Club Meeting Thursday May 21st

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I just wanted to send a quick reminder that we have our monthly meeting this Thurs at Tortugo at 7:30.

THIS SATURDAY IS THE SMOG CITY MONSTER BREW (7 AM!)
We currently have < 20 batches sold, and < 10  of those are to club members.  If you are on the fence, now is the time!! This is a very easy and fun way to get a batch of beer or two to ferment and enjoy!  Spending the the morning in Brewer’s Fantasy Camp with Porter and his legendary hospitality and taking home a batch of wort to modify and ferment for $40?  It’s a no-brainer!  We will mash in around 7am and be pouring wort around noon.
https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/UNXX326XGCNK4

Firestone/PG Anniversary beer St Amburanas now on tap at Father’s Office Culver City – event Monday 6/8 7pm
Tomm Carroll has worked with both Firestone and FO to get this on tap, and organize an event open to the public where we can talk about the beer, brewing and hopefully drum up some more interest in this twisted hobby of ours  We will have the side room that we used for our First Friday a little bit ago.
Though it is a Monday, it will take the place of our First Friday for June.

Duuuues
You have likely received and email from our illustrious Treasurer, Craig, and can quickly pay your dues with a tap of a link.  Please help us keep PG solvent for another year!

Recent News
Temecula Homebrew Festival was another epic event.  Cruise Director Terry did an excellent job of giving us the “island” theme shooting for the spirit award.  Decorations were spectacular and his mead jello shots were a force to be reckoned with. We partnered with Strand who provided some zesty tropical-themed homebrews.  Alas, many clubs worked hard as well and the judges faced a difficult decision which did not go our way.  As we say, “Just wait till next year!”  Chef Ian created is customary quantity of culinary coups.  Great friends, great beer, great food… like I said, epic.

Our Bonus Friday event at Farmer’s Market Bar 326 @ the Grove for the Smog City collab release last Friday was a whole lot of fun as well.  The new “Clock Tower IPA” was quite tasty and Porter’s sales rep Steve was there and took good care of us while chatting about beer.  We definitely should keep Bar 326 in our list of good first Friday locations (though a Saturday would probably be better for the future due to distance).

Parker Waechter – President, Pacific Gravity Homebrewers

May Monthly Meeting Thursday 5/21/2026 at 7:30 PM
Tortugo Brewing Co.
916 W. Hyde Park Blvd.
Inglewood,  CA  90302
(424) 227-9963

Upcoming Events
May  21 : Club Meeting at Tortugo Brewing Company 7:30 pm  (Style Pale)
May  23 : Monster Brew at Smog City 7am-noon
June    8 : Father’s office St Amburanas event (Monday)  7 pm

Pacific Gravity Bonus Friday May 15 at Farmer’s Market Bar 326

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We are invited to a Bonus Friday special event!

Our friends at Smog City have created a collaboration with the Farmer’s Market Bar 326 @ the Grove, and they will be having a release party at Bar 326 this Friday, May 15.
Let’s all all go and support Porter and the crew!

May Bonus Friday – Friday 5/15/2026 at 6-9 PM
326 Bar in the Farmers Market at the Grove
6333 W 3rd St
LA, CA 90036
(323) 272-4503

And don’t forget the Smog City Monster Brew is a comin’ on May 23!  Make your plans and order your batches ASAP!!

Here is the PayPal link for the Monster Brew:

https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/UNXX326XGCNK4
Parker Waechter – President, Pacific Gravity Homebrewers

Upcoming Events

  • May  15 : 326 Farmer’s Market Bar 326 w/ Smog City 6:00
  • May  21 : Club Meeting at Tortugo Brewing Company 7:30
  • May  23 : Monster Brew at Smog City

Smog City Brewery Monster Brew May 23rd

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Once again, we are spooling up for our annual Monster Brew at Smog City Brewing Company, 1901 Del Amo Blvd, Torrance, CA 90501

This will be our 15th Monster Brew with Brewmaster, Jon Porter, going all the way back to his days at Tustin Brewing and our tenth at Smog.  Everybody has a blast at these events, so please come out and join us!

If you have never participated in a Monster Brew, here is how it works:
1) Order wort ahead of time.
2)  Bring a clean Fermenter, which we will fill with UNFREMENTED wort.
3)  Take it home and add whatever yeast and other ingredients you like to customize the batch.
4)  Ferment until ready for bottling or kegging.

