Virtual October 10 Big Brew

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Greetings Club Members,

As we struggle to create content that connects us while we all isolate alone we have hit upon a unique way to support the ‘Teach a friend to homebrew’ day on October 10th by doing a Big Brew on Zoom from all of our back yards!

We have selected American Brown Ale as our style (recipe below courtesy of Dean Sussman) and hope everyone will join along and brew a batch.  If Brown Ale is not your style, you can brew any beer you want!  The point is to brew together alone, it does not matter what you brew!
The virtual zoom portion of the brew day will start at 10:00 AM until 4:00 PM
The Zoom link will be sent by separate e-mail.  If you did not get the email but want to join the meeting send me an email at president@pacificgravity.org and I will forward it to you.

So swing by the shop, buy your ingredients and let’s brew some beer!

American Brown Ale
Targets:  5.5 gallons of wort, 1.052 OG, 1.012 FG, 22 IBU, 25 SRM, 5.2% ABV  [see Note #1 below]

This recipe aims to produce a “middle-of-the-road” American Brown Ale:  not too strong, not too bitter, not too hoppy, with a nice malt-and-chocolate profile.

This beer should pair wonderfully with Thanksgiving dinner.  And if you brew it during the October 10 Pacific Gravity Big Brew, it should be ready just in time for Thanksgiving!

8.0 lb. American 2-row malt  [see Note #2 below]
2.0 lb. Munich malt 10°L  [see Note #2 below]
12.0 oz American chocolate malt 350°L
10.0 oz. CaraMunich malt 60°L

0.4 oz. Chinook hop pellets 11.6% AA for 60 minutes
0.5 oz. Cascade hop pellets 7.3% AA for 10 minutes
0.5 oz. Cascade hop pellets 7.3% AA for 0 minutes

White Labs WLP001 American Ale Yeast  [see Note #3 below]
Mash grains at 152°F for 60 minutes.

Sparge to get about 7.0 gallons of wort.
Boil wort for 60 minutes, adding hops according to schedule above.
Cool wort and pitch yeast.
Note #1:  These targets are based on an assumed efficiency of about 70%, and an apparent yeast attenuation of about 76%.  Your mileage may vary, and you may need to adjust things based on how your homebrew system works.
Note #2:  For an extract version of this recipe, substitute the American 2-row malt and the Munich malt with 7.5 lb. of light malt extract.
Note #3:  Here are just a few possible substitutes for the WLP001 American Ale Yeast (but the possibilities are endless):  White Labs WLP051, Wyeast 1056, Wyeast 1272, Safale US-05.

 

Virtual First Friday at Tortugo Brewery Oct 2nd, Virtual Big Brew October 10th

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Greetings Pacific Gravity,

Please join us on Friday, October 2nd for our First Friday (Virtual) at Tortugo Brewing.  We will get started at 7:00 PM.

Joe will join us with the latest news in the brewery industry, happenings at Tortugo and a conversation about the beers.  First Friday’s are less organized and more free flow than club meetings, but Joe is still offering a 3 pack of 32 oz. crowlers with the club discount for $30!

The 3 pack includes:

  • Seymour kolsch 5.2% Traditional kolsch style
  • West Coast Llvin 8% big bright double west coast IPA
  • Mai Tai PA 5% Kicker rock on pineapple, orange, coconut, cherry!

So swing by and pick up your beers and get geared up for Friday!

Virtual Club Big Brew on October 10, 2020. 

Tired of being quarantined?  Missing those opportunities to drink fresh homebrew?  Well, then, join us for Pacific Gravity’s first ever Virtual Club Big Brew on October 10, 2020.  The festivities will kick off at 10:00AM.  The official style is Dean’s favorite American Brown Ale.  Dean’s recipe is included below, though feel free to brew whatever you want.  For those of you with non-portable setups, this will be an excellent opportunity to demo your home system on your home turf.  Carl will crank up the amazing thermosiphon reboiler.

Craig will have Zoom up and running.  The link will be sent via e-mail as the date approaches.

So, plan out your recipe now, and make the trek out to the Eagle Rock Home Brewing Supply Co. to pick up your supplies shop.  While you’re out, pick up something simple to throw on your grill too.  We’d like to see just how many people we can get brewing at once!  If you have the setup, I’d recommend you put up some bottles so we can distribute them around for a future virtual club meeting.

Virtual Club Big Brew
Saturday, October 10, 2020
10:00AM to about 4:00PM
Location:  Your place and Zoom!

