Competition Corner – February, 2012

/2 Comments/in /by

Entries for America’s Finest City competition are due at the Culver City shop no later than Thursday, February 16th.  Two bottles are needed for each entry and the fee is $6.00.  Complete details and on-line registration can be found at   http://www.quaff.org/AFC2011/afc0.html.  We’ll be taking the entries down to San Diego in the next few days.  This is the first big competition for the 2012 Pacific Gravity Brewer of the Year award.

Also coming up is the next Club-only contest “Stout it Out Loud!” BJCP Category #13, and includes dry stout, sweet stout, oatmeal stout, foreign export stout, and imperial stout.  We will judge these at the club meeting on Thursday, February 16th.  Read more →

REMINDER: Bylaws Committee meeting at Dan’s this Sunday – call for participants.

/in /by

Greetings, all.  This is a friendly reminder that the newly-formed Bylaws committee will be havng their first meeting this Sunday the 12th at 4pm at the beautiful home of Dan & Ann Hakes’ – 2379 21st Street, Los Angeles.  For those who’ve never been there, right-hand turns from Arlington Avenue are not possible, so it’s best to go all the way up to Washington Blvd, make a right, and then circle back around to 21st Street via Cimarron Street.

One of our most important goals this year is to finalize an official club bylaws document, which will allow the club to become a legal entity with non-profit status.  Stated simply, bylaws refer to the guidelines under which an organization, its board members, and its general membership operate and conduct business.

We need the input of a wide selection of club members – from the oldest to the newest – to make this bylaws document as relevant as possible relative to where the club is today and where it’s going in the future.  If you’d like to be involved in this process, please plan on attending this meeting, we’d love to have your input!

Please send an email to bylaws@pacificgravity.com and let us know if you’ll be able to attend. Thanks for your time.

Tustin Monster Brew on March 3rd

/6 Comments/in /by

On March 3, 2012 the Tustin Brewing Company and its Brewmaster, PG’s Jon Porter, will be hosting their 4th 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 rye-based recipe with about 1/3rd rye malt and 1/3rd Vienna malt.  This will be a great starting point for a Roggenbier, American Rye beer, or if you are into lagers, a Vienna lager with a twist.  For you hop heads, boost up the bitterness with your favorite American hop tea to make an awesome Rye IPA.  Each person will pitch his yeast of choice, Read more →

How do I modify my wort from the Monster Brew at Tustin Brewing?

/1 Comment/in /by

Answer: 

I hope you are all planning to join us at Tustin Brewing’s Fourth Annual Monster Brew, Saturday, March 3rd, 2012 from 6 am to 2 pm hosted by our very own Jon Porter.  We’ll be brewing up a batch of Rye-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 →

By-Laws Committee Meeting

/in /by

The Pacific Gravity By-Laws Committee is launching into the new year!
All past committee members are invited to participate as well as any other interested Pacific Gravity member. We can use your input, especially if you have any prior experience in this type of process.
I will be chairing this committee and plan to have monthly meetings until the By-Laws are completed.
The first meeting will be held on Sunday, February 12th at my house, (address below). Start time will be 4:00 PM. Please RSVP so I have an idea how many people will be attending.

Dan Hakes
2379 W. 21st Street
Los Angeles, CA 90018
323-203-5089
danhakes@mac.com or bylaws@pacificgravity.com

Anchor Trip / COY Party Reminder!

/3 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit:  Orin Zebest

 

Here are some reminders and updates for the upcoming trip to Anchor Brewing in San Francisco for the Club of the Year award presentation:

For those of you who will be attending the Anchor Party on Saturday the 18th, the festivities kick off at 1pm and will wrap up about 5.  There will be lots of great beer & food, so if you plan on attending the party and will not be taking the bus up to SF, please send Audrey an email at president@pacificgravity.com so that we can give the guys up at Anchor a head count as they put the party together!

Bus tickets are $85.  You can leave your payment at CCHBS.  Please leave cash or a check in an envelope clearly marked with the names of everyone the payment is covering along with your contact information.  PLEASE pay ASAP to help those of us who are organizing the trip.

Hotel reservations MUST be made by Friday 2/3 to get the group rate.  Last I checked there were still a few (and I mean a few) rooms left in our block so if you want one, get in touch with the Carlton.

The plan is for the bus to leave CCHBS on Friday the 17th at 8:30am with an eye on being in the city by 3:30pm so as to enjoy the San Francisco Beer Week festivities.  There are no official club-sanctioned events aside from the Anchor trip, so make plans with other PG members.  We were going have an outing to Beer Revolution in Oakland, but it appears timing was bad, so that is off (although I believe a large group will be heading there Friday night).

Bus Update

The Carlton is a union hotel, as such they HAVE to remove the baggage from the
bus. Sadly this means you are on the hook for $6 for ever bag. It sucks but
there isn’t anything we can do about it. Please bring cash to pay for it.

Also, plan on bringing lunch, the Bay Bridge will be closing Friday night is it
is imperative we get up there as fast as we can. So we’ll have a quick stop to
stretch our legs, but we won’t be stopping for lunch. Far from ideal, but it
beats sitting in LA and SF traffic in one day.
 

 

February First Friday – Change In Beer Lineup.