Date:  Saturday, May 23, 2026
Time: Mash-In: Approx. 7:00 AM
Fermenter Filling:  Around Noon
Location:  Smog City Brewery 1901 Del Amo Blvd, Torrance, CA 90501

For this year’s batch, Porter will be using a base wort based on Smog Czech one of his new rising popularity styles that will allow for maximum creativity.  Consider this your blank slate.  For the hop heads, boost up the bitterness with your favorite English or American hop tea to make an awesome IPA, or darken it up with roasted malts to make a porter or stout. Use your imagination to make the most awesome beer ever.  Each person will need to pitch a yeast of their choice, add adjuncts to the wort, dry hop in secondary, or do nothing special to it at all.  To see the full recipe and for modification ideas, see “How Do I Modify My Monster Brew?”

COST and RESERVATIONS

We need a headcount BEFORE the brew session, so we can plan the batch size.  You must make a reservation if you want wort.  The cost will be $40 for each 5 gallons of wort.  You can order several batches if you like.    If possible, please pay in advance.

You can sign up one of two ways:

1) Pay now with Paypal.  If you do this your reservation is good to go.

2) Drop a line to treasurer@pacificgravity.com  saying how many batches you want.   Payment will be due on brew day.  We will accept payment at the Monster Brew; cash, check and credit card will be accepted.

FERMENTERS

Bring a sanitized PLASTIC or STAINLESS STEEL fermenters for each 5-gallon batch you purchase.  Absolutely NO GLASS fermenters will be allowed in the brewery due to the risk of breakage. You may bring small glass vessels with yeast or other additions, however. Fermenters must have a wide opening for the filling nozzle. Plastic buckets are ideal, but Cornelius kegs are acceptable. Again, please do not bring any skinny-neck containers; we may not be able to fill it.

If there is wort left over at the end, we will hold a lottery to determine who may get an additional 5 gallon allotment. Bring an extra fermenter if you are interested.

What Is Not Included

Yeast and any additional ingredients you wish to add to your wort are not included. You can bring your yeast to the brewery, or pitch it at home.  We recommend getting your supplies in advance.  South Bay Brewing Supply is nearby if you need last-minute supplies the day of the brew.

PARKING

Please park on the WEST side of the building to keep the tap room lot open.
The tap room will be opening to the public at noon.

FOOD

We will have coffee and some light breakfast snacks in the morning.   In addition, Porter will be supplying tasting samples of some of his fine brews mid-morning.  Around noon a food truck will be setting up in the parking lot.  Cut off time for free pours will be shortly before the tap room opens for business.  At the end of the day, I also recommend buying some brews from the take-out coolers.  Smog has a number of new selections that were not available last time.   And finally, REMEMBER TO TIP YOUR BEERTENDER!!!

WORT MODIFICATIONS

For more ideas, see “How Do I Modify My Monster Brew?”

Club meeting April 16th

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Skol Pacific Gravity!

I just wanted to send a quick reminder that we have our monthly meeting Thursday, April 16th at Tortugo Brewery at 7:30.

Info of note:

– CA Homebrewfest Temecula  is in just 2 weeks. Please coordinate with Terry if you haven’t already done so.  Tent campers are requested to pay $40 to Terry. Details were sent out via email earlier, contact Terry at fest@pacificgravity.com for payment options and questions. And please be sure to let Carl know about kegs you can donate for our booth.

– We will be doing Monster Brew at Smog City on May 23.  We’ll have a draft recipe out in the next week or so, along with some suggestions for modifying the wort.

– And of course, duuuuues… You have likely received and email from our illustrious Treasurer, Craig, and can quickly pay your dues with a tap of a link.  Please help us keep PG solvent for another year!

Parker Waechter – President, Pacific Gravity Homebrewers


April Monthly Meeting Thursday 4/16/2026 at 7:30 PM
Tortugo Brewing Co.
916 W. Hyde Park Blvd.Inglewood,  CA  90302

First (Good) Friday April 3 at Fathers Office

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Sorry for the last-minute notice. Think of it as an Easter (or Passover) surprise – but NOT a belated April Fools joke. This is for real.

Our First Friday this month is a good one. Not only is it a Good Friday, but it’s even better because it’s at the renowned craft beer bar and restaurant Father’s Office in Culver City, where Tomm Carroll arranged the reserved side room for us.

