February Club Meeting Tomorrow – Barleywine

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Hi everyone, tomorrow’s club meeting will be featuring the highly regarded Barleywine style of Ale.  Because this is such a high gravity beer, Mimi Bardet has kindly arranged to have a more substantial food offering on hand at this meeting – Pizza by the slice will be available for $2.  So please bring a bit more cash than usual and make sure you eat something before or during the meeting.  We start promptly at 7:30, and end at 10:30 sharp.  Some meeting highlights:

– The Club Only Competition style is Barleywine, bring 3 12 oz bottles of your brew if you want to enter – Details here

– This is your only opportunity to signup and pay for the Monster Brew on March 9th ($30) at a club meeting.  Payment must be in advance and the deadline is February 28th!

– Signups and payment ($45) for the April 20th road trip to San Diego.  We will open this up to other clubs after this meeting, so secure your spot.

– Commercial tasting conducted by yours truly and Kurt featuring classic examples of the Barleywine style.

– Homebrew of the Meeting competition with a $25 gift certificate as a prize.  The style for the meeting has been extended to include Barleywines, Old Ales, and Strong Lagers.  Feel free to bring them in bottles, I doubt you have many kegs of this style sitting around!

– I will be bringing a couple of different vertical flights of Barleywine from my personal collection.  If you have a bottle or two that you’d like to share, please bring them.

– We will be making some announcements about membership renewals (starting in March) and a new volunteer incentive system.

 

How do I modify my Tustin Brew #5

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This Month’s Question:  How do I modify my wort from the Monster Brew at Tustin Brewing?tustinlogo

Answer:

I hope you are all planning to join us at Tustin Brewing’s Fifth Annual Monster Brew, Saturday, March 9th, 2013, from 6 am to 2 pm hosted by our very own Jon Porter.  We’ll be brewing up a batch of spelt-based 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 the Southern California Homebrew Fest, club meetings and Summer party.  Read more →

Tustin Monster Brew March 9th

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tustinlogoOn March 9, 2013 the Tustin Brewing Company and its Brewmaster, PG’s Jon Porter, will be hosting their 5th professional style Monster Brew.

PG Brewmaster Carl Townsend and Jon have developed a new base wort for this event. This year we are going for a spelt-based recipe with about 1/3rd spelt malt and a bit of oats.  This will be a great starting point for a spelt-based wheat beer, a Farmhouse ale, Saison or Wit.   For you hop heads, boost up the bitterness with your favorite American hop tea to make an awesome spelt IPA, or darken it up with chocolate malt to make a spelt porter.   Or, use your imagination to make the most awesome beer ever.  Each person will pitch his yeast of choice, add adjuncts to the wort, dry hop in secondary, or do nothing special to it. For some great suggestions, see Carl’s article, How do I modify my Tustin Brew #5?

COST

The cost will be $30 for each 5 gallons of wort.  Everybody will be guaranteed 1 batch, and if mash volume permits, a second batch.  Read more →

San Diego Road Trip – The Mob Has Spoken!

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Who says Democracy doesn’t work?  The mob has spoken!  Here are the details on the April 20th road trip to San Diego:  We will be visiting Pizza Port Solana Beach (home of PGer Devon Randall!), Green Flash (home of the palate wreckers) and write in favorite White Labs (a must see for any home brewer).  The plan will be to leave about at 9:30 to hit Pizza Port for lunch then work our way south, returning to the West Side at about 6PM.  Cost for the trip is $45 and that will cover a seat on the bus as well as pizza at Pizza Port.  If we get enough people we’ll be providing pitchers with lunch.

Please let me know if you have any questions, and feel free to invite as many people as you like but keep in mind the only way to reserve a seat is to pay for it.  You can contact me to make arrangements or you can pay at the Feb/Mar/April meetings.  We plan on inviting all the local clubs so seats should go fast.

