State Homebrew Comp Entries Due Friday Oct 5th

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Entries for the California State Homebrew Competition are due at the shop on Friday October 5th.  Thanks to Peter Moran, your entries will get personal delivery up to the bay area, so they will get plenty of TLC.  This is one of the competitions used to determine the 2012 Anchor Club of the Year award, so keep some bottles ready to go.  Details are all on the website:  http://www.nchfinfo.org/state-comp.html .

Although this competition uses the BJCP styleguide for judging, they have them grouped in a different order.  Please make sure you check out the rules package before assigning category numbers to them.

Sorry for the late notice, but we’ve had a few problems with the website. If you need a bit more time, drop me a line and I’ll hook you up directly with Peter.
Good Luck
Carl Townsend

How do I build a Jockey Box?

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This Month’s Question:  How do I build a Jockey Box?

 Answer:    The simple answer to this is to join us on Jockey Box/Chili Cook-off and Big Brew Day, Saturday, October 20th at Carl Townsend’s house.   You bring a cooler, and we’ll bring a bunch of supplies, so at the end of the day you can head home with a new portable beer serving system.

The critical thing from a planning standpoint is to let us know ahead of time how many taps you want, so we can plan accordingly.    I need to place the order for tubing in advance, so if you haven’t already signed up at the August or September club meeting and want to join the construction project, please send me an email at [email protected] by Oct 1st.   Each line will get a ten-foot piece of 3/8” stainless steel tubing, and you can buy as many lines as you want. Read more →

Competition Corner – September 2012

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For all you folks looking for something different and interesting to brew, here are a couple of unique opportunities:  At the September club meeting on Sept 20th, we will be holding a special soda contest for the 2012 Beer, Art & Music Fest.    Sodas are quick to brew, so there is plenty of time this weekend to get one ready.  Winning entries get two free tickets to the fest, and get to have your soda featured at the fest itself on October 6th, at the 18th Street Art Center in Santa Monica.   Rules of the competition are simple:

1)      You need to bring a keg to the September meeting.
2)      Note that the entry can have NO alcohol.
3)      Club members will vote on the white board (just like the keg of the month contest).
4)      Winners must agree to bring soda to the fest.

This year 18th Street is teaming up with Pacific Gravity member and LA craft beer industry veteran Martin Svab (Stone Brewery & Naja’s Place) to help facilitate the beer side of the festival.  Participating craft breweries range from big to small, including the popular and larger Sierra Neveda Brewing and Firestone Walker Brewing Companies, to the smaller but equally great Angel City, Golden Road and Surf Brewing.  Martin had hoped to offer Pacific Gravity Homebrew at the fest, but we were limited to non-alcohol offerings due to ATF/ABC restrictions.  But, we all know the club can make some great sodas, so bring out your best!

Also up for grabs are two soda slots for the LA Beer Week and the awesome LA Beer Week Festival at Union Station, which will be on Sunday, September 30th from Noon until 4PM.  Winners get free tickets, but must agree to serve soda and hand out PG flyers at the event.   Details about the event can be found at http://www.itsmyseat.com/LABeerWeek/ .

Also at the September meeting Read more →

Pacific Brewers Cup Deadline is Thursday, Sept 6th

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Pacific Brewers CupJust a quick reminder that the entry deadline for Pacific Brewers Cup is this Thursday, September 6th.   According to Strand Brewers, who are organizing the event this year there will be some “really spectacular prizes”!  The entry window is now open online at http://www.pacificbrewerscup.com/.  Your physical entries can be dropped off at the Culver City shop, or the Eagle Rock shop, as well as six other homebrew shops.   Pacific Gravity always has a great showing in this competition and we hope to keep it up.  Strand is also asking for help on judging day, Saturday, September 22, 2012, at the Four Points Sheraton by LAX, the Beer Hotel.  They will need every judge and steward we can supply, so please sign up now.   The hotel is located at 9750 Airport Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90045, next to LAX. (Map).

First Friday at the Trux Stop Tasting Room

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Please join Tomm and Danise Carrol at their home on Friday, September 7th for our First Friday event this month.  Tomm will have his 4-tap kegerator stocked with commercial beers, but please bring bottles or kegs for sharing, either commercial beer or homebrew. If you do plan on bringing homebrew, be sure to bring a picnic tap, or preferably, a jockey box, and a CO2 tank if you have one.  No jockey box?  Come to our jockey box building event on October 20th! (contact [email protected] for details)

This event is a potluck, so please bring you favorite dish to share.  Tomm and Ian will have a spread of appetizers and pupus in addition to whatever you bring.

Tomm & Danise’s
7643 Truxton Ave.
LA (Westchester), CA 90045

August Club Meeting this Thursday 8/16

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This Thursday, August 16th, is our monthly club meeting.  Our style of the month is Porters, Brown, Robust, and sweet Baltic.  Bring a keg of Porter to the meeting to be entered in our Homebrew of the Month competition and be eligible for a $25 gift certificate to Culver City Homebrew Supply.  Or if you just want to quench the thirst of your fellow brewers and get some valuable feedback on your technique and recipe, bring whatever you have and everyone will appreciate it.

I’m still looking for volunteers to host the Commercial Tasting this meeting so email me at [email protected] if you are interested.  Also, make sure you bring some cash for raffle tickets, our new club glasses, Club of the Year shirts, and other paraphernalia.

