The Holiday Party is Coming

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Gravity Santa

Photo credit: Luis di Stefano

Mark your calendars!

This year’s holiday party will take place on Saturday, December 11, 2010, from 7 pm to midnight.  It will once again be held at Neil Saund’s duplex in Marina Del Rey.

Please sign up and let us know if you’re bringing any kegs.  The event is a potluck, so it’s a great chance to wow us with your special dish!  Appetizers, desserts, stuffing, go wild!  The club supplies the main dishes, but everything else is fair game.

Food & Beer volunteers are greatly appreciated, we can’t do this without your help!

We are also looking for volunteers to set up on Saturday 12/4 and tear down on Saturday 12/11.  Please contact Nathalie or Peigi and let them know if you’re available.

As always, we will be announcing the Brewer of the Year, and giving away a ton of great door prizes.  Keep your fingers crossed for clear skies this year!

Competition Corner – November, 2010

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The next Club-Only competition is upon us.  The theme for this is Strong Ales BJCP category 19, Old Ale, English Barleywine and American Barleywine.  Entries for this are due at the November Club meeting on November 18th.   If you have any one of these three bring three 12 oz. bottles and make sure you let Carl know they are there.  If possible, Read more →

Learn to Brew Day/Chili Cookoff-November 6, 2010

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For those of you who have been drinking too much beer, here’s a reminder that the AHA sponsored Learn to Brew Day event will be held at the home of our Brewmaster, Carl Townsend on Nov. 6. Carl will be demonstrating all grain brewing techniques. Anyone who wants to move up from extract brewing to all-grain should be sure to attend this event.

In addition to the Demonstration Brew, Carl has room for up to 4 more on site brewers. If you’d like to take advantage of the day and brew outdoors, you may reserve a spot by contacting Carl or me. Bring your own equipment to the event.

Because we had our Summer Party in August, we did not have our annual Chili Cookoff Competition. Therefore, we’re are combining it with the Learn to Brew Day event. For the past 2 years, Club Chef, Ian Fraser has won the Best Chili prize. Last year he also took home the Most Unique award. The rules of the competition are simple: Bring a pot of chili.

All sides (sour cream, grated cheddar, onion, green pepper, hot sauces, crackers, rice, salad, and dessert) will be supplied by the club. You don’t even have to bring a spoon to serve the chili. The more entries we have, the better the competition will be. No reservations for entry are needed. Just bring it by noon.

TIME: Brew begins at 10am, and ends when the place is cleaned up, usually around 5 or 6.

              Chili competion/lunch is at 1pm

WHERE: 3621 Redwood Ave.

                   L.A. 90066

Questions? Contact me at ActivitiesDirector@PacificGravity.com or Carl at CompetitionCoordinator@PacificGravity.com

First Friday-Nov. 5 at Joxer Daly’s

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November FF is at Joxer Daly’s in picturesque Culver City. Greg Beron, best known to Graviteers as an owner of Culver City Home Brew Supply, and a habitue of Joxer’s will arrange for us to have a special brew on tap. Our last time there we had a keg of DeKonnick, a brew rarely seen on tap in L.A. Who knows what’ll be on tap this time. The food is good and inexpensive (try the fish&chips or sliders), and there are a variety of other brews on tap.

Joxer Daly’s is located at 11168 Washington Blvd, just off Sepulveda.

Time: Official FF start time is 7pm, but many of us get to the place earlier than that.

If you are a new member and want to meet many of us old timers please join the crowd. Looking forward to seeing you  all.

Michael Steinberg, PG Activities Director

Learn to Brew/Chili Cookoff Day Nov. 6

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As in past years, Learn to Brew Day (formerly Teach a Friend to Homebrew Day), a nationwide AHA event will take place the first Saturday in November. Due to the Summer Party having been held in August, we were forced to pospone the cookoff until November, so Pacific Gravity will also be conducting our annual Chili Cookoff on that day.

The event will be held at the home of our Competition Coordinator and Brewmaster, Carl Townsend. The address is 3621 Redwood Ave, L.A. 90066. It’s just a few blocks west of Beethoven, north of Venice.
BREW:
Carl will brewing on his all grain system, and there is room for 4 additional brewers. If you want bring your equipment and brew, send an E-mail to me at ActivitiesDirector@PacificGravity.com, or to CompetitionCoordinator@PacificGravity.com

CHILI COOKOFF:
For the past 2 years, club chef, Ian Fraser has taken the prize for Best Chili. This year, he MUST BE BROUGHT DOWN! Ian has begun to think he owns the prize, and must be taught a lesson. Who’s gonna do it? YOU, of course.

