Monster Brew 2011 @ Tustin Brewing Co.

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On February 26, 2011 the Tustin Brewing Company and its Brewmaster, PG’s Jon Porter, will be hosting their 3rd professional style Monster Brew.

PG Brewmaster Carl Townsend and Jon have developed a new base wort for this event. The basic idea is to brew a fairly strong wort. Target OG is 1.067, putting it in the Bock range as well as other styles such as Dubbel, IPA, Saison and many others. 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 wort from the Monster Brew at Tustin Brewing?

COST

The cost will be $27 for each 5 gallons of wort, or $28.12 including PayPal fees, with the option of buying 1 or 2 batches.

Yeast and any additional ingredients you wish to add are not included.  You can bring your yeast to the brewery, or pitch it at home.

Payment for the event must be done in advance.  You can reserve you spot now by paying through PayPal, or by dropping by Culver City Homebrew Supply.  Be sure to include your name, telephone number, and E-mail address.

Your last chance to reserve your spot will be at the Feb. 17 PG Meeting.

You MUST be present at the event to get your wort. No friends will be allowed to pick up wort for you!

If you have paid in advance, but find you cannot attend, 24 hour notice must be given in order to obtain a refund. On event day, all monies collected will be given to Tustin Brewing. Such notice may be sent to Pacific Gravity Treasurer, Craig Corley or Vice President, Reed Wilson.

Some of us may want to purchase more than 10 gallons. Initially, ONLY 5 – 10 gallons may be purchased. However, if there is wort left over at the end we will hold a lottery to determine who may get an additional 5 gallon allotment. Bring an extra fermenter if you are interested.

Don’t forget to bring a sanitized fermenter for each 5 gallons you buy!

FERMENTERS

Fermenters MUST be either plastic or stainless steel. Absolutely no glass fermenters will be allowed in the brewery due to the danger of breakage on the tile floor. You may bring small glass vessels with yeast or other additions, however.

We will have extra plastic fermenters and airlocks available for on-site purchase.

If you think you may need one, please contact Carl Townsend or Reed Wilson so that we can get a count. (see contact info below)

TIME

The event will be starting EARLY, at 6AM. If that is too early, you may show up by 12 noon and still get your pre-purchased wort. Of course, you’ll not get to take part in the actual brewing. Projected ending time will be between 1-2 PM.

Other clubs will be invited to participate, including the Long Beach Home Brewers, but the organizers hope that Pacific Gravity members make up the bulk of the brewers.

FOOD

Tustin Brewing will have coffee, bagels, pastries, etc. for breakfast, and we will buy our own lunches towards the end of the brewing session. In addition, there is a Trader Joe’s nearby, and an early opening restaurant where you can get breakfast if you wish.

Tustin Brewing’s kitchen opens for lunch at 11am.

In addition Jon will be supplying tasting samples of some of his fine brews during the morning. Cut off time for free pours will be 11am. After that, it will be available for purchase.

TRAVEL

We will be carpooling down to Tustin. The trip is about 45 minutes at the early hour we’ll be traveling. If there is much return traffic, those who pitch yeast at Tustin may have a finished beer by the time they get home.

Contacts:

Jon Porter, Brewmaster, Tustin Brewing Company
PG Activities Directors, Mimi Bardet & Audrey Hill-Lindsay

[email protected] (Carl)
[email protected] (Reed)
[email protected] (Michael S.)
[email protected] (Craig)

Reserve Your Wort Now!

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

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

Answer:

I hope you are all planning to join us at Tustin Brewing’s Third Annual Monster Brew, Saturday, February 26th, 2011 from 6 am to 2 pm hosted by our very own Jon Porter.  We’ll be brewing up a batch of high-gravity pale 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, the American Homebrewers Conference, club meetings and other beer venues.

The recipe for the wort is shown below.  As formulated,

Read more →

President’s Message: State of the Club

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As we begin 2011, the state of the Pacific Gravity Homebrew Club is strong. We have already begun to get the ball rolling on upcoming events, and are locked in to our first two big ones for the year.

Tustin Monster Brew

February 26 we’ll be celebrating our 16th  anniversary by going back to the Tustin Brewery for another edition of our enormously successful Monster Brews. P.G. Brewmaster Carl Townsend, and Tustin’s Brewer extraordinaire, Jon Porter have come up with a new recipe for us to brew, doctor at home with specialty grains, adjuncts and yeast. In the past many of us have produced outstanding beers from the base recipes, and this year promises to be no exception. Carl has written an Ask the Brewmaster article outlining the possibilities for this year’s moderately high gravity wort. For reservations, contact Reed Wilson at [email protected] or Mimi Bardet and Audrey Hill-Lindsay at [email protected] . Cost is $27 per 5 gallon pour, 10 gallons maximum. See the articles detailing the event and make your reservations soon.