Dean’s American Brown Ale (targets:  5.5 gallons of wort, 1.052 OG, 1.012 FG, 22 IBU, 25 SRM, 5.2% ABV)  [see Note #1 below]

This recipe aims to produce a “middle-of-the-road” American Brown Ale:  not too strong, not too bitter, not too hoppy, with a nice malt-and-chocolate profile.  This beer should pair wonderfully with Thanksgiving dinner.  And if you brew it during the October 10 Pacific Gravity Big Brew, it should be ready just in time for Thanksgiving!

8.0 lb. American 2-row malt  [see Note #2 below]
2.0 lb. Munich malt 10°L  [see Note #2 below]
12.0 oz American chocolate malt 350°L
10.0 oz. CaraMunich malt 60°L

0.4 oz. Chinook hop pellets 11.6% AA for 60 minutes
0.5 oz. Cascade hop pellets 7.3% AA for 10 minutes
0.5 oz. Cascade hop pellets 7.3% AA for 0 minutes

White Labs WLP001 American Ale Yeast  [see Note #3 below]
Mash grains at 152°F for 60 minutes.
Sparge to get about 7.0 gallons of wort.
Boil wort for 60 minutes, adding hops according to schedule above.
Cool wort and pitch yeast.Ferment and enjoy!

Note #1:  These targets are based on an assumed efficiency of about 70%, and an apparent yeast attenuation of about 76%.  Your mileage may vary, and you may need to adjust things based on how your homebrew system works.
Note #2:  For an extract version of this recipe, substitute the American 2-row malt and the Munich malt with 7.5 lb. of light malt extract.
Note #3:  Here are just a few possible substitutes for the WLP001 American Ale Yeast (but the possibilities are endless):  White Labs WLP051, Wyeast 1056, Wyeast 1272, Safale US-05.

Cheers,
Ian

Virtual September Club Meeting at Project Barley Brewery

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Greetings Pacific Gravity,

We are entering the September phase of the longest March in history!  I hope you all are drinking good beer while staying safe during this extended isolation period of 2020. The club is still maintaining a gathering and presence with our virtual club meetings and First Friday’s.  For our September club meeting we are doing a virtual club meeting at Project Barley Brewery.

Club Meeting at Project Barley (virtual)
September 17, 2020 at 7:30 PM

Rives will lead us on a tasting of some of their current releases and update the group on current events in the craft brewing industry as they fight for parity under the law to get reopened.  Rives has selected some interesting beers for the group, they include:

Monkey and the Engineer (Hefeweizen)
Parker’s Milk Stout
Rojo Red IPA, made with wet hops from a farm in Fillmore that Rives helped harvest
Faberge IPA Brut IPA, it finished at 1.000 SG; with all southern Hemisphere hops

4 packs of 16 oz cans will be made available starting Friday afternoon through next Thursday for $20.00 per 4 pack.  Rives will drop them off at my place for pick up:  3938 Glencoe Ave, Venice CA 90291.
So stop by, say hi and grab your beers!
The zoom link is in the email, if you did not get it send me a note at: President@pacificgravity.org

Coming up:
Virtual First Friday October 2nd, 7:00 PM
Virtual Club Big Brew October 10, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM featuring Dean’s American Brown Ale
Virtual Club Meeting Thursday, October 15, 7:30 PM

Competition Corner – September 2020 New “LateFaire” Details

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The Maltose Falcons have decided to keep their record string of Mayfaire competitions alive despite the imposition of the COVID-19 crisis!

In order to accommodate socially-distanced judging, the total number of entries has been capped at 100, and the styles have been lumped together into eight broad groupings. Entries, however, must be designated with their respective styles from the Falcons or BJCP stylesguides.

Registration is now open at https://competitions.maltosefalcons.com/2020Mayfaire/  Entries are $10 each and require three bottles.  The entry deadline in Sept 11th, but I’m certain it will max out almost immediately, so sign up now if you have entries.

I’ll make a trip up to the Woodland Hills shop on Thursday, Sept 10th, so if you have entries, you can drop them off with me by Wednesday the 10th.

The Falcons are also requesting judges.  If you are available, please sign up with the above link, and also drop me a line.  All judging will use social distancing techniques.

Also, don’t forget about the CHA “Bragging Rights Only” competition.  At this point, there is only 1 entry, which will win by default if no one else enters.  The deadline is September 13th.

