on April 26th.
- Next up is the AHA National Competition. if you have already reserved entry space, note that the entry submission window runs from April 14th to 18th. AHA should have sent you the info packet. San Diego entries need to be shipped to Alesmith Brewery.
- Finally, we have the California State Fair. Sign up now at https://calexpostatefair.com/competitions/california-homebrew/ Local entries are due at Angel City Brewery between April 14 – 26.
It’s Time to Do the Dues!
It’s March and that means its time for our annual Pacific Gravity membership dues collection. All club members need to pay their dues to keep their membership active until March 2026. Annual dues are $48 for individuals or $72 for couples and are prorated for members who joined the club within the last year.
Keep in mind that your dues are the primary way we fund such club activities as club parties, monthly meetings, club brews and much more. Your paid membership also ensures that you’ll continue to receive the many club benefits available, access to various brewing activities, discounts and information.
There are several ways you can renew your annual dues. Club Treasurer, Craig Corley will be collecting dues at the upcoming March club meeting and other upcoming club events. You can go old school and send Pacific Gravity a check to PO Box 2451, Culver City CA 90231. And for the ultimate in convenience, you can renew your dues online via the PayPal links below:
Individual Membership – Full 1-year Renewal: https://py.pl/121AAr
Couples Membership – Full 1-year Renewal: https://py.pl/5LD8s
Along with your dues renewal, we need all members to complete a Membership Application/Liability Waiver. And in the case of couples memberships, we need this for both members. You can fill out and submit your Membership Application/Liability Waiver at the following link: https://forms.gle/f2xCjNBAp5qoJjFK8
All current club members should have gotten a renewal notice via email detailing their dues renewal amount and member information on file. This is a good opportunity to update our membership records, so please let Craig know of any changes to your member information (address, email, phone, etc) or include changes with your check/renewal form.
For any individual members who might be interested, the couples membership provides full membership status/benefits to both partners of a couple including membership cards, emails, etc. Note that the couples membership is optional, couples can continue with one partner being an individual member and the other being their guest. It’s an additional $24 to upgrade your individual membership to a couples membership and you’ll need to include your partner’s name and email along with your payment.
Have questions about your dues or how much you owe? Check with Craig at the March club meeting or by email at Treasurer@PacificGravity.com.
Upcoming Events
- March 24th – April 11th: Mayfaire Competition entries are due
- April 4: First Friday- First Friday Firestone Walker Propagator 7pm
- April 11: Mayfaire Competition entry deadline
- April 14 – 18: AHA National Competition entry submission window
- April 14 – 26: California State Fair entries are due
- April 17: Club Meeting at Tortugo Brewing Company – Style: German Beers
- April 26th: Mayfaire Competition Judging
Club Meeting Thursday March 20
What’s the craic PG! Happy March! It is leprechaun season with a lot of fun to be had! This Thursday 3/20 will be our monthly club meeting at the usual time and place:
March Monthly Meeting; Thursday 3/20/2025 at 7:30 PM
Tortugo Brewing Co.
916 W. Hyde Park Blvd.
Inglewood, CA 90302
(424) 227-9963
Being it is only a few days after St Pat’s, there will also be some St Patrick’s Day type goodies provided by Club Chef Ian and Club Monkey Parker. It is possible there MAY even be a leprechaun sighting…
This Saturday 3/22 will be our 2025 Monster Brew at Smog City – you wouldn’t want to miss it (even if you don’t need wort)! – details below.
Smog City Monster Brew March 22
Monster Brew 2025 at Smog City – Sign Up Now!
Porter has once again graciously offered to host a 
monster brew at Smog City Brewing Company. This will be our 9th Monster Brew with Brewmaster, Jon Porter (and 14th if you count the ones he hosted previously, going all the way back to his days at Tustin Brewing!). These events are always a highlight of the year’s activities and an unreasonably huge amount of fun, so please come out and join us!
Date: Saturday, March 22, 2025
Time: ~7:00 AM Mash-In
~12pm Fermenter Filling
Location: Smog City Brewery 1901 Del Amo Blvd, Torrance, CA 90501
If you have never participated in a Monster Brew, here is how it works:
- FOR THE NON-BREWER – this is an exclusive once a year opportunity to hang out behind the scenes and do tours and tasting with the owner and brewmaster of Smog City Brewing while a batch of beer is being brewed for the group. We’ll explore the brewing process from grain to glass and taste through super limited and small batch experiments for the most in depth exploration of local craft beer ever offered.
- FOR THE HOMEBREWERS -Pay now with Paypal. Use the following links for the amount of wort you want:
For 5 Gallons of wort click here.
For 10 Gallons of wort click here.
For 15 Gallons of wort click here.
An inside tour of the brewery and tasting experience is included! If you do this your reservation is good to go. - Plan out your modifications ahead of time. I strongly suggest you purchase yeast and any ingredients desired for modification to the wort – I suggest supporting local South Bay Brewing Supply (call ahead to verify stock)
- Arrive at the Monster Brew with a clean plastic or metal fermenter (NO GLASS!) which we will fill with UNFERMENTED wort.
- Take it home and modify as desired and pitch your yeast
- Ferment until ready for bottling or kegging.
Smog Monster Brew Modifications
This Month’s Question: How do I modify my wort from the Monster Brew at Smog City Brewing? Answer:https://www.smogcitybrewing.com/ Regardless of wheterh you are a homebrewer or merely a craft beer aficionado, I hope you are all planning to join us at Smog City Brewing Company’s ninth Annual Monster Brew, Saturday, March 22nd, 2025, from 7:00 […]
Club Meeting This Thursday, February 20th 7:30 PM at Tortugo Brewery
Greetings Pacific Gravity! W00t! At our February monthly meeting this Thursday we will be kick off the celebrations of the club’s 30th Anniversary!! Chef Ian will be providing some tasty eats, and Craig Corley will be bringing an appropriate toasting beer! Our style of the month is is English Beer, so please bring your milds, […]
Pacific Gravity First Friday February 7 at Brewport Tap House, El Segundo
Greetings Pacific Gravity! Please join us this Friday for February First Friday at Brewport Taphouse in El Segundo. They have a large selection of craft beer on a self-pour dispensing system that sells by the ounce, so it should be a good opportunity to try some interesting things. They appear to have decently sized food menu, so […]
Pacific Gravity Holiday Party This Saturday
Happy Holidays Pacific Gravity!!! One last reminder that our Holiday Party is this Saturday December 14th at 5pm at Neil’s Duplex. We will also announce announce the Member of the Year and the Brewer of the Year awards. The menu will likely be similar to past holiday parties featuring meat on the BBQ, deep fried […]