Tustin Brewing Company

On March 26 we’ll be going on a Road Trip to Orange County

Road Trip Coordinator, Kurt Periolat, has lined up TAPS  Fish House & Brewery in Brea, and The Bruery. TAPS is a GABF multiple prize winning brewpub with an outstanding lineup, ranging from British Session Ales, to German Lagers, with stops in the U.S. and Belgium. The Bruery is one of the fastest growing and popular new breweries around, and will have something special for us.   For reservations to this event send an E-mail to [email protected] or [email protected], and prepay through PayPal.

First Friday at Bar Food

As usual, First Friday is coming up (Feb 4th at Bar Food), and our February 17th meeting  will  feature  Belgian and French Ales; tasting to be hosted by Craig Corley, our club treasurer. Bring beer to share, and money or checks, to pay for the road trip and/ or Monster Brew. Don’t forget, PayPal will also be available for payment to the 2 events (UPDATE: Click the links to pay for the OC Road Trip on PayPal, or for 5 Gallons of wort at the Monster Brew).  See the articles detailing these events for more information.

Feedback Welcome

If you have any questions, suggestions, or criticisms don’t hesitate to send a message to me at [email protected] Suggestions for events, or ideas for club projects are always welcome. If you are interested in volunteering to help out with club activities, don’t hesitate to ask me, or any of the other Board members.

Looking forward to seeing you soon.

February First Friday: February 4th at Bar Food in WLA!

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Thanks to all of you who came out for our January First Friday at the 4 Points Sheraton at LAX on 1/7/11. Good times & good beers were had by all! We enjoyed the special night with 50% off both food & beer (both draft & bottles), plus the free parking. We had an excellent turnout – probably one of the largest First Friday gatherings in Pacific Gravity’s history! We also enjoyed sharing the night with some of the SouthBay Strand Home Brewers.

Let’s keep the good times rolling! Mark your calendars for our next First Friday on February 4th at Bar Food in West Los Angeles. Officially, our First Friday begins at 7pm but you are welcome to come as early at 5pm when Bar Food opens. Actually, you are encouraged to go early in order to get a good start on your weekend and enjoy the Happy Hour food specials as well as to help reserve some space for our PG group!

Drink specials are available all night! They have 24 taps! And, you can get a free hot dog with the purchase of 2 beers. Food specials are only available from 5pm to 7pm but prices are reasonable for their tasty Pub Grub after 7pm.

Bar Food is located at:
12217 Wilshire Blvd. (just west of Bundy Dr.)
Los Angeles, CA 90025
http://www.barfoodla.com/

Looking forward to seeing you all on February 4th at Bar Food!
Cheers,
PG Activity Directors, Mimi & Audrey

Road Trip Scheduled for March 26

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We will be having our first road trip of the year on March 26. The trip will be behind the Orange Curtain to visit two great breweries:

TAPS in Orange – TAPS took home some serious hardware at this years GABF – including Gold for their Belgian White and the Small Brewpub of the Year award. Take a look at the medals on their beer list, it’s scary.

The Bruery in Placentia – A favorite of many PGers, The Bruery has been cranking out amazing and creative beers since they opened (3 ounces of Black Tuesday changed my life). PGer Ben Weiss has even agreed to open early for us so we’ll have the run of the place AND he said he’d try to have something special on tap for us as well.

We are going to leave CCHBS at 10:30, have lunch at TAPS and then head over to the Bruery. We should be back at the store by 5:15 or so.

The best part? $20. Seriously, you’d be crazy not to go.

Sign up via Paypal (95 cent transaction fee applies), or bring cash or check to the meeting to reserve your spot!

If you have questions you can email me at [email protected].

Monthly Meeting-January 20, 2011

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I’d like to welcome all Pacific Gravity members to our first meeting of 2011. This month’s style is English and Scottish Ales. Our Style Tasting Host this month is Tom Rierson, one of the most knowledgeable members  of our club in the area of British Ales and Lagers.

Activities Directors Audrey Hill-Lindsay and Mimi Bardet will be bringing a Ploughman’s Lunch for us, as well as some other snacks.

Terry Molloy will be selling raffle tickets ($1), and handing out some great prizes. Donations of excess equipment, or glasses is always welcome.

Announcements this month include information about our Anniversary Club Brew, and First Road Trip of the year.

Bring cash or check if you want to be among the first to reserve a spot for these sure to be great events.

The meeting commences at 7:30pm out back of Culver City Home Brew Supply, the PG home away from home.

Bring kegs of beer to share, sample, or have “judged” by your fellow club members. A $25 gift certificate will be given to the brewer whose beer is voted “Best of Meeting.”

Competition Corner – January 2011

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We start out the 2011 homebrew competition schedule at our club meeting on Thursday, January 20th with a Club-Only competition; this time the “Battle of the Bitters”, English Pale Ales, BJCP Category #8.  This includes bitter, best bitter and ESB in addition to English Pale.   If you have any one of these three (or more than one) bring three 12 oz. bottles to the meeting and make sure you let Carl know they are here.  If possible, please also fill out an entry form, which you can download from http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/attachments/0000/0326/entry_recipe.pdf.  The club picks up the entry fee, so it is free to you.  If your entry is selected, we’ll ship off the two remaining bottles to the national judging site.  If you lose, you can take back the two extra bottles.  Or if you prefer, you can pop them open to console your losses.

