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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St. Patty’s day came on the perfect day this year!

Posted by Pacific Gravity on Thursday, March 24, 2016

 

 

BJCP Exam Slot Available April 2nd

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Read more →

A Reminder About tonights Meeting!

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Tonights meeting is at the Culver City Homebrewing Supply shop: 4234 Sepulveda Blvd Culver City, CA 90230
On Club Meeting nights at the shop remember you get a double club discount, so come with your homebrewing shopping list!

Also a couple other things for tonight:

-We need “Coolers” for storing LABBC beers during the judging sessions. So if you have a cooler to volunteer for a few weeks, please bring it to the shop tonight and remember to write your name and contact info on it as well.

-It is membership dues month too, So please bring money to pay your dues for the year: $36 for single member ship and $54 for couples.

-Also bring money for the Raffle, and we also have more PG Glasswear for sale. (Sorry Lanyards are still on back order…)

IMG_3118

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-Bring your homebrew, all is welcome, but for the $25 gift Certificate to CCHS bring any Irish, Scottish, and Stouts to tonights meeting to enter to win via club member vote.

-We will have Educational demos again, and I believe some special Irish food fare to help celebrate St. Paddy’s Day, so bring your appetite!! Also bring your green hat and food coloring for Green Beer too if you want!

See you all tonight and Happy St. Paddy’s Day!

 

 

Is it April yet??!

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Hey everyone,

These past couple weeks have been such a wild ride and on behalf of the board I thank you all for coming along for the journey.  We had a sold-out Monsterbrew with Smog City Brewing Company, Rives, Barbara, Tania and I ran a home brewed soda booth at Phantom Carriage’s first anniversary party, and we collected a TON of entries for our 2nd annual Los Angeles Belgian Brew Challenge; over 30% more than last year!   Also a quick reminder: Our March meeting is this Thursday (St. Patrick’s Day) at Culver City Home Brew Supply and I hope to see you there.

In case you missed it, you can check out the photos that Lloyd and I took during the Monsterbrew with Smog City. They’re posted on our Facebook page and at the bottom of this post.  Porter and Dan were great hosts as usual, fielding our questions and giving us all an inside look at how their brewery operates and what is coming up for them in the future. This year they even broke out the bbq and a slew of burgers and dogs for us to cook – Thanks again for running the burners Ian and Lloyd.

Phantom Carriage’s first anniversary party was a day to remember too. Martin, Simon and crew pulled out all the stops and between the amazing beer selection on tap, the excellent food, and the fun crowd it was one of those “glad to be here” moments for about 6 hours straight. It was awesome to be a part of it all and I’m already looking forward to our invite for the 2nd anniversary party in ’17.   Well deserved special thanks goes out to Terry Molloy for loaning out his jockey box for the event and to Culver City Home Brew Supply for letting me borrow a CO2 regulator at the last minute. Oh and I also want to give a shout-out to my new friend Cosmo the Goat! 🙂

So as I said earlier, our monthly meeting is coming up this Thursday the 17th. I’m trying to put together some St. Patty’s day food for it so if you feel like cooking a dish or if you have a connection for a bunch of Corned Beef and Cabbage DROP ME A LINE!  Also, we need to borrow some coolers and tables for LABBC so if you have an extra please bring it to the meeting. Don’t forget to label them with your last name so we can get everything back to the rightful owner after the event. If you haven’t signed up to Steward or Judge and you’re interested, Thursday is a great time to volunteer. Just talk to Carl, he’ll get you set right up.

Our style of the month is Irish and Stout beers and Jeff B. will be hosting the commercial tasting. If you’ve got a home brewed beer that fits the style, bring it out for the best of the meeting competition. As always, a $25 gift certificate to CCHBS is up for grabs.

Also, don’t forget that we receive a special discount from the shop on club meeting nights so bring out your shopping lists!

Finally, as Treasurer Tim pointed our last week: March is renewal time so please bring cash or a card to pay your dues.

 

Looking forward to seeing you all Thursday night.

