TONIGHT!! | PACIFIC GRAVITY CLUB MEETING | LOCATION CHANGE REMINDER!!

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Members! Here’s a friendly reminder of tonights meeting – Now @ Ian Fraier’s House! Link below:

http://pacificgravity.org/2014/04/pacific-gravity-club-meeting-april-17th-location-change/

If you are in contact with any club members – please spread the word!

IPA! IPA! IPA!

Kingsley

PACIFIC GRAVITY CLUB MEETING | APRIL 17th ***LOCATION CHANGE***

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PG Members! IMPORTANT UPDATE!!!

Due to the recent changes in the ABC law, home brew is illegal to be served at any location with a license to manufacture and/or serve alcohol. Henceforth, we have to move the location of Pacific Gravity’s April Club meeting.

We are moving Thursday, April 17th’s meeting location from Smog City Brewing to Ian Fraser’s abode in Venice.

We apologize from the last minute notice, but it’s in compliance with the ever evolving ABC law associated with the art of home-brewed beer. We will explain these laws and how it affects Pacific Gravity and home brew in Thursday nights meeting.

Please pass the word along to any members you come in contact with.

[ MEETING TIME ]
Thursday, April 17th 2014  – 7pm to 10pm

[ NEW MEETING LOCATION ]
Ian “Club Chef God” Fraser’s Abode
3938 Glencoe Ave
Venice, CA 90291
(310) 435-1329

[ AGENDA ]
• Commercial tasting of IPAs!
• Voting on Club Bylaws! (Please review here before meeting: XXXX)
• Upcoming events
• RAFFLE!
• Distribution of 2014 Membership cards!
•SHARE YOUR HOMEBREW – BRING YOUR IPAs!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mayfaire Preliminary Judging Session Wed, April 23rd

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Please join us on Wednesday, April 23 at 7:30 PM for a preliminary judging round for the Mayfaire Homebrew Competition.   The Falcons have over 500 beers to judge and will need all the help they can get.  If you  have ever wanted to learn about judging beer this is an ideal opportunity in a less formal setting.  I’m looking for about six judges and two stewards.

We will be gathering at
Culver City Home Brewing Supply Read more →

Club Bylaws – For all Club Associates to review!

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Everyone-

As discussed at last month’s club meeting at Culver City Home Brew Supply, the board has been working towards creating a draft of our club bylaws for all associates approval.  This is the first step in a potentially lengthy process towards converting the club to a 501c3 Non-Profit with the state of California and ultimately filing for tax exempt status with the IRS.

Please review the attached document and come to next week’s meeting at Smog City Brewery in Torrance prepared to vote to approve or reject the attached bylaws.  So to review, we WILL be voting next Thursday April 17th at the club meeting, please review this document prior to the club meeting.

Cheers and I look forward to seeing you all next week-

Brian

Pacific Gravity Bylaws.v2.04-01-14

Competition Corner – April 2014

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April is already here and that means it’s time to get your homebrew competition entries going.  Registration is now open for Mayfaire hosted by the Maltose Falcons.  Entries are due April 10th at the Culver City Shop.  On-line registration is up and running at http://www.maltosefalcons.com/comps/2014Mayfaire.  Please sign up to judge and steward too; they will need our help.   Judging will take place on Saturday April 26, 2013 9:00 AM at St Martins in the Fields Church 7136 Winnetka Ave Winnetka CA, 91306 (click for map).

Also due in late April is the California State Fair.  Entry information and registration is available at http://www.northerncalbrewers.com/homebrew-competition.   We are looking for a road trip volunteer to deliver these entries, with closer sites in Riverside (Morebeer) and San Diego (Ballast Point) , so if you are interested, please contact me at Competitions@PacificGravity.com.

Looking ahead, now it the time to brew for the 2014 Pacific Brewers Cup.  The entry deadline is August 22nd, with judging on September 6th at Smog City Brewing.  We are looking for everyone to put their best foot forward and get those fermenters going before the weather gets too hot.

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/.

2014 Pacific Gravity Brewer of the Year Competition Schedule

April 10th              Mayfaire entries due at the Culver City shop

April Date TBD   California State Fair (on-line entry closes May 2)

July                        Los Angeles County Fair

August 22            Entry Deadline for Pacific Brewers Cup

September 6      Judging Pacific Brewers Cup
October               California State Homebrew Competition

Save The Fest! Action Needed Now!

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Hi Everybody:

As you may be aware, legislation has been drafted which will modify an existing bill that essentially prohibits events like the SoCal Homebrewers Festival.  The vote on the new legislation takes place on April 9.

That’s 4 days from now, but it is NOT TOO LATE to act.  You can make your voice heard by sending letters to (1) the GO committee chair, Isadore Hall and (2) your state representative if he/she is on the GO committee.  The list of the GO committee members is attached.  Here is a link you can use if you are unsure who your representatives are: Assembly Member  (Thank you Scott Burnell for the link).

And to make it even easier …

– A sample letter is attached that you can modify by adding your name and the name of the legislator.  Please delete any of the helpful notes embedded in the document.

-You don’t even have to go to the post office.  Email your completed letter document(s) to:  Nanette.Farag@asm.ca.gov   She will make sure they get directed to the appropriate person.

Thank you.

GO Committee members

AB 2609 Sample Letter

FIRST FRIDAY! | APRIL 4th, 2014 | GULP! (WESTWOOD) UPDATE!

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Hello PG Members!

MAN AM I THIRSTY!  FIRST FRIDAY is here and I have some updates!!

PARKING
You have 3 options for parking:

–  WESTSIDE PAVILION (FREE)
The WP is 3 doors down from GULP! at the corner of Westwood & Pico. Parking is free for the first 3 hours and has a nominal charge per hour after. Lot stays open till wee hours of the morning. Save your money for beer and get a short walk in!

