Competition Corner – March 2019

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The beers have been organized into their walk-in cooler lair
In hopes that Master Level Judges soon would be there.    

Well, the big event is almost here:  The 5th Annual Los Angeles Belgian Brew Challenge.  With thanks to Los Angeles Ale Works, just about everything is set for judging day on Sunday, March 24th. We have a cadre of judges lined up, including not one, but two Master level judges.  Any competition could use a couple more judges, so if you ever wanted to give it a try, come on down.  Activities will get under way at 8:00 AM on Sunday, March 24th at LA Ale works, 12918 Cerise Ave, Hawthorne, CA 90250. If you want to judge, please sign up at http://comp.belgianbrewchallenge.com/.  I’d like to give an advance shout-out for all volunteers including judges, stewards, the master chef, bottle sorters and course, our sponsors. Read more →

March Meeting 3/21 at Tortugo Brewing

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We will be meeting March 21 at Tortugo Brewing 7:30PM
916 W Hyde Park Blvd, Inglewood, CA 90302
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, our commercial tasting style is Irish and British dark beers, hosted by yours truly!
Dust off your potatoes for an unofficial stew-off! Bring your crock-pot of Irish or British stew to the meeting. This is just for bragging rights. We will have a side of rice, and hopefully some bread from Tortugo’s neighboring bakery.
We still have spots for the Southern California Homebrewer’s Festival. Do not miss one of the best events of the year! Talk to Terry to sign up for a campsite.
Cheers!
-Elijah

Upcoming dates:

April 5: First Friday @ El Segundo Slice & Pint
April 18: Meeting @ LA Ale Works
May 3-5: Southern California Homebrewer’s Festival
May 11: First Friday Second Saturday @ Harajuku Taproom

Competition Entries Update – AHA Nationals and LABBC

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Thank to Tom Hok, we will have transportation of entries to San Diego for the AHA competition!
Tom will be at the Monster brew at Smog City on Saturday (3/9).  You can bring entries with you if you are coming.
Otherwise, please bring them by my place tomorrow or Friday.  I’ll be out and about most of tomorrow (Thursday), but you can leave them in a cooler behind my unlocked metal gate if I am not home.  If you miss this deadline, you are on your own to ship them to Alesmith, or whichever regional site you have selected.  They must arrive no later than March 14th.
As previously noted, the entry deadline  for LABBC is Friday March 8th.  Bottles may be dropped off at one of the local brew shops or at Los Angeles Ale Works.  If you plan to join us for bottle organizing at LAAW, you can bring them Sunday morning March 10th at 9AM, but please note that the entries must be registered by Friday the 8th.
PLEASE do not mix up your entries!  Keep them separate.
Good Luck to all entrants!
Carl

Sign-ups needed now for Monster Brew

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We still have plenty of space for the Monster Brew session at Smog City this Saturday, March 9th!  But, we need a headcount BEFORE the event, so you must must make a reservation NOW if you want wort.  The cost will be $30 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 [email protected]  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.

Please also see my posts on Monster Brew:

11th Monster Brew March 9th at Smog City Brewery

Monster Brew Modifications

Hope to see you there!
Carl Townsend
Pacific Gravity Home Brewers Club

Monster Brew Modifications

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This Month’s Question: How do I modify my wort from the Monster Brew at Smog City Brewing?SmogCityLogo

Answer:
I hope you are all planning to join us at Smog City Brewing Company’s sixth Annual Monster Brew, Saturday, March 9th, 2018, from 7:00 AM to noon hosted by our very own Jon Porter. We’ll be brewing up a batch of European wort. Where it goes from there is up to you! We’re hoping to have as many variations on the theme as possible for upcoming events such as club meetings, Southern California Homebrew Fest, and the summer party.

The recipe for the wort can be found below. Read more →

February Meeting 2/21 at Tortugo Brewing

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MEETING REMINDER!

Please join us this Thursday, 2/21/2019 for our February meeting!

We will be meeting at Tortugo Brewing at 7:30 PM

Our style of the month is Cider’s and Perry’s with Tyler Schwartz leading the commercial tasting.