The fine folks at Father’s also have cans of a Northern Californian WCIPA seldom seen in LA available only to PG members. Drop by to find out what it is. And bring a guest.

Parker Waechter – President, Pacific Gravity Homebrewers

April First Friday – Friday 4/3/2026 at 7-10 PM
Father’s Office
3229 Helms Ave
LA, CA 90034
(317) 735-2224

Upcoming Events

  • Apr    3 :  First Friday @ Father’s Office Culver City
  • Apr 13:  Entry Deadline for multiple Hombrew Comptitions
  • Apr  16 :  Club Meeting at Tortugo Brewing Company 7:30
  • May  1-2 : Southern California Homebrewers Festival – Veil Lake Temecula
  • May  21 : Club Meeting at Tortugo Brewing Company 7:30
  • May  23 : Monster Brew at Smog City

2026 Homebrewers Festival News

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We have reserved the sites for the joint Pacific Gravity / Strand camping compound for this year’s homebrewers fest at the Arroyo Seco section of the Vail Lake KOA in Temecula. If you want to secure a camping spot in PG Tent City, please respond to fest@pacificgravity.com and advise how many campers will be attending. Cost will be $40 per camper to offset the cost of the sites. I will supply the payment procedure and other details to campers under separate cover.

This year’s fest is shaping up to be like none other in the past, injecting some Club Spirit activities to add to the fun:

  • Friday night will bring a Trick-or-Treat element to encourage attendees to visit other clubs’ campsites. Clubs that set up a welcoming environment to share beer, snacks, etc. with everyone will earn spirit points towards a Spirit Award to be announced towards the end of the Fest on Saturday, with a bonus of boosting lottery positions for the 2027 Brewfest.
  • For Saturday Fest Day, clubs will earn Spirit Points on their interpretation of the fest’s Tropical theme. Think tiki party, palm trees, grass skirts. Once again, ideas are welcome.

And those of you who are looking forward to Chef Ian’s culinary delights, you will are in for a treat. Ian is already working on his menu. Cost details will be provided under separate cover to all attendees.

DON’T FORGET TO SIGN UP! Entry into the Homebrewers Fest is separate from the Camping!

California alcohol control regulations require you to be a member of the California Homebrewers Association to attend the Homebrewers Fest. It’s easy to join:

  • Go to calhomebrewers.org
  • Purchase your $10 CHA membership and your Homebrewers Festival entry fee on one screen
  • Each attendee must register under a separate email address.

More info to follow to attendees as we get closer to Fest Weekend.

March 2026 Club Meeting Thurs March 19 7:30 at Tortugo Brewery

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What’s the craic PG!

Happy March!  It is leprechaun season with a lot of fun to be had!

This Thursday 3/19 will be our monthly club meeting at the usual time and place. Being it is only a 2 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.

March Monthly Meeting; Thursday 3/19/2025 at 7:30 PM
Tortugo Brewing Co.
916 W. Hyde Park Blvd.
Inglewood,  CA  90302
(424) 227-9963

Two weeks ago, our first Saturday was a lot of fun – thanks to all who made it down to enjoy the Smog and Cellador anniversary collaboration beers.  Porter and Alex were great hosts as always!

We have spoken to Porter and have now scheduled Monster Brew 2026 for Saturday May 23 – details will be filled in shortly, but save the date and start making plans for your epic modifications!

And don’t forget 5/1-5/2 is the Southern California Homebrewers Festival at Vail Lake near Temecula. I believe there may still be some slots available for tent campers – If you would  like to attend, please let Terry know ASAP to reserve your spot.  I have attended the last 3 years and I gotta say, it really lives up to the hype – a huge amount of fun camping with the club (and meeting other clubs) and attending the massive festival with more home-brew taps than I have ever conceived of!  If you have beers you want to have served at the fest let Carl know.

It is also time for annual club dues which can be paid at the meeting or via the webiverse – details below.

I hope to see you all at the meeting Thursday!
Slainte’!
Parker Waechter
President – Pacific Gravity Homebrewers

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 2027.  Annual dues are $48 for individuals or $72 for couples and are prorated at $4 per month 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.

