First Saturday October 3 at Rasselbock

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Guten Abend Pacific Gravity!

Our October “First Friday” event will be be held this Saturday 10/3 12-3pm at Rasselbock in Mar Vista.  It is Oktoberfest, so please join us for festivities and of course some most excellent German beer & food! Oktoberfest officially ends the next day (though Rasselbock and many others will keep it going a bit longer), so grab your lederhosen and join us for some fun!

We also have a bonus Friday event!  Porter just informed us that this Friday 10/2 they will be tapping their GABF pro am entry, and Joe St John, the winner of last year’s Pacific Brewer’s Cup should be there as well.  Joe will be arrive around 3pm.  Head on down to Smog City Brewing to hang with Porter and support the Pro Am!

Chili Cook-off Saturday 10/17
As is our tradition, our October club meeting will will take the form of our much-loved and feared Pacific Gravity Annual Chili Cook-Off which will be held at Casa Molloy on Saturday 10/17.  All attendees vote for the “Best” and “Most Unique” chili,  so amaze and baffle our palates as only PG can! Winners will receive the much-coveted “bragging rights and a beer”.  Our style of the month is “Meads and Sours” or any other alternative fermentable or alternative fermenting organism, so it should compliment the heat/and weird well.
Additionally, this will be your opportunity to nominate candidates for next year’s Board (President, Vice President and Treasurer) and for Member of the Year. The election will held at our November meeting, so this is the time to get the nominations in!

Holiday Party Saturday 12/5
We have a date for the holiday party! It will be on Saturday December 5 at Neil’s Swinging Party Pad™.  More details will come as we get closer, but we want to make sure everyone has the date in their calendar as soon as we can.

St Bernardus Day 12/12
This is a new event for us this year suggested by Scott Burnell- The Back Abby in Upland is hosting a St Bernardus day event – it should be a blast.  We are planning on taking the train there.  More details will come as we get closer.

Parker Waechter – President, Pacific Gravity Homebrewers

October First Saturday  – Saturday 10/3/2026 at 12-3 PM
Rasselbock
3817 Grand View Blvd
Los Angeles,  CA  90066
(310) 439-2938

Competition Corner
It looks like judging has been completed for the 2026 Pacific Brewers Cup, so results should be out shortly at  https://www.longbeachhomebrewers.com/comp/pbc/bcoem/.  In the meantime, the last remaining competition in the 2026 Brewer of the Year Award cycle, is the California State Competition.  Registration is now open at  https://brewingcompetitions.com/chc/ .  This is a bay-area competition, so you will need to ship your entries.  Bottles need to be received between October 10th and October 22nd at Morebeer in Concord CA.

Carl Townsend
Competition Coordinator

Upcoming Events

  • Oct   2:  Smog City GABF Pro Am available
  • Oct   3:  First Saturday – Rasselbock 12-3pm
  • Oct 17:  Chili Cook-off – Casa Molloy
  • Oct 22:  Entry Deadline for Cal State Competition
  • Nov 19: Club Meeting at Tortugo Brewing Company 7:30 pm
  • Nov 29:  Holiday Party Setup
  • Dec   5:  PG Holiday Party
  • Dec 12: St Bernardus Day event Back Abby, Upland

September Monthly Meeting – Thursday 9/17/2026 at 7:30 PM

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Guten Tag Pacific Gravity!

Our September monthly meeting is this Thursday at our home-base Tortugo Brewing.

Zicke Zacke Zicke Zacke Hoi Hoi Hoi! – yes, this will be always epic Oktoberfest meeting (yes, SLIGHTLY early, but…Oktoberfest!), and appropriately, our styles of the month are Festbiers and Amber Lagers, so please bring your marvelous Märzens, Fabulous Fests or whatever excellent homebrew you have to share!

There will be some traditional Oktoberfest food (suggested donation $10). There will be ONE, if not TWO, members in Lederhosen!  Oans, zwoa, drei, Gsuffa!!!

I hope to see you all at the meeting Thursday!

Bis dahin!

