Cal State Competition Entries Due

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CaState1Just a quick reminder that we are rapidly approaching the entry deadline for the California State Fair.   Greg has offered to collect entries that are at Culver City shop provided they show up by the close of business on Tuesday, April 19th, and take them over to the Eagle Rock brewshop, one of the official drop-off sites.  If you miss the Tuesday window, you can still trek them to either Eagle Rock, or the South Bay shop until Sunday, April 24th.  Registration for the event is open at http://www.castatefair.org/homebrew/.

Also, don’t forget to help out with Mayfaire judging, this Saturday.  Sign up here:   http://competitions.maltosefalcons.com/

Eagle Rock Home Brewing Supply
4981 Eagle Rock Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90041

South Bay Brew Supply
1311 Post Avenue
Torrance CA 90501.

Maltose Falcon’s invites PG to Saturdays Bus Trip to Downtown Breweries!

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Just got the email that the Maltose Falcon’s are inviting Pacific Gravity to join them on their bus trip to visit the Downtown LA breweries. They have 15 tickets left for the bus, but it includes Lunch and flights at the breweries for $60. So if you have nothing to do and have always wanted to check out these breweries just buy your ticket through the MF link below!

Heres the actual email from Tiffany the MF activities director:

Just wanted to extend an invite to Pacific Gravity to our Downtown LA Brewery Tour this Saturday. See link below for all the details 🙂  Should be a super fun time visiting Iron Triangle, Mumford Brewing, Arts District, and Boomtown. The $60 ticket includes bus ride to & from each brewery, 1 pint/flight at each brewery, lunch, and lots of laughs! The bus will depart from our Woodland Hills Homebrew Shop at 10am, pick up additional brewery tourists from Union Station around 10:30/45, and first stop for beer & lunch will be Iron Triangle around 11am. Bus will be heading back to Union Station then the Valley at 5pm. There are only 15 tickets left so if you could forward to your crew today that would be awesome! Hope to see you there!

Cheers,
Tiffany
https://www.maltosefalcons.com/events/sat-04162016-1000-dtla-brewery-tour-april-16th-2016-buy-your-tickets-now

DTLA Brewery Tour – April 16th, 2016 – BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW! | Maltose Falcons

The Results Are In!

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I’m excited to announce that the results are in from our 2nd Annual Los Angeles Belgian Brew Challenge!

Congratulations to Derek Johnstone from Long Beach Homebrewers, this year’s Best Of Show winner. Can’t wait to try your Dubbel as a ProAm release. Have a GREAT time brewing it with Henry at Monkish Brewing Company!

Ribbons will be handed out on Thursday April 21st during our April club meeting at Terry Malloy’s place and we’ll be emailing out scoresheets as soon as possible. Those who can’t attend the ribbon ceremony will be mailed their ribbons the following weekend.

For more info and to see the entire list of ribbon winners, visit belgianbrewchallenge.com

Congratulations to those who earned ribbons and a huge thanks again to our sponsors, volunteers and all the homebrewers who entered beers. We’re already planning and looking forward to next year’s LABBC!

 

Cheers!

_Michael

 

Mayfaire’s now closed, but there’s other news

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Other News Topics below: Souther California Homebrew Festival sign-up, camping, food, and kegs. Big Brew @ Carls House May 14th, and then Strand Brewers Club invites PG to summer events!

Just a reminder that Mayfaire Homebrew Competition entries need to be turned into the local homebrew shops by the end of the ToDAY/Friday April 8th! Culver City shop closes at 6pm according to their regular scheduled hours.

Get your Beers in, this is one of the “Homebrew of the Year” competitions for Pacific Gravity members to earn points, as well as one of the three qualifiers for the prestigious:
Sierra Nevada Homebrewer of the Year Award. Also BOS will win a chance to brew with Ladyface Ale Company and be entered into the GABF Pro/Am.

 

Other News:

Make sure to sing up with Terry for campsites at the “Souther California Homebrew Festival” April 29th – May 1st, spots are going fast. As well you will need to also Sing up with the Souther California Homebrewers Association and pay for the festival fee too. More on this post with info on singing up, paying, getting a camping spot, and food with Ian: http://pacificgravity.com/2016/04/homebrew-festival-3-weeks-away/
We will also start making a call out to the club for kegs of beer for the “Southern California Homebrew Festival” this is a good way to show off your beer to all the Souther Cali home brewers! Email Carl for keg registration, and we will have a sign up sheets at the next meeting too.