Cheers,

Kurt

roadtrips@pacificgravity.com

Competition Corner – AFC Entry Extension

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We’ve pushed the entry window for America’s Finest City Homebrew competition organized the QUAFF.he first competition of the 2013 brewing year is upon us.   You now have until Saturday,  February 9th for the to drop off your entries at the Culver City shop.  Registration is up and running at https://quaff.org/AFC-2013/ .  You need 2 bottles per entry and the entry fee is $7.00.  The competition uses the BJCP style guidelines and represents an excellent test bed for any entries you might have for the AHA Nationals.

Competition Corner – January 2013

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The first competition of the 2013 brewing year is upon us.  Entries are due Friday, February 1st for the America’s Finest City Homebrew competition organized the QUAFF.  You can drop off your entries at the Culver City shop.  Registration is up and running at
https://quaff.org/AFC-2013/ .  You need 2 bottles per entry and the entry fee is $7.00.  The competition uses the BJCP style guidelines and represents an excellent test bed for any entries you might have for the AHA Nationals.

Speaking of which, the entry window for the AHA Nationals opens on February 26th this year.  Last year, the entire competition was filled with entries after about 36 hours, so make sure you are ready to jump on-line when the window opens.  This year TWO bottles are needed for the first round of this competition.  You can drop off the physical entries assuming they are going to San Diego, by March 18th.  If you are entering bottles to any other location (which several people did last year), you must ship them off yourself. Read more →

First Friday at Steingarten – February 1st

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Our next first Friday event will be held at Steingarten LA on February 1st, starting at 7 PM.  If you have been with the club for a few years you will definitely remember the last time we went here.  Steingarten offers an extensive bottle list and a well curated tap selection   It also hosts a mixologist that has developed a menu of custom cocktails and even creates their own bitters.  I can personally vouch for the food, they offer a huge variety of standard, gourmet,  and game sausages and they do an excellent build your own burger.  There are salads and small plates for those who are so inclined.

Steingarten LA is extremely home brewer friendly.  They have given us dedicated space in the front room and I am certain that they will have appetizer and drink specials for us.  The last time we had a First Friday here we filled the front room to capacity and spilled out onto the benches in the main dining room.  I’ve never had trouble parking on Pico when I have visited, but be prepared to walk a block or two.  I certainly hope to see you there in February!

10543 W Pico Blvd  Los Angeles, CA 90064
(310) 441-0441

San Diego Trip – Get Out And Vote

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We will be having a club trip to San Diego in April, currently scheduled for the 20th.  We will be voting at the January meeting to see what spots we will be visiting.  Will it be Ale Smith and Green Flash?  Ballast Point and Mother Earth?  Iron Fist and Port?  Come to the January meeting and help me sort it out!

Club Meeting This Thursday – Belgian Ales

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Hi Pacific Gravity, due to the club only competition schedule our style tasting this month will be Belgian Ales.  If you been to the Belgian meeting in years past, you know that this is one you don’t want to miss.  Craig Corley will be hosting the commercial tasting, so prepared to be impressed with the selection.  But the showcase of every homebrew meeting is the beer that YOU bring.  Any Belgian ale is welcome at the event of course, from the modest Belgian Pale Ale to the monstrous Quadruple.  I’ll be bringing the Spiced Cherry Dubble featured at the Holiday party, so if you didn’t get a chance to try it there you can get another look at it.  If you are not kegging yet, or don’t have any Belgians in kegs, bring a few bottles to the meeting. Its a great way to get to know other brewers in the club.  And even if you don’t have a Belgian beer, bring what you have, from Mild to Impy Stout your fellow club members will appreciate it.

The meeting starts at 7:30 and we will be wrapped up with the put-away and raffle by 10:30.  I’m looking forward to seeing you there!

 

First Friday – Daily Pint

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Happy New Year, Pacific Gravity!  I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday and that you all are looking forward to some fun and excitement in 2013,  I’m still putting together the calendar of events for 2013, so we don’t have a formal First Friday for today.  That said, I’ll be at the Daily Pint tonight at 7 PM, so please join me there if you feel the desire to hoist a glass or two.