First up, a quick reminder that Mayfaire entries are due this Friday, April 12 at Eagle Rock, Steinfillers, Woodland Hills brewing shops. Enter now at http://competitions.maltosefalcons.com/. Judging will be April 27 at Five Threads Brewing Company. We will also likely do a local preliminary judging round sometime in the next two weeks. Check back here for details. Read more →
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 →
Upcoming dates:
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 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.
Please also see my posts on Monster Brew:
Hope to see you there!
Carl Townsend
Pacific Gravity Home Brewers Club
This Month’s Question: How do I modify my wort from the Monster Brew at Smog City Brewing?
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 →
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
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 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. Read more →
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:
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/.
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