/in , /by

Hello again.  I just spoke to Rob at El Segundo Brewing.  He’s looking forward to meeting us and taking us around the brewery (if we’re there early enough – he needs to cut out for a family obligation).  Unfortunately, due to the very limited availability of Simcoe hops, the Blue House IPA won’t be on tap.  He told me he’s very happy with the recipe in its present form and didn’t want to try and “cheat” it with a different hop, so he’s waiting until he gets his next allocation to continue brewing it.

Instead, he hopes to premiere his Citra IPA with us – it’s actually slated for release the next day.  The W.I.P.A. Wheat IPA will also be on tap for anyone whose hop jones needs fixing, as will the Pale Ale and Double Stout.

Thanks again – hope to see you all there.

— Victor

February First Friday at El Segundo Brewing

/1 Comment/in , /by

Please join us this Friday the 3rd for our monthly First Friday beer outing.  We’ll be showing our support for new local breweries (and homebrewers-gone-big!) by paying our first club visit to El Segundo Brewing Co. – brewers of “Blue House Ales”.

Rob Croxall was a longtime homebrewer before he took the necessary steps toward “living the dream” and opened the brewery in his home town of El Segundo.  On tap will be his 4 production beers: Blue House Pale Ale, Blue House IPA, White Dog W.I.P.A (a wheat IPA), and Hyperion’s Double Stout.  There may also be a “taproom only” experimental beer on.

Here are the details:

  • Date:  Friday, February 3rd.
  • Time:  Taproom hours that day are from 4:30pm to 8:30pm.  You’re welcome to arrive early, but it’s likely that many of us will get there around the official start-time of 6pm.  If we make a good showing, they may be able to stay open past 8:30 for us.
  • Food:  They’re strictly a brewery, but you’re welcome to bring your own munchies or order-in from local restaurants.
  • Location:  140 Main Street in El Segundo, 90245.  Phone is 310 529 3882.

Thanks, and hope to see you there.

— Victor

Big Brew @ Neil’s: Saturday, January 28th

/2 Comments/in , /by

What’s up, my fellow club members?  I’d like to remind you all that we’ll be holding another Big Brew at Neil’s palatial duplex on Saturday, January 28th.

For those unaware, a Big Brew is simply a multiple-brewer event, usually held outdoors.  If you’re new to homebrewing or want to make the jump to all-grain, these events are great opportunities to observe some of the myriad processes, equipment, and techniques our legion of club homebrewers employs to create the fine fermented beverages we consume at our meetings and parties.  Or in garages.

Neil will likely be brewing an all-grain cauldron of something hoppy or strong (or both), I’ll probably brew something weird extract-style, and there’s plenty of room for more brewers.  If you’d like to brew with us, please shoot me an email at communications@pacificgravity.com and inform.  Remember to bring your own “brewing rig”, ingredients, fermenter, etc.  Neil will have filtered water available.

Here are the details:

  • When:  Saturday, January 28th.  Brewing should begin around 10am and we’ll finish up around 6pm or so.
  • Where:  Neil’s Duplex: 12966 Rubens Ave, Marina Del Rey-adjacent, 90066
  • Beer:  As provided by those in attendance, so feel free to bring a keg, a growler, bottles, or any other vessels of brew.
  • Food:  We’ll have a gas grill available if you’d like to bring something to sear.  We may also order some “community” pizza for those willing to pitch in a few duckets.  Potluck stuff to share is always welcome too.

Here’s a link to a recap I wrote of our last Big Brew in November for AHA “Learn To Brew Day”.

Thanks, and hope to see you at Neil’s on the 28th.

— Victor

January 2012 Club Meeting Thursday the 19th

/1 Comment/in /by

It’s our first club meeting of the year so please come out and kick off the New Year with some great beers!

Commercial Styles of the Month:  Pilsners & Dark Lagers, which are being carefully selected by our resident Lager enthusiast Neil Saund.

Homebrew Kegs of the Month: All types of Lager beers are encouraged.  Best keg of the bunch wins a $25 gift certificate to CCHBS, which happens at each meeting, so check out the upcoming style of the month on the website and start brewing!  If you would like to bring a keg to upcoming meetings, our VP, Dave Mauceli, will have a sign-up sheet and you can always shoot him an email at: VicePresident@pacificgravity.com

COC- Dark Lagers: If you are bringing entries for the COC, you’ll need 3 bottles of your best Dark Lager.  Please see Carl’s Competition Coordinator post on the website for more info or email him at: Competitions@pacificgravity.com

COY Anchor Road Trip: If you plan to take the bus to SF, remember to bring $85 to reserve your seat (checks payable to Pacific Gravity).  We’ll also have pre-orders for our Club of the Year long-sleeve shirts for $25, so please bring your payment and decide what size you’d prefer!  See the website post for more information about the trip or email Kurt at: RoadTrips@pacificgravity.com

Club Merchandise: We have a few beer leashes ($5) and glasses ($6) left, as well as both long & short sleeve PG shirts ($15) and some Pacific Brewers Cup shirts ($20) for those of you who are interested.

Raffle: Our ever-enthusiastic Fundraiser, Terry Molloy, will be selling raffle tickets for $1 each.

For those of you who have never been to a meeting, this is a great way to meet current members, share and sample other homebrew or commercial beers & meads, and have some fun at the end of a long week!

Hope to see you all there

-Audrey