Virtual First Friday at Common Space Brewery Sept 4th

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Greetings Pacific Gravity,

Can you believe it is almost September already?  That’s crazy!

I hope this finds you all safe and healthy while we continue to shelter in place.  In our ongoing efforts to bring you new and interesting content and experiences we are featuring Common Space Brewery (https://www.commonspace.la/ )  for our September First Friday on Friday, September 4, 2020.

First Friday at Common Space Brewery Virtual Zoom Meeting
September 4, 2020, at 7:00 PM

Josie Becker (CSB brewer and PG member) will be leading the tasting for Pacific Gravity.
Brent Knapp (CEO and alumnus of Tomm Carroll’s first UCLA Extension Craft Beer Class!) may join in for a bit of the tasting.  Common space has put together a Pacific Gravity beer set for this event.

The Pacific Gravity 4-pack (chosen by Josie) consists of: Read more →

CHA Bragging Rights Only Competition

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For those of you who typically go the the California Homebrew Festival, you know that they run an informal competition at the fest to decide which club makes the best beer in a narrow range of styles.   This is known as the “Bragging Rights Only Competition”.  Each club can only enter one beer.

This year, the Fest was canceled due to COVID-19.  But, they still want to run the competition.  So, we need to select a beer from the club.  Note that you can enter regardless of whether you usually go to the fest or not.

This year, the style list is a follows:

Helles (2015 4A)
Kolsch (2015 5B)
Hefeweizen (2015 10A)
Amber Lager / Marzen (2015 6A)
German Pilsner (2015 5D)
If you have a beer to enter, please let me know by Sunday, September 13th, and drop off one bottle at my place.  Since I’m not entering, I’ll select the winning entry from all the contenders.
If your entry wins, you will need to submit three more bottles to one of the drop-off sites no later than September 27th.  I’ll have an update with the available drop-off sites later on.
Good Luck!
Carl Townsend

Read more →

PG August Virtual Club Meeting

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Greetings Pacific Gravity,

I hope this message finds you all well, safe and healthy.

For our August virtual club meeting we are returning to Tortugo Brewing! It is our home base after all!  Joe Kovach will be on hand to discuss his beers and the current situation at Tortugo!  He has also put together a 3 pack of 32 oz. crowlers at the family discount price of $25!

Plus his newly released I survived 2020 by drinking Tortugo to go beer t-shirts are available.  A must have!  Tortugo shirts and hats are $25 each.  Or get the combo pack of a shirt and 3 32oz crowlers for $50.

The 3 packs will include:
CRISTOBAL MEXICAN STYLE LAGER
5.2% AVB 20 IBU
This is no wimpy Lager. This lager pays homage to its traditional German roots while going to enjoy some sun south of the border. This crisp clean lager has nice delicate fruit notes from the yeast a touch of sweetness from the maize.

KICKER ROCK IPA
6.9% ABV 54 IBU
Finished with Citra and Mosaic Hops.  East coast meets West coast with this Tropical IPA. You get hit with Honey dew and Citrus on the nose and a strong malt backbone with a clean refreshing finish.

SEYMOUR KOLSCH
5% ABV 25 IBU

Our Take on a Traditional Kölsch Style. Nice Grainy Notes, Clean Fruit notes from the yeast and a smooth finish.

During the meeting we will all sip along as we learn from the brewer what went into the making of these beers!   This way we have a sense of a ‘style of the month’ beer tasting ass well as being part of our own community! Plus we support one of our own!

We are not posting the Zoom link publicly but all members should have received an email invitation with all the details.  If you did not get the email but want to join the meeting send me an email at president@pacificgravity.org and I will forward it to you.

Cheers,
Ian Fraser
President
Pacific Gravity Homebrewers

 

First Friday With Firestone Walker Aug 7 7PM

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Greetings Pacific Gravity,

It is August already!  I hope this finds you all remaining safe and healthy in this, our 25th year of existence and continued isolation. For our First Friday in August, we have decided on a virtual visit to Firestone Walker Brewing Co. Propagator located here in Venice.

First Friday August 7, 2020 at 7:00 PM VIRTUAL on ZOOM

This will be a more informal format then our previous virtual First Fridays with no organized beers pre-selected.  Sam Tierney, the brewing manager at Propagator, will join us for an informal chat about brewing at Propagator and the beers brewed there! Read more →

Pacific Gravity 25th Anniversary Summer Party Virtual From Smog City Brewing!

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Greetings Pacific Gravity!