Competition Corner

We have three different competitions with early April deadlines, so get those entries ready to go:

Carl Townsend
Competition Coordinator

Upcoming Events

  • Mar 19 :  Club Meeting at Tortugo Brewing Company 7:30 (Irish beers)
  • Apr    3 :  First Friday TBD
  • Apr 6-13  Drop-off deadlines for three competitions
  • May  1-2 : Southern California Homebrewers Festival – Veil Lake Temecula
  • May  21 : Club Meeting at Tortugo Brewing Company 7:30
  • May  23 : Monster Brew at Smog City

It’s Time to Do the Dues!

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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 2027.  Annual dues are $48 for individuals or $72 for couples and are prorated at $4 per month 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.

First Saturday March 7 at Smog City

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Salutations Pacific Gravity!

Our March “First Friday” event will be be held this Saturday 4/7 12-3pm at Smog City Brewing in Torrance. This will be a fun day – Porter should have our Anniversary Collaboration Saison with Brett on tap, and is planning on also chilling down one of the magnums we bottled! This will be an opportunity to enjoy the beer directly at the brewery and of course chat with our great host and benefactor, Porter.  There are always a wide selection of Smog beers that will demand our attention as well!  ALSO, we will be offering 12oz bottles of the beer @ 6 for an $8 club donation – an unreasonably cheap price for this beer!  Note THERE ARE NO 6-PACK CARRIERS so bring your own, or buy by the case for $32 (which is definitely what I am doing, if not doing multiple times) – Porter doesn’t want to hang on to it for us forever, so this would be the time to pick up all you can carry!  The food truck is scheduled to be VCHOS Pupuseria, so a tasty lunch should be available.

But WAIT, there’s more!  I also spoke to Alex at Cellador across the parking lot from Smog, and they are having their Members Society day 12-9 on Saturday as well.  He agreed to let PG crash it and enjoy some of their beers and he will likely be serving our Anniversary Collab with RedShift, an excellent wild ale with cherries and black currants.  Tasting 2 anniversary beers at their respective breweries within a 200 yards of each other… A dang near perfect day!  Time to pick up some Redshift!!

Oh, but there is STILL more… I just messaged with Alex and he says that Father’s Office will be getting RedShift!  He thinks that it will be on this weekend in Culver City and next week in Santa Monica.  Now we can drink PG beer in a pub… and Ian’s gloating will know no bounds 😉  We can discuss an organized run (stay tuned), but in the mean time, stop by and enjoy!

And of course, duuuuues….. It’s that time again.  You have likely received and email from our illustrious Treasurer, Craig, and can quickly pay your dues with a tap of a link.  Please help us keep PG solvent for another year!

Looking forward to seeing you all Saturday at noon!

Parker Waechter – President, Pacific Gravity Homebrewers

March First Saturday  – Saturday 4/7/2026 at 12-3 PM
Smog City Brewery
1901 Del Amo Blvd
Torrance,  CA  90501
(310) 320-7664

Upcoming Events

  • Mar   7 :  First Saturday at Smog City Brewery 12:00
  • Mar  19:  Club Meeting at Tortugo Brewing Company 7:30

Feb 2026 Club Meeting Tonight 7:30 at Tortugo Brewery

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I just wanted to send a quick reminder that we have our meeting tonight at Tortugo at 7:30.

Our style of the month is “British beers”.

Info of note:

– March 7 we will be doing a “First Saturday” at Smog City Brewing Co.  We will have Smog’s Brett Saison we helped brew for our 30th anniversary available for an insanely cheap $8 club-donation per 6-pack.  At $32/case I think that is a pretty easy decision…
In addition to the great Smog beers, the food truck scheduled is VCHOS Pupuseria, so it should pair nicely with beer.

– CA Homebrewfest Temecula campsite details are is still not available, but we are assuming all is well with a group of powered campsites – it should be another great year!

– While at Tortugo, if we have any glass breakage, we need to make sure Joe is informed.  They need to double-check and make sure there is no remaining broken glass anywhere.

 

Parker Waechter – President, Pacific Gravity Homebrewers

February Monthly Meeting Thursday 2/19/2026 at 7:30 PM
Tortugo Brewing Co.
916 W. Hyde Park Blvd.
Inglewood,  CA  90302
(424) 227-9963

Upcoming Events

  • Feb 19 :  Club Meeting at Tortugo Brewing Company 7:30 (British beers)
  • Feb 24:  Last day to register for the National Homebrew Competition
  • Mar   7 :  First Saturday at Smog City Brewery 12:00