I have also posted the Big Brew on the website’s Event Calendar, hosted at Carl’ house May 14th. We will have sign up sheets at the next club meeting for registering if you want to be a brewer and what type of brewing you would like to do that day. All are welcome to come and learn to brew and watch how others brew their way. More info on the event here.

As well I wanted to note that Strand has invited us to some Summer events too. Unfortunately one of them is the same day as our May 14th Big Brew. Here is the Strand invite info:
Stuffed Sandwich day trip— Saturday, May 14
We’ll get on a bus at the Redondo and Marine Park&Ride lot at 11 AM, and return by 4 PM. Cost should be in the $20 range.

Early summer Beach Bar Ride–Saturday, June 4
Every summer we’ve conducted what we call the “BBBB” in mid-August. It stands for “Beach Bar Bike Ride” and is usually one of the Strand Brewers Club’s most popular summer activities.
So this year we are experimenting with trying to institute a second one.
The idea is we gather somewhere along the South Bay bike path in the morning and spend the day peddling to various top-notch beer venues along the Strand. We’ll have a pre-set list of beer stops to let you meet up with the group when you want.
For more information or to sign up for either of these activities just contact the Strand Brewers Club’s Activities Director, Jay Ankeney,
at jayankeney at mac dot com or call him at 310-545-3983

Homebrew Festival is 3 Weeks Away! Register Now!

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There is still time to register for the 2016 Southern California Homebrewers Festival, held on April 29-May 1 at Vail Lake Resort in Temecula.

38 Homebrew Clubs pouring member beers.

5 breweries offering samples on Friday night.

Live music on Friday and Saturday.

Guest speakers in the event tent on Saturday.

Fun, beer, and camaraderie at the Pacific Gravity campsite.

To register:

  • Go to www.calhomebrewers.org and purchase a membership in the California Homebrewers Association for $10.
  • Click on the MEMBERS ONLY tab on the CHA website, choose the “2016 SCBF REGISTRATION”, and buy the fest registration for $45.

Homebrew Fest Camping:

  • To reserve a spot, email me at tmsoccercoach {at} gmail {dot} com
  • Pay the $30 camping fee at the next Pacific Gravity meeting,  at the Culver City Homebrew Supply shop, or bring it to the fest.
  • For the true gourmet experience, sign up with Chef Ian ( fraser_ian {at} smc {dot} edu ) for Friday/Saturday dinners and Saturday/Sunday breakfasts.

Register today!

Competition Corner – April 2016

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Monkish Best of Show SponsorWow, time flies!  Spring has sprung, Vin Scully is back in the broadcaster’s booth and the hop rhizomes are bursting forth.  And the homebrew competition season marches inexorably forward.

Entries are due this Friday for the 38th Maltose Falcons Mayfaire Competition.  Full registration details are available at http://competitions.maltosefalcons.com/.  This competition uses the Falcons guidelines which you can download from https://www.maltosefalcons.com/comps/styles/2015-falcons-style-guidelines.  The Best of Show winner will have their beer brewed by the Ladyface Ale Company and entered in the Great American Beer Festival Pro/Am competition!  Entries can be dropped off at the Culver City shop until close of business on Friday, April 8th.  Judging will be at St. Martins in the Fields, 7136 Winnetka Ave Winnetka CA, 91306 on Saturday, April 23rd.

Coming up sooner than you might think is the California State Fair.  Registration is now open at http://www.castatefair.org/homebrew/.  Entries can be dropped off at South Bay Brew Supply no later than April 25th, 1311 Post Avenue, Torrance.  Do NOT drop them off at the Culver City shop!

Results have been announced for America’s Finest City competition.   Congrats go to Lloyd Johnson and Ted Silvas for three ribbons, including First place for Nectarine and Peach Saison, and a pair of 3rds for Whisky Barrel Imperial Stout and Funky BGS Brett Beer.  Congrats also to Chris Lindsey for a blue ribbon for his Rauch Roggenbier, Craig Corley for a 2nd for Belgian Blonde, and an HM for Munich Helles.  Finally, our Club Weizenbock Big Brew took an HM for Weizenbock.  Lloyd and Ted take the early lead in the Brewer of the Year award!