 

Thanks,

_Michael

 

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Posted by Pacific Gravity on Monday, March 14, 2016

Last chance!!!! to turn in LABBC Entries TODAY!!!!

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Its the 12th and today is the final deadline for all “Los Angeles Belgian Brew Challenge” beer entries. Get them Registered and Paid for and then turned into the shops before the end of the day today!!

http://belgianbrewchallenge.com

http://comp.belgianbrewchallenge.com

 

Drop off locations:

Culver City Homebrew Supply
South Bay Brewing Supply
The Home Wine, Beer and Cheesemaking Shop
Eagle Rock Homebrew Supply
Steinfillers

 

 

Also Check out all our Sponsors for the 2016 LABBC :

Monkish Brewing Co.
20311 S Western Ave, Torrance, CA 90501

Monkish Brewing Co. Logo

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

Smog City Brewing Company Logo

 Three Weavers Brewing Company
1031 W. MANCHESTER BLVD., UNIT A-B INGLEWOOD, CA, 90301 UNITED STATES

Three Weavers Brewing Company Logo

 Absolution Brewing Company
2878 Columbia St, Torrance, CA 90503

Absolution Brewing Company Logo
Barley Forge
2957 Randolph Ave, Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Barley Forge Logo

 The Daily Pint
2310 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90405

The Daily Pint Logo

 Brouwerij West
110 E. 22nd St., Warehouse No. 9, San Pedro, CA 90731

Brouwerij West Logo

 El Segundo Brewing Company
140 Main St, El Segundo, CA 90245

El Segundo Brewing Company Logo
Ladyface Ale Companie
29281 Agoura Road, Agoura Hills, CA

Ladyface Ale Companie Logo

 Phantom Carriage
18525 South Main Street Carson, California 90248

Phantom Carriage Logo

 Steinfillers
4160 Norse Way, Long Beach, CA 90808

Steinfillers Logo

 The Bruery
717 Dunn Way, Placentia, CA 92870

The Bruery Logo
The Doughroom
3409 Overland Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90034

The Doughroom Logo

 Culver City Homebrewing Supply
4234 Sepulveda Blvd Culver City*, CA 90230

Culver City Homebrewing Supply Logo

 Firestone Walker Brewing Company
1400 Ramada Dr. Paso Robles, CA 93446

Firestone Walker Brewing Company Logo

 Wyeast Laboratories, Inc
PO Box 146, Odell, OR 97044, USA

Wyeast Laboratories, Inc Logo

 

Time to Pay your Membership Dues

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March is here and that means Pacific Gravity membership dues are being collected this month. Annual renewals paid this month will secure your membership in good-standing until March 2017. For new members who have joined PG within the past 12 months a prorated amount will be due to sync your renewal date with all other club members.
Please note, the cost of annual dues has been increased to $36 ($54 for couples memberships). This increase is the first in several years and was approved by the membership last year. A club insurance policy purchased in 2015 is the primary reason for this increase. Obviously, annual dues are our main source of revenue and help cover Pacific Gravity’s operating costs for club meetings, the Summer & Holiday parties and more.
Club Treasurer Tim Bardet will be collecting dues at the March 17 club meeting at Culver City Homebrewing Supply. Other options to pay include: leaving payment (cash or check payable to Pacific Gravity) at the shop or by mail to PO Box 2451, Culver City, CA 90231.
If you have any questions regarding your dues or membership status, please contact Tim at treasurer@pacificgravity.com.

Shop Drop-off for AHA Entries Saturday 3/5

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We have finally confirmed entry pick-up for the AHA National Homebrew Competition at the Culver City shop on Saturday, March 5th at 5:00 PM. 

Please make sure your entries have a prominent tag saying “AHA NHC”.  The shop is also collecting entries for the Los Angeles Belgian Brew Competition and we don’t want beers ending up in the wrong city!

For those you you who have entered at other AHA NHC sites, please note that you are on your own to ship the beers.  Also, if you miss the drop-off at the shop, you can still ship your entries to San Diego, provided they arrive by march 9th

Thank you Amber for volunteering for the drive.  Have a safe trip!

Thank You
Carl TownsendCompetition Coordinator