Competition Corner – August, 2012

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Pacific Brewers Cup 2012It’s that time of the year to get out your best bottles of homebrew for the 2012 Pacific Brewers Cup. The entry window is now open online at http://www.pacificbrewerscup.com/.  Strand Brewers are putting together what is going to be a great competition.  Entries are due by September 6th, and can be dropped off at the Culver City shop.  Pacific Gravity always has a great showing Read more →

Mead Day August 11th

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Mead Day

It’s that time of year again… Mead Day! We missed the official AHA national Mead
Day (August 4), but that is not going to stop us. Pacific Gravity will be celebrating
it’s own Mead Day on Saturday August 11 at the home of Dan & Anne Hakes. We
will be brewing, tasting and talking about mead. If you have some mead to share,
bring it along.

This is a club potluck event, please bring beer and food to share. The Carriage
House Taproom will be open, but Dan has been slacking off and the taps will not be
full.

Drop by, socialize, and watch how easy it is to make mead!

Saturday August 11, 2012

10:00 AM

2379 W 21st Street, Los Angeles, CA 90018

323-203-5089

August First Friday at Four Points Sheraton Poolside Bar

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Celebrate this Summer First Friday enjoying great beers by the pool with your fellow PG members next Friday, August 3rd.  For those of you who have not discovered the treasure that is Brewster’s Bar & Grill at the Four Points Sheraton LAX, this is a great way to check out their extensive beer selection, tapas, & other bar food.  In appreciation of Pacific Gravity coming to the poolside event, the amazing management will be offering us 25% off on food and $2.00 off on all of the poolside bar’s draft beers – please bring your Pacific Gravity membership card to receive the discounts, which will be in effect from 4pm to 7pm.  In addition, if you’d like to take a dip in the pool, you’re welcome to.

Through their Best Beer Program & Beer Advisory Board, which our own Tom Rierson is a part of, “Brewster’s has 16 tap beers and more than 100 bottles of beer.  The six poolside taps are 100-percent dedicated to small local breweries“.  Check out their website for more info at: www.fourpointslax.com/BestBrews

Currently On Tap: Here are the beers currently on tap at the pool bar – and lucky for us, due to the beer tasting event last weekend, there are some excellent and hard-to-get Belgian Beers on!

  • Bavik Premium, Petrus Aged Pale Ale, Dogfish Head Tweason’ale, Dogfish Head Chicory Stout, Gulden Draak, & Smog City Saison

Time: This First Friday will kick off at about 5pm, and there will likely be more than a few early arrivals enjoying the late afternoon sun.  The pool area closes at 10pm, but the inside bar is open late for you night owls.

Location: Four Points Sheraton LAX, 9750 Airport Boulevard, LA, 90045

Directions:

  • From East: Take the 605 Freeway to Interstate 105 West and exit at Sepulveda Boulevard. Proceed through the tunnel. Turn right onto 98th Street and continue to Airport Boulevard. The hotel is located on the corner of Airport Boulevard and 98th Street.
  • From North: Take the 405 Freeway and exit at Century Boulevard. Turn left onto La Cienega Boulevard, then right onto Century Boulevard. Turn right onto Airport Boulevard. The hotel is located on the corner of Airport Boulevard and 98th Street.
  • From South: Take the 405 Freeway to the Century Boulevard Exit. Turn left onto Century Boulevard, then right onto Airport Boulevard. The hotel is located on the corner of Airport Boulevard and 98th Street.

Parking: Remember to get your ticket validated at the bar to receive 3 hours free.  We may also be able to get a few “all day comp” passes for those wishing to stay longer.  Click this link for alternate transportation options.

 

Cheers & hope to see you next Friday!

-Audrey

 

Now that the Summer Party has come and gone…

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Woooo!  Great party, huh?  I hope that everyone who attended had a nice time and got home safely and without incident.  I’d also like to take a moment to reflect on all that had to come together to make this shindig possible:

  • Special thanks to our creative and tireless President, Audrey, for coming up with the “Oktoberfest In July” concept and for the significant amount of planning and organizing she took on to pull this massive event off.
  • Extra-special thanks to our ever-gracious and generous host, Neil Saund, for once again allowing the club access to his Palatial Duplex for our party, and for everything he does for the club behind the scenes.
  • Thanks also to the members of the PG Board of Directors who took time out of their busy lives to help in their respective capacities.
  • To the volunteers who answered the call: thanks so much – especially to all of the very new members who showed up and did their part – your example is to be commended.   As you witnessed and experienced, the sheer amount of work and time involved to put on a party of this size is no small thing.  I’d like to encourage those of you who didn’t volunteer this time around to consider stepping up and getting involved next time – the Holiday Party will be here before we know it!
  • To those who made food and beer contributions to our grand event – yuuuummmm…and thanks, as always.  No food, no beer, no fun!
  • Finally, to YOU – for behaving like civilized folk and adhering to the rules (well, most of you, at least…wow).

I’d asked previously that you snap some pix at the party for our collective enjoyment, and PG member / up-and-coming pro-brewer, Kip Barnes, did just that, and wrote a nice little article about it, too.  You can find it here.

Alrighty then – hasta la proxima!

— Victor Macias, Communications Director