We had a great time with the Second Annual Belgian Brew Challenge!  Thanks to all who entered, and all who contributed as judges, stewards and the all-important staff.  I presume you saw the recap.  Award will be presented at the April club meeting on April 21st at Casa Molloy.

Entries have made it safely to San Diego for the AHA National Homebrew Competition. The NHC is still looking for judges for the event. The San Diego site will be judging on April 8th and 9th.

Looking ahead, we have LA County Fair in July, Pacific Brewers Cup in September and the California State Homebrew Competition in October.   You still have plenty of time to brew for these events.  The whole list is below.

If you are hard-core competition junkie, there are a bazillion other contests to enter.  Some of you asked about the Orange County Fair.  Info is available at http://ocfair.com/competitions/docs/2016/guides/1-homebrew.pdf.   The AHA has their master list at http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/competitions/aha-bjcp-sanctioned-competition/.

2016 Pacific Gravity Brewer of the Year Competition Schedule

April 8th                Mayfaire Entries
April 23rd              Mayfaire Judging
April 25th              California State Fair
July                        Los Angeles County Fair
September            Pacific Brewers Cup
October                 California State Homebrew Competition

First Friday @ The Doughroom, reminder!!!

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Hi everyone, don’t forget tomorrow 7:00 pm Friday April 1st we are all going to The Doughroom for First Friday. If you have not been it is an awesome place that always has a great selection of craft beer on tap and in bottles. As well, they have amazing artisan pizza’s along with great appetizers, pasta main dishes, a newer burger I need to try, and more!
Although I can’t help, but almost always get the garlic knots app. and the “Spice Bear” pizza!!
The Doughroom and owner Kaveh are good friends of Pacific Gravity and recently they helped sponsor our 2016 LABBC homebrew comp. So lets show our support and make a trip to see them.

Check out their website for Menu items and Beer lists, and they have an amazing 4 star Yelp review too, which basically is 5 stars on Yelp….
http://thedoughroom.com  and  Yelp

3409 Overland Ave, Los Angeles Ca. 90034
(Between Rose and Palms, tucked in the corner by the Sterling Cleaners)

As an added bonus I hear they might put on a keg of Panil Barriquee, an oaken aged sour red ale that was triple fermented!
So come out to The Doughroom Friday night, invite your Friends and Family. Get some Amazing Food and Great Beer! If theres not a beer lover in the bunch, they have an extensive list of wines and bubbly too.

I definitely suggest that everyone Uber or Lyft, or carpool if you can Friday night. Parking can be limited, but they have a small lot to park in, street parking on Overland and on the adjacent streets.

Can’t wait to see everyone Friday, get a Spicy Bear, and a few cold Pints!!

 

TheDoughroom DOUGHROOM-5471_1 07_2013_doughroom-23 DOUGHROOM-5477_0 Doughroom-Inside Spicy Bear Pizza 1445396235959 31337-chicken_meatballs 1445396244804

 

Los Angeles Belgian Brew Challenge, Recap!!

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Thank you to everyone that volunteered to Judge as well as Steward, and to everyone that Entered Beers into this last Saturday’s Comp, and of course a huge thank you to our 2016 Sponsors and the LABBC board members that helped make it happen. Everything went great and we couldn’t ask for a smoother judging day.

It started off with a bit of light set up work in the early morning and some super fresh Noah’s bagels! All the volunteers started rolling in and got signed up with judging stickers, name tags, and all of the volunteers walked away with some of the best looking competition shirts ever made!! They also got a 10 oz Firestone Walker glass thanks to Firestone Walker donating a ton of swag.

Judging was on its way by around 9-9:30am and the rooms of Neil’s complex where filled with the sounds of bottles popping, pencils writing, and Judges conversing. The morning or a.m. judging round consisted of all the largest categories that where entered for the competition. After the judges started finishing their categories, it was time for lunch. Where everyone was greeted by Ian and his super delicious Beef Carbonnade made with Belgian Dubbel beer and sides of red potatoes and a gourmet raspberry salad. It really helped soak up all that judged beer.

By the Afternoon session some of the judges and stewards had gone. One session of judging beer is usually enough, but for some of us we stayed for the long haul by doing a second session of some of the smaller entered categories. All but one was judged by the end, the Best of Show. Now scheduled for this Thursday with Henry, owner of Monkish Brewing. We wanted him to be a part of the BOS since he will be brewing one of the winning beers!