–  STREET PARKING (Pocket Change)
If you are lucky to find a space and have some pocket change (or ATM/CC card) you can park on PICO Blvd. BEWARE of residential street parking – almost all of it is permit parking after 6pm.

–  VALET (Cash)
GULP! does have a valet that will run you around 5 bucks. If you are lazy and have some extra cash this is your best option!

RESERVED TABLE
Jessie, the GM @ GULP! Has reserved a table for 10-12 people under PACIFIC GRAVITY. I plan on being there right at 6, but if you get there before me just ask about the PACIFIC GRAVITY table.

HAPPY HOUR!
Happy hour is from 5pm to 7:30pm. They have draft and food specials that will be sure to please!

Here’sa the original link for location and venue info…

http://pacificgravity.org/2014/03/first-friday-april-4-2014-gulp-westwood

Hope to see you there!

Kingsley
VP | Pacific Gravity

 

 

 

FIRST FRIDAY | Friday, April 4th @ GULP! (Westwood) ***Reminder***

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Hey folks!

Just a quick reminder about this weeks FIRST FRIDAY @ GULP! Click the link below:

http://pacificgravity.org/2014/03/first-friday-april-4-2014-gulp-westwood/

See you tommorrow!

Cheers!

Kingsley

GOING PRO! | Brewer’s Association interview with PG club member KIP BARNES!

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Check out the Brewers Association interview with fellow club member Kip Barnes!  Keep those LA ALEWORKS beers coming and thanks for the Pacififc Gravity shout out!

http://www.brewersassociation.org/pages/community/a-toast-to/show?title=kip-barnes

Cheers,

Kingsley

 

March Meeting Recap!

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Ian setup for his commercial tasting

Ian setup for his commercial tasting

For those of you who were unable to attend this past week’s club meeting at Culver City Homebrew Supply, here are the recap notes from the meeting along with a few pictures I grabbed.  First though, a huge thank you to the guys at CCHBS for hosting the meeting in the shop – it was great to get everyone in there for the night and good to be back for the month.  Also another special thank you to Ian Fraser for doing an awesome job with the commercial style of the month with his epic Stout offerings.  I think the bar has just been set for how to gather up beer for the monthly beer style!  Here are the important notes from this weeks meeting:

  • Next month’s First Friday will be held on Friday April 4th at Gulp! in West LA.  Details can be found here.  Kingsley and I went there for lunch a few weeks back to check it out and the beer selection is fantastic.  It should make for an awesome First Friday.
  • Next month’s club meeting is going to be on April 17th @ Smog City in Torrance.  Details can be found here.  Porter has offered to host us for another club meeting and also host the style of the month – IPA’s.  There is still plenty of time to brew up a good IPA for this meeting – so get to work!
  • Speaking of style of the month, May is still available, along with the rest of the month’s for the year (as far as I know at least).  The list of monthly beer styles can be found here.  If you are interested (and hey, why wouldn’t you be – you get to buy a bunch of beer and the club pays for it!) in hosting the monthly style please send an email to Dean Sussman @ styles@pacificgravity.com to volunteer.

 

  • Membership dues are due now.  If you haven’t yet paid for this year’s membership you can do so by visiting CCHBS and paying there or you can send a check to our PO box which is:
    • P.O. Box 2451, Culver City, Ca 90231.  Checks can be made payable to Pacific Gravity.
    • This year the club has started to gather additional discounts for club membership.  In addition to the 5% off you receive as a club member at CCHBS you will now receive 10% off at City Tavern in Culver City if you show your 2014 ID Card (which will be issued at the next meeting).
  • The annual Mayfaire competition hosted by the Maltose Falcons is coming up and entries are due at CCHBS by April 10th.
  • Unfortunately the SCHF was officially canceled this past month.  All clubs were asked to cancel their reservations, which we have done.  Our replacement plan for that weekend is a possible bus trip with the Long Beach and Strand clubs – details to follow.  In addition, we are trying to get the three clubs together to do a collaborative bottle share on the 17th of May – details on both events will hopefully be posted by the end of this upcoming week.
  • I also want to throw out a special thank you to the guys at Strand Brewers club for including us in their bus trip down to Stone, Lost Abbey and White Labs.  It was a great trip with a lot of great beer to taste on the bus and at the breweries.  I took pictures at the event and attached them to this post for those of you who want to browse through.
  • And finally with the club hosting Pacific Brewers Cup this year we are finally going to file the appropriate paperwork in an effort to make the club a 501c3 Non Profit corporation.  Along with this filing we will be requesting Tax Exempt status from the IRS.  This will allow us greater opportunities for fundraising and sponsorship gathering for this year’s competition, among other advantages.  In the next few weeks we will be finalizing a draft of our club bylaws and issuing it to everyone via email.  At next month’s club meeting we will be voting as a club to enact/ratify (whatever the legal term is) the bylaws so that Dean can proceed with the rest of the filing paperwork.  This is an important first step and time is not on our side.  We need to get this initial paperwork filed as soon as possible so that we can begin to acquire more and more sponsors for the competition.

Thanks again to everyone who came out for the club meeting this week, and another special thank you to everyone who brought beer.  Bringing homebrew to club meetings is an essential component of who we are as a group.  If you have some great homebrew – bring it!  If you have some homebrew that just doesn’t taste right and you aren’t sure why – bring it!  We have plenty of experienced judges and brewers in our club who can offer their insight into your problematic brews to help you refine your process.

I am hoping to get to taste some awesome IPA’s at next month’s meeting at Smog City – and not just Smog’s beers – please bring out some of your brews!

See you all soon.

Brian