The entry deadline for America’s Finest City competition has been set for Friday February 4th.  Read more →

It’s Official: The 2011 Southern California Homebrewers Festival

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SCHBF 2009

A view of the festival in 2009

SCHBF: April 29th – May 1st, 2011

Pacific Gravity will once again join hundreds of fellow homebrewers at the Lake Casitas Recreation Area in Ojai, California, for the 21st Southern California Homebrewers Festival.

Something on the order of 40 homebrewing clubs from SoCal and points further will be pouring home-brewed ales, lagers, meads, and other fermented potables on Saturday, the 30th of April, from 11am to 10pm, but as those of you who’ve attended in the past know, we make a weekend of it. We’ve once again secured the Owl Court group campsite, so round up your tent and camping gear and join us.

We typically arrive on the Friday afternoon before and depart for home on the Sunday after the festival. There are also hotels in nearby Ojai for those disinclined to camp.

Renew your CHA membership now!

Membership in the California Homebrewers Association (CHA) is required for entry into the festival, and those memberships are on sale now. There will be no memberships sold at the festival – no exceptions.

Memberships purchased before January 31st will cost $40; $45 if purchased by February 28th, and $50 thereafter, up until the day before the festival, at which point no more memberships will be sold. You can also sign up to volunteer at the festival and this will gain you free entry.

Owl Court

We will be returning to Owl Court group site

Volunteer registration isn’t open just yet, but FYI – you’ll be required to put in a 2-hour shift, and typical volunteer tasks include working the registration table, helping at the ice truck, parking assistance, and cleanup on Sunday.

If you know that you’ll be attending the Festival but not volunteering, you’re encouraged to purchase your CHA membership soon, as these early memberships will aid the CHA in the preliminary stages of the organization and planning of the festival.

And then there’s the beer…

Pacific Gravity always has a great showing, and this year should be no different. We have many talented brewers in our club, and we encourage you to contribute a keg for the cause. The club dispense system (CDS) has been upgraded with a new expansion box, so we now have a total of 22 thirsty taps to provide for. In addition, we’ll need kegs for the group campsite, so fire up your kettles and get on with it.

We’ll begin providing sign-up sheets at the January meeting, and ideally, we should strive to have a lot of diversity in our offerings and some unusual beers as well. There are some other things to consider – most attendees will be required to pay for parking this year – $60 for the weekend, so carpooling will make a lot of sense.

We’re working toward making this year’s festival experience affordable, flexible, and the most enjoyable ever for all attending – please stay tuned for details. For more information and to purchase your membership, visit calhomebrewers.org

Brew & Mead Day

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Hello fellow Gravitiers,

There will be a brewing and mead making day at the wonderful host Neil
Saund’s house on Sunday January 23rd. Though it is not an official
club sponsored event, this will be an opportunity for those of you who
are interested in learning to make mead to gain some insight into the
process & even make a first batch. There will also be a number of
others brewing beer for your edification & experience. If you are
interested in either brewing or mead making, please email the
Activities Directors at: [email protected] to
reserve a space.

Neil has kindly offered to help provide the honey & yeast for the
mead, but all brewers will need to supply their own equipment and the
Activities Directors can help you in understanding what you need to
bring to the event.

This will take place at Neil’s town house, same as the Christmas
Party, in Marina Del Rey. The address is: 12966 Rubens Ave, Los
Angeles, CA 90066.

There will be BBQ’s to grill on, so please bring proteins or veggies
of your choice and of course any other munchies you see fit to share
throughout the day. And of course beer in any fashion is welcome,
though if you need a jockey box to dispense it through, again please
email the Activities Directors at the address above.

Brewing will begin about 10am and continue throughout the day. If you
can let us know of your interest and attendance we can make sure that
everyone will have a space to brew, mentor to learn to make mead from
and supplies to serve food & beer from.

Happy New Year & Let’s kick off a wonderful year of Pacific Gravity in
2011. Thanks again to our host Neil Saund.
-Audrey & Mimi

First Friday at Four Points LAX

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Hi & Happy New Year to Pacific Gravity members!

Please come join us for a very special First Friday — this Friday, January 7th!

As new co-Activities Directors, Audrey and I are very excited about our first event. Please come out & join us for a fun First Friday. And, thanks to our new President, Mike Steinberg, for getting this special event setup.

Some quick facts:
Date: Friday, January 7th
Time: 6pm to 9pm for special discounts (but you are welcome to go any time Friday evening!)
Location: Best BrewsBar in the Four Points by Sheraton LAX Hotel (aka Brewsters)
Address: 9750 Airport Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90045
Website: http://www.fourpointslax.com/BestBrews

Parking: FREE (you can have your parking ticket validated at the bar)

Special Pricing on BEER & FOOD from 6pm to 9pm! 50% OFF!

Looking forward to ringing in the new PG year with all of you on Friday!
Cheers!
Mimi & Audrey