I hope this message finds you all safe and healthy as we continue to shelter in place through the summer!  We are holding this club together using technology, innovative thinking and good friends in brewing!  As you all may have guessed by now, there will be no summer party at Dean’s party pad this month!  And it is a real shame too as we had finally convinced him to allow us to dig a pit in his yard (this year only!) for a whole pig roast to celebrate our 25th anniversary!   He was also going to empty his pool and allow us to turn it into a skate park!  That would have been a rocking event!  Oh well!  The pandemic has forced us to change our plans!  That 25th anniversary version of our summer party will have to occur next year.

This year we will be virtual and we are serving you up a great one to celebrate with your fellow club members!  Jon and Laurie Porter have graciously agreed to host our 25th Anniversary Virtual Celebration of our annual summer party.   For those of you who have been attending our virtual club meetings and first Friday’s will have some clue about how this is going to work.  Porter has put together what we consider a fantastic package of extremely drinkable beers plus a gift for each member who participates!

The plan for this summer party is this, you buy the beer package from Smog City (link:   https://smogcitybrewing.com/collections/beer-delivery-or-taproom-pick-up )  Then cook yourself what ever summer party food you want to eat, then join us Saturday July 25, 2020, starting at 4 PM on the virtual Zoom meeting and drink Smog City beer and eat and enjoy being with your friends (virtually)!

It has been suggested that I send out some recipes from summer party favorites of the past for folks to use if they so desire, which I will do in a follow up post.

The beer package from Smog City will include:
2 From LA wit Love (a very easy drinking White Ale)
2 Sabre Tooth Squirrel (a Smog City classic hoppy Amber Ale)
2 Amarilla Gorilla (West Coast IPA)
1 Bourbon OE (Barrel Aged Barleywine)
Plus each order will include a complimentary Smog City Tulip Glass to drink your beer from!
The cost of the entire package is $33.00.

The great thing about Smog City is they will deliver your summer party beers right to your door!  No need to raid Ian’s garage!  It should be noted that if you order $50 or more, your delivery is free!    So, check out their website and add on another 6 pack to your order and receive the free shipping option!  Please remember to tip your driver though!

The PG beer package will be available starting on Friday July, 17, 2020.
Our Summer Party virtual event will occur on Saturday July 25th starting at 4 PM till…
Jon and Laurie will be joining us to talk about how Smog City is doing during the pandemic, their upcoming plans to open new locations and talk about the beers!

We are trying to incorporate door prize giveaways as well, so there will be prizes!
Please look for my follow up post with favorite recipes from Summer parties past.

We are not posting the Zoom link publicly but all members should have received an email invitation with all the details.  If you did not get the email but want to join the meeting send me an email at president@pacificgravity.org and I will forward it to you.

I hope to see you all on Saturday!
Topic: Pacific Gravity Summer Party
Time: Jul 25, 2020 04:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Cheers,
Ian Fraser
President
Pacific Gravity Homebrewers

Pacific Gravity July Virtual First Friday at The Daily Pint

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Greetings Pacific Gravity,

For our club’s first Friday coming up at 7:00 PM Friday, July 3, 2020 we are doing a virtual First Friday at yet another of one of our club’s longtime supporters.  This First Friday will be a virtual meeting at one of my favorite hang-outs, The Daily Pint!  We want to continue in the same vein as the last First Friday which featured a very successful virtual visit and tasting at Project Barley with our own Rives!  Thank you Rives for getting this set up!

This First Friday will feature Russian River beers purchased from The Daily Pint.  Phil has put together a 4–pack of Russian River 500 ML beers for us to purchase and drink at our First Friday, the lineup includes:

STS Pilsner
Velvet Glow (a new dry pale ale)
Blind Pig IPA
ROBERT (their new Saison)

Because the Pint is a reseller we are paying a little extra on this go around, the 4-pack will cost $40 with all proceeds going to support The Daily Pint. I also hope to have Phil himself join us and give us all the latest news about the goings on at the Pint and his reopening plans.   The beer will be available starting tomorrow Saturday June, 27, 2020 and the pick up address is: 3938 Glencoe Ave, Venice CA.

Please have your $40 cash with you at pick up.

We are not posting the Zoom link publicly but all members should have received an email invitation with all the details.  If you did not get the email but want to join the meeting send me an email at president@pacificgravity.org and I will forward it to you.

Cheers,
Ian Fraser
President
Pacific Gravity Homebrewers