Date: 2/21/2109 @ 7:30 PM

Location: Tortugo Brewing, 916 W Hyde Park Blvd. Inglewood, CA 90302

Upcoming dates to remember:

March 1, 2019: First Friday at Irish Times
March 9, 2019: MonsterBrew at Smog City Brewing.  See Carl’s Monster Brew article.
March 21, 2109: March Club Meeting at Tortugo Brewery

Cheers,

Ian

11th Monster Brew March 9th at Smog City Brewery

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Smog City Brewing Company 1901 Del Amo Blvd, Torrance, CA 90501

Can you believe it?  Pacific Gravity has been doing Monster Brews with Smog City’s  Brewmaster, Jon Porter for 11 years!  With five trips to Tustin Brewing and five hosted at Smog, we will be making our 11th Monster Brew on Saturday, March 9th, 2019.  Everybody has a blast at these events, so please come out and join us!

Date:  Saturday, March 9, 2018
Time: Mash-In: Approx 7:00 am
Fermenter Filling:  Around Noon
Location:  Smog City Brewery 1901 Del Amo Blvd, Torrance, CA 90501

Jon Porter and Carl Townsend are developing a base wort that is sure to 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 you must must make a reservation if you want wort.  The cost will be $30 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 [email protected]  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. Read more →

Competition Corner – February 2019

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The on-line registration deadline for the California State Fair is this Friday, February 8th.  This one has been moving earlier in the season each of the last several years.  Registration is already open at http://home.castatefair.beer/.  You can drop off entries at South Bay or Eagle Rock shops, but they must be packed for shipping.  Local drop-off is February 11 – February 15, 2019.

Coming up right behind the State Fair is the 5th Annual Los Angeles Belgian Brew Challenge comes up next.  Since this is one of our own competitions, we will need help in planning, bottle organizing and judging.  On-line registration for Judging and Stewarding is already open at http://comp.belgianbrewchallenge.com/.  General registration of entries will be open February 8th.  As in past years, this is a competition limited to Belgian styles and will be held at Los Angeles Ale Works.  Entries will be due on March 8th, with judging on Sunday March 24.

April will include the Jeff Sanders Memorial Competition, run by Strand Brewers club.  This is another limited-style competition focusing on the styles Jeff liked most.
Also in April will be the Maltose Falcons Mayfaire Competition

Rounding out the competition year are the following:
July – Los Angeles County Fair
September – Pacific Brewers Cup
October – California State Homebrew Competition

Although not part of the Pacific Gravity Homebrewer of the year cycle, here is a local competition you might want to enter:

  • The Romancing the Beer Competition, held by the Thousand Oaked Homebrewers.  Registration is open now at http://www.romancingthebeer.com/ Entries are due February 8th, and can be dropped off at the Eagle Rock, Woodland Hills or Steinfillers brewshops. They need judges on Feb 23rd, at Five Threads Brewing Company in Thousand Oaks.

If you are hard-core competition junkie, there are a bazillion other contests to enter.  The AHA has their master list at http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/competitions/aha-bjcp-sanctioned-competition/.

 

First Friday at Santa Monica Brew Works

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Please join us for our second First Friday of 2019 when we visit Santa Monica Brew Works, located at
1920 Colorado Ave, Santa Monica, California. Pacific Gravity Alum Drew Pomatti works at the brewery.
Start time will be about 7:30. Hope to see you there!

Upcoming dates to remember.
Feb. 21, February club meeting at Tortugo Brewing
March 8, March First Friday at Irish Times
March 9, Monster brew at Smog City Brewery

Cheers,

Ian

AFC Entry Dropoff – Due Thursday Jan 24th

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Thanks to a roadtrip offer by Peter Moran, we have personalized handling of our homebrew competitions entries for America’s Finest City Competition to Alesmith Brewing Co.  But, you must drop off your entries to me (Carl) no later than Thursday, January 24th.

Registration is open at https://quaff.org/AFC-2019/ .  2 bottles are needed for each entry, but if you throw in a 3rd bottle, Peter will make sure it gets extra special handling!

Carl’s Address:  3621 Redwood, LA 90066.
On Thursday night, I’ll be at Los Angeles Ale Works from 7:30 to 9:00 PM, so if you like swing on by and hand them to me in person.

If you miss the Thursday deadline, you can still ship your bottles to AleSmith Brewing Company 9990 AleSmith Ct, San Diego, CA 92126 no later than January 31st.