The competition is simple. Make you best chili, bring it in a crockpot or any other vessel which can be heated. A tasting will take place, votes counted, and a winner announced. All serving utensils, garnishes, rice, crackers, salad and dessert will be provided by the club. Just label your entry.

BEER: Bring some. Kegs, bottles, commercial beers are all welcome.

TIME: Brewing commences at 10am
Chili serving and voting starts around Noon.

Competition Corner – October, 2010

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Entries are due at the Culver City shop no later than Saturday, October 9th for the last major competition of the season, the California State Homebrew Competition.  This is one of the key competitions that are considered for the California brew club of the year awarded sponsored by Anchor Brewing, so we need a good showing.  Complete rules and entry forms can be found at  http://www.nchfinfo.org/state-comp .  Since this is a remote competition, your entries must be packaged for shipping by UPS.  Read more →

First Friday-10/01/10

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It’s that time of the month again, boys and girls! This month we’re going to 2 bars, one new, and one old favorite. How can we do it? Easy-they are 100 feet from one another. What could be better than that (except Dan and Anne’s Carriage House Tap Room).

In the last couple of months the Venice Ale House opened on the Venice Boardwalk, right near the venerable Swiss/German restaurant, On the Boardwalk.

They are located right on the boardwalk at Rose Ave. Getting there is easy, and there is a municipal parking lot on the beach, just feet away from both places. If you are a cheapskate, like me, there is usually some neighborhood parking within a few blocks.

The Venice Ale House has 23 taps and  10 bottles, something for everyone, organic, inorganic (WTF!), hops, malt, specialty. While a few are rather ordinary, there  is absolutely NO BudCoorsMillerLight anywhere around. All are priced at 5-8 bucks, and bottles are 5-7, except for La Merle at $16/750ml.  Food is reasonably priced and all organic.

On the Waterfront is definitely NOT organic. It’s the place to go for your German brews. On tap is Köstrizer Black Beer, Bitburger Premium, König Pilsner, Erdinger Dunkel, Erdinger Weizenbier.  There is also a selection of bottled beer, and some of the usual American Brews.

On the Waterfront  Cafe is located at 205 Ocean Front Walk, just north of Rose.

As usual, the First Friday officially begins at 7pm, but many of us will be arriving by 5, while there is still some daylight. Join PG for what promises to be a great time.
         
 waterfrontcafe.com         

www.venicealehouse.com

First Friday-Sept. 3

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Well, Graviteers, another super PG Summer Party has come and gone.

Now that we’ve recovered, we must get back to business, as usual. That means First Friday! To celebrate Labor Day weekend, we are going to Culver City’s newest gastropub, Waterloo & City, located at 12517 Washington Blvd.

A few of us have already visited, and the consensus at last month’s FF was that we should go back to Culver City, try a new place, and support it.

The Tap lineup consists of Weihenstephan, Green Flash IPA, Hofbrau, Allagash White, Stone Pale, Arrogant Bastard, Duvel Green, and Ohara’s Irish Stout, a brew I’ve not seen anywhere else. There is also a cider on tap. The bottle list is pretty extensive, with something for everyone’s taste.  Prices of draughts are 4 (Green Flash) to 10 bucks (Duvel). Bottles average 7-12 for the ones we’d consider drinking.

Food is what has made W & C a destination for many. There are small pizzas, enough for 1 or 2 to share, and other appetizer sized portions.  Prices range from 6-12 bucks. If you want to have a full meal, and sit at a table, it would be wise to make a reservation, due to the overwhelming popularity of the place. The telephone number is: 310-391-4222.

W & C opens at 5pm, and happy Hour is from 5-7.

Hope to see you there.

Mead Day!

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It’s that time of year again… Mead Day!  We missed the official AHA National Mead Day, but that is not going to stop us.  So we will be celebrating our own Mead Day on September 11 at the home of Dan & Anne Hakes.  We will be brewing, tasting and talking about mead.  Last year Mead Day was held at my house and I made an all agave syrup fermentation.   We will be sampling that along with the mead we made last year and see how it’s coming along.  I have a few other meads sitting around and you never know what I might find in the cellar.  If you have some mead to share, bring it along. Beer is welcome too!

Michael Steinberg will be bringing snacks, and the Carriage House Taproom will be open.  Drop by, socialize, and watch how easy it is to make mead!

Saturday September 11, 2010

12:00 noon

2379 W 21st Street, Los Angeles, CA 90018

323-203-5089

Competition Corner – August 2010

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Lift up you taster cup and raise a toast to Craig Corley, Best of Show winner for the 2010 Los Angeles County Fair Homebrew competition!.  His Saison took top honors.  Also honoring the club was Carl Townsend, whose English Porter pulled in the second runner-up best of show.  Altogether, ten different Pacific Gravity brewers pulled in 27 awards, Read more →