Parker Waechter – President, Pacific Gravity Homebrewers

September Monthly Meeting – Thursday 9/17/2025 at 7:30 PM
Tortugo Brewing Co.
916 W. Hyde Park Blvd.
Inglewood,  CA  90302
(424) 227-9963

Competition Corner:

Judging for 2026 Pacific Brewers Cup Competition is this Saturday  (9/19) at La Jara Brewing 13423 Excelsior Dr. Norwalk, Ca. 90650.  I’ll be driving down to judge, so if you can help out either with judging or stewarding,  we can carpool.  Either way, please sign up at https://www.longbeachhomebrewers.com/comp/pbc/bcoem/ so they will have an accurate headcount.

I am delighted to report we have over 20 entries in the competition.  With our boatload of entries, they will need help with judging.   Please keep in mind that we will be running PBC next September and will need help from other clubs, so please chip in this year to help out Long Beach homebrewers. Contact me if you are interested in car-pooling to Norwalk on judging day.

After PBC, we have just one remaining competition in the 2026 Brewer of the Year Award cycle, that being the California State Competition.  Registration is now open at  https://brewingcompetitions.com/chc/ .  This is a bay-area competition, so you will need to ship your entries.  Bottles need to be received between October 10th and October 22nd at Morebeer in Concord CA.

At the moment, we have a multi-way tie for the 2026 point count, so your opportunity for taking the Pacific Gravity Brewer of the Year Award is wide open.

Carl Townsend
Competition Coordinator

 

Upcoming Events

  • Sept 17: Club Meeting at Tortugo Brewing Company – Festbier and Amber Lagers
  • Sept 19: Judging for PBC 8am (La Jara Brewing, Norwalk)
  • Oct 2 or 3: First Friday or Saturday (haven’t finalized a Friday or Saturday as yet) – Rasselbock Los Angeles
  • Oct 22Entry Deadline for California State Homebrew Competition

First Saturday Sept 5 at Absolution Brewing Company

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Aloha Pacific Gravity!

The summer party was its usual level of awesome – quite worthy for our last hurrah at Palazzo Sussman.  Chefs Ian & Rob provided some excellent BBQ, and the many sides brought by everyone else were quite tasty.  The beer of course was legendary as always!  For logistics reasons I will not mention the winners of “best of the party” here, but we will definitely bring it up in a future email and at the next meeting on 9/17.

For our first Fri/Sat event for September, this Saturday we will be visiting Absolution Brewing Company, the brewery where our newest member Andrew helps make the magic happen. This will coincide with their “End of Summer Party” which runs all day and includes a stein holding contest for anyone up to the challenge.

It should be a fun one – hope to see you all there!

Parker Waechter – President, Pacific Gravity Homebrewers

September First Saturday – Saturday 9/5/2026 at 12-2 PM
Absolution Brewing Company
2878 Columbia St
Torrance, CA 90503
(310) 490-4860

Competition Corner

We have 17 entries delivered to Long Beach for the 2026 Pacific Brewers Cup Competition.  If you have an last-second entries, you will need to take them to Stein Fillers no later than Saturday, Sept 5th.  With a boatload of entries, they will need help with judging and stewarding on September 19th at  La Jara Brewing 13423 Excelsior Dr. Norwalk, CA 90650.  If you can help out, please sign up at https://www.longbeachhomebrewers.com/comp/pbc/bcoem/. Please keep in mind that we will be running PBC next September and will need help from other clubs, so please chip in this year to help out Long Beach homebrewers. Contact me if you are interested in car-pooling to Norwalk on judging day.

After PBC, we have just one remaining competition in the 2026 Brewer of the Year Award cycle, that being the California State Competition.  Registration opens September 12th at  https://brewingcompetitions.com/chc/ .  This is a bay-area competition, so you will need to ship your entries.  Bottles need to be received between October 10th and October 22nd at Morebeer in Concord CA.

At the moment, we have a multi-way tie for the 2026 point count, so your opportunity for taking the Pacific Gravity Brewer of the Year Award is wide open.

Carl Townsend
Competition Coordinator

Upcoming Events

Summer Party August 8th!!

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It is time – the summer party is upon us!  Come one, come all and join in what is always an epic celebration of all things beer, food and comradery with your friends at Pacific Gravity.

Dean kindly returned to the US to host us! Many thanks to Dean for making the commute. The party will be happening on Saturday August 8, 2026 at Dean Sussman’s USA palazzo in the Pacific Palisades,  1310 Amalfi Drive, Pacific Palisades CA.