Ribbon ceremony is scheduled to be held at our next club meeting, which is at Terry’s house. Winners maybe announced online before that at some time TBD.

All in all a great time and a great competition, and here is this years 2016 Sponsors that made it all happen!

Monkish Brewing Co.
20311 S Western Ave, Torrance, CA 90501Monkish Brewing Co. Logo		 Smog City Brewing Company
1901 Del Amo Blvd., Ste B, Torrance, CA 90501Smog City Brewing Company Logo		 Three Weavers Brewing Company
1031 W. MANCHESTER BLVD., UNIT A-B INGLEWOOD, CA, 90301 UNITED STATESThree Weavers Brewing Company Logo		 Absolution Brewing Company
2878 Columbia St, Torrance, CA 90503Absolution Brewing Company Logo
Barley Forge
2957 Randolph Ave, Costa Mesa, CA 92626Barley Forge Logo		 The Daily Pint
2310 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90405The Daily Pint Logo		 Brouwerij West
110 E. 22nd St., Warehouse No. 9, San Pedro, CA 90731Brouwerij West Logo		 El Segundo Brewing Company
140 Main St, El Segundo, CA 90245El Segundo Brewing Company Logo
Ladyface Ale Companie
29281 Agoura Road, Agoura Hills, CALadyface Ale Companie Logo		 Phantom Carriage
18525 South Main Street Carson, California 90248Phantom Carriage Logo		 Steinfillers
4160 Norse Way, Long Beach, CA 90808Steinfillers Logo		 The Bruery
717 Dunn Way, Placentia, CA 92870The Bruery Logo
The Doughroom
3409 Overland Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90034The Doughroom Logo		 Culver City Homebrewing Supply
4234 Sepulveda Blvd Culver City*, CA 90230Culver City Homebrewing Supply Logo		 Firestone Walker Brewing Company
1400 Ramada Dr. Paso Robles, CA 93446Firestone Walker Brewing Company Logo		 Wyeast Laboratories, Inc
PO Box 146, Odell, OR 97044, USAWyeast Laboratories, Inc Logo

March Club Meeting Recap

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Hey hey!

So who else had a REALLY good time at our club meeting last Thursday?!     In case you missed it, here’s a quick recap.

Michael Patterson brought out another round of off-flavor examples, one pitcher of “solventy” beer and another with “fruity” notes. The latter can be a good thing in certain styles but that solventy beer was something I hope to never taste again! Certainly not in my own home brew!     As an added albeit somewhat unexpected bonus, Michael also showcased an oxidized bottle of home brewed Imperial Stout from his cellar. Proof that even great brewers like Mr. Patterson make an off beer every now and then. 😀

Announcements were brief but informative; mostly centered around our 2nd Annual Los Angeles Belgian Brew Challenge, upcoming events and a few notes from yours-truly about some website updates that Webmaster Tad and I collaborated on recently. Speaking of which, how are you all liking the new First Friday Schedule under the Events tab on the homepage?  Useful or no?

Jeff Bystrom dragged in a heavy payload of Irish, Scottish and Stout beers for our commercial tasting and Parker earned the best beer of the meeting and a $25 gift certificate to CCHBS with his Red Carlin Irish Red Ale. Congrats Parker! With so many kegs lined up, it was easily our most fierce competition of the year so far.

Thanks very much to Michael Steinberg’s mentoring, I pulled off a gigantic batch of his club-famous corned beef and cabbage which Ian Fraser graciously pitched in and helped me to serve. Special thanks also goes out to Garrett and Bernadette Smith for picking up the loaves of rye bread and to Treasurer Tim for grabbing the deli mustard at the very last minute. Many thanks!

What else, what else…  Treasurer Tim manned the renewal booth and most everyone who attended renewed and received their 2016 sticker. I can’t stress enough how important those membership dues are to the club and on behalf of the board I thank you all for renewing with us year after year.

Terry Molloy, as usual, closed us out with a really fun raffle extravaganza and prizes were literally flying. We drank and ate very late into the evening and everyone made it home safely. Below are some photos courtesy of President Lloyd and the very funny featured image for this post is from Carl Townsend who captured Scott and Jeff’s almost-matching green shirts!  🙂

Great meeting and a very memorable St.Patty’s day. Thanks again for the memories!

_Michael

 

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BJCP Exam Slot Available April 2nd

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