The party will start around 2 PM and continue on until late evening.  The party is free for all Pacific Gravity members and their first guest; additional guests may attend for a small fee of $10.  Kids are still free.  Dean’s house has a large yard and a pool so all attendees are encouraged to bring a lawn chair and swim trunks (and towel) if they plan on going for a swim.

In honor of the 250th b-day of the country, the theme will be “All American BBQ” – Chef Ian and Sous-Chef Rob will of course be creating their legendary culinary masterworks, and the theme opens the door for many classic picnic/bbq sides for those participating in the pot-luck portion of the event.  Note for food contributions, we will NOT have use of a kitchen for heating or cooling so please plan accordingly. Please label your food containers so that we can get them back to you.

We will of course have our traditional “best of party” homebrew beer and soda competitions, so be sure and bring your spectacular specimens (or at least “interesting entries”) for everyone to enjoy.  If you plan to bring a keg, please email Carl at competitions@pacificgravity.com with the name of your beer/soda to help him keep the things flowing.

As always this event is run by the volunteers, your help is needed!  Set up will be on Friday 8/7 at 6:30 pm and clean up on Sunday morning are especially necessary.  The volunteer crew has always had a lot of fun while working and it is a great time.

If you have any questions about food, feel free to contact Chef Ian at MasterChef@pacificgravity.com or if you have question on volunteering you may contact Parker at President@pacificgravity.com
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I hope to see you all Saturday!

Parker Waechter – President, Pacific Gravity Homebrewers

Pacific Brewers Cup

Registration for the 2026 Pacific Brewers Cup is up and running at https://www.longbeachhomebrewers.com/comp/pbc/bcoem/  

Long Beach Homebrewers are running the competition this year.  Entries can be dropped off at Steinfillers in Long Beach any time between August 26th and September 5th.  I’ll be making a run the first week of September, probably on September 3rd.

Judging will be Saturday, September 19, 2026 at La Jara Brewing, starting at 8:00 AM.  We need to get a large contingent to volunteer for judging and stewarding, so they can return the favor next year when we run the competition once again.

Carl Townsend – Competition Coordinator

Upcoming Events

  • Aug     7 : Summer Party Setup 6:30pm (First Friday)
  • Aug     8 : Summer Party 2pm !!
  • Sep  4/5:  September First Friday/Saturday TBD
  • Sept    5:  Entry deadline for Pacific Brewers Cup
  • Sept  17:  Club Meeting at Tortugo Brewing Company 7:30 pm
  • Sept  19:  Pacific Brewers Cup Judging

Club Meeting Thurs July 16 7:30 at Tortugo Brewery

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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.

Summer Party!!

We now have a date and exciting location for the 2026 summer party.

Since the club cannot afford to subsidize a club trip to Italy, Dean will be returning to the US to host us! (well, perhaps he is here for other reasons, but narcissism lets me believe it is all about us).

The party will be happening on Saturday August 8, 2026 at Dean Sussman’s USA palazzo in the Pacific Palisades,  1310 Amalfi Drive, Pacific Palisades CA.
The party will start around 2 PM and continue on until late evening.  The party is free for all Pacific Gravity members and their first guest; additional guests may attend for a small fee of $10.  Kids are still free.  Dean’s house has a large yard and a pool so all attendees are encouraged to bring a lawn chair and swim trunks (and towel) if they plan on going for a swim.

In honor of the 250th b-day of the country, the theme will be “All American BBQ” – Chef Ian and Sous-Chef Rob will of course be creating their legendary culinary masterworks, and the theme opens the door for many classic picnic/bbq sides for those participating in the pot-luck portion of the event.  Note for food contributions, we will NOT have use of a kitchen for heating or cooling so please plan accordingly. Please label your food containers so that we can get them back to you.

We will of course have our traditional “best of party” homebrew beer and soda competitions, so be sure and bring your spectacular specimens (or at least “interesting entries”) for everyone to enjoy.  If you plan to bring a keg, please email Carl at competitions@pacificgravity.com with the name of your beer/soda to help him keep the things flowing.

As always this event is run by the volunteers, your help is needed!  Set up will be on Friday 8/7 at 6:30 pm and clean up on Sunday morning are especially necessary.  The volunteer crew has always had a lot of fun while working and it is a great time.

If you have any questions about food, feel free to contact Chef Ian at MasterChef@pacificgravity.com or if you have question on volunteering you may contact Parker at President@pacificgravity.com

I hope to see you all Thursday!

Parker Waechter – President, Pacific Gravity Homebrewers
July Monthly Meeting Thursday 7/16/2026 at 7:30 PM
Tortugo Brewing Co.
916 W. Hyde Park Blvd.
Inglewood,  CA  90302
(424) 227-9963

Upcoming Events

  • July   16 : Club Meeting at Tortugo Brewing Company 7:30 pm
  • Aug     7 : Summer Party Setup 6:30pm (First Friday)
  • Aug     8 : Summer Party 2pm !!
  • Sep  4/5:  September First Friday/Saturday TBD
  • Sept  17:  Club Meeting at Tortugo Brewing Company 7:30 pm
  • Sept  19:  Pacific Brewers Cup Judging

First Friday on MONDAY June 29 at Father’s Office 7pm

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What?  A First Friday on Monday?  We couldn’t wait for the calendar to roll over before doing our (probably first ever) Last Monday.

Our St. Amburanas event is at Father’s Office, Culver City, tomorrow night (6/29) 7 pm.

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.  Sam, the brewer at Firestone that made the magic happen, will be in attendance.
If somehow you are unfamiliar with St Amburanas, it is one of the five 30th anniversary collaborations we did last year – Tomm had the idea to do a Belgian dark, I suggested Amburana wood, and Carl provided his Belgian Strong Dark recipe – Sam then Willie Wonka’d the ideas and let PG be Ooma-Loompas on brew day to make a  really great and unique beer.
This event may be one of your last opportunities to try this batch!

Though it is the last Monday in June, it will take the place of our First Friday for July, which is otherwise tied up in Independence day celebrations.

I hope to see you all Tomorrow night!

Parker Waechter – President, Pacific Gravity Homebrewers
Father’s Office St Amburanas Event 6/29/2026 at 7 PM
Father’s Office
3229 Helms Ave
LA, CA 90034
(317) 735-2224

Upcoming Events

  • June  29 : Father’s office St Amburanas event (Monday)  7 pm
  • July   16 : Club Meeting at Tortugo Brewing Company 7:30 pm

 

Club Meeting Thurs June 18 7:30 at Tortugo Brewery

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As usual, our monthly meeting this Thursday at Tortugo at 7:30. Rumor has it that some beers from the Smog monster brew will be making an appearance.  Why not bring yours as well?

Firestone/PG Anniversary beer St Amburanas now on tap at Father’s Office Culver City – event Monday 6/29 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 July.

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!

Free Home Brew Equipment

As many of you probably already know, our friend and former president Brian Watson and Kate are leaving Los Angeles soon, and he would like to find a good home for a lot of his brew equipment.  Here is his note:

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As you may have heard, Kate and I will be moving to Cincinnati in about five weeks. I’ve already found a home for my Grainfather system and some other equipment, but I still have plenty of brewing gear available and would much rather see it stay in the club than end up in a landfill.

Available items include:

– 3-tap kegerator for 5-gallon kegs (needs some TLC)
– 5 gallon kegs, CO2 tanks, and accessories
– Jockey box, 1-gallon uBrew dispenser, and growlers
– BrewJacket fermentation temperature control system
– Complete brew chemistry kit: digital pH meters, acid titration pipette, water test kit, and brewing salts
– 6.5-gallon carboy and plastic buckets
– Yeast culturing flask
– Various tubing, funnels, brushes, cleaning supplies, and other brewing odds and ends
– Brewing ingredients (candi sugar, corn sugar, rice hulls, etc.)

Everything is free! If you’re interested in any of it, please see me at Thursday’s meeting or email me at freestuff@pacificgravity.com.

Anything that doesn’t find a home through the club will eventually be donated, given away, or discarded.

Thanks for helping keep the gear in use!
Brian —–I hope to see you all Thursday!

Parker Waechter – President, Pacific Gravity Homebrewers
June Monthly Meeting Thursday 6/18/2026 at 7:30 PM
Tortugo Brewing Co.
916 W. Hyde Park Blvd.
Inglewood,  CA  90302
(424) 227-9963

Upcoming Events

  • June 18 : Club Meeting at Tortugo Brewing Company 7:30 pm
  • June  29 : Father’s office St Amburanas event (Monday)  7 pm

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?”