Pacific Gravity Holiday Party (Virtual) from Tortugo Brewing Saturday, Dec 12th

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Greetings Pacific Gravity,

I know it has been a crazy year that has seen us all in isolation, lock-down, quarantine and unable to get together to celebrate ourselves, our club and our traditions!  In fact, this year has not given us much to celebrate at all when you think about it!  The stay at home lock down continues to this day and will impact our holiday party as a result!  But we say no to the Grinch and will celebrate anyway!  The board has some really creative ideas to try and give some semblance to our traditional holiday party…VIRTUAL of course!

So I am proud to announce the PACIFIC GRAVITY HOLIDAY PARTY, VIRTUAL FROM TORTUGO BREWERY!
Saturday, December 12, 2020
6:00 PM Until ?

Here is what we have planned for this event, Joe will be offering a PG Holiday 3 pack of crowlers (32 oz cans) for $30.  These will include:

Seymour by the Fire, the Seymour Kolsch spiced with holiday spice!
Chocolate Raspberry Porter
Marzen

While the Marzen may not be a holiday beer strictly speaking, is you have ever had it, you will know why it is on the list!  So, swing by the brewery and pick up your 3 pack to help get you in the mood!

But that’s not all!  The holiday party has traditionally been about the food and sharing of beers and we want to try and make that happen too!  So, we are announcing our first ever curb side pick up of beer and food for this event!  Starting at 3:00 PM on Saturday you can drop by club president and holiday elf without a shelf Ian’s house; and pick up your holiday food and beers for the party.

The beers are from the clubs ‘teach a friend to homebrew day’ when we brewed Brown Ales on Zoom.  Carl, Parker and Ian all bottled some of their beers from that day and they will be available for pick up along with the food that will be presented.  Not only that, but Carl and Dean will be bringing some of their ‘archive’ beers that will also be given away on a first come first served basis.

What about the food?  We decided to color outside the lines this year, there will be BBQ to go as the offering this year.  Ian is cooking brisket, Rob is making pulled pork and Dean will provide us with Dean’s famous beans.  The food will be placed in ‘to-go’ containers and made available when you pick up your beers.

Ian’s address is: 3938 Glencoe Ave. Venice, CA 90291
Text on arrival to: 310 435-1329 to place your order.

We have also created a Holiday Beer Gift Exchange (OPTIONAL) for those who wish to participate.
The Board has generously seeded the gift exchange with a bunch of 750 size bottles.  If you want to join in, when you show up to pick up your beer and food, you will “pick a bottle – leave a bottle” from the gift exchange box.

We ask that your bottle be a 750 in size, wrapped, in the $10 – $20 dollar price range.  To limit potential contamination, you will not be allowed to touch, please select with your eyes, then just point at the wrapped bottle you want and it will be brought out to you.

We will also be announcing the PG Board Election results as well as the Brewer of the Year and the Member of the Year as voted on by the membership.  Plus we will have giveaways!  Craig will be raffling off gift certificates and other swag to all who attend!  This should make us all merry until next year!  I hope to see you all there!

Cheers,

Ian Fraser
President
Pacific Gravity

Topic: Pacific Gravity Annual Holiday Party
Time: Dec 12, 2020 06:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

 

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First Friday Dec 4th at The Daily Pint (Virtual)

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Greetings Pacific Gravity,

 I hope you all had a fulfilling, restful and safe Thanksgiving Holiday!  Mine was quiet and very peaceful.

For our First Friday for December we are coming back to the Daily Pint.  Phil has rounded up some tasty seasonal beers for us.

They include:
Schlenkerla Eiche (The oak smoke Dopplebock)
Duchesse de Bourgogne Sour Cherry Ale
Russian River’s ‘Jannemie’ Saison (those of you who bought the ‘Robert’ Saison, this is his sister beer)

The 3-pack of beers will cost $30.00.  There will also be a separate offering of:
Old Rasputin Barrel aged in Bourbon Barrels 500 ML Bottle $30.

The beers will be available from Tuesday evening on to Friday at Ian’s house:  3939 Glencoe Ave, Venice  CA  90291
Zoom coverage will begin at 7:00PM.  You should receive a link to the Zoom meeting by separate email. If you don’t get the email, please let me know.

So stop by, grab some beers and let’s get ready for the holidays in style!

Cheers,

Ian Fraser
President
Pacific Gravity Homebrewers

NOVEMBER CLUB MEETING (VIRTUAL) at El Segundo Brewing Co. Thursday Nov 19th 7:30PM

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Greetings Pacific Gravity!

Now that we are passed that super scary time of year known as elections…what, you thought I was talking about Halloween?   It must be time for a beer!

For our November 19, 2020 we are going virtual at yet another local brewery, El Segundo Brewing Company!
PACIFIC GRAVITY NOVEMBER CLUB MEETING (VIRTUAL) at El Segundo Brewing Co.
Thursday, November 19, 2020 at 7:30 PM

Thomas Kelley and possibly one of the brewers (yet to be named) will join us on the ZOOM session to talk about the beers, happenings at the brewery and plans for the future.  We are making this month more of a free for all on the beers, stop by El Segundo and pick some of your favorites and join us!

At the time of this write up they have the following available:
Office with a View – new Tone Series IPA featuring Loral
Power of Flight – El Dorado / Amarillo IPA
Gouden Darm – Belgian Strong Golden
South Bay Bubble – Marris Otter base with Centennial, El Dorado, Idaho 7, Citra, Denali
South Bay Double Bubble, Double IPA
Seco IPA – Brut IPA with Citra, El Dorado, Rakau
Nearly IPA – 6% “IPA” with Motueka and Nelson
Casa Azul,
Mayberry,
Broken Skull.
All those are available in 16oz cans.

They also have 2020 vintages of Old Jetty and Standard Crude packaging this week. They come in 375ml bottles.  And of course, Citra and Hammerland in 12oz stubbies.

And speaking of elections other business will include elections! Please look for a separate email with election information and instructions on how to vote this year!  Get some beer, cast your vote, and come celebrate all the turkeys who make this club work!

You should receive a link to the Zoom meeting by separate email. If you don’t get the email, please let me know. This should be a cool meeting, jump in and I will see you there!
Cheers,

Cheers,

Ian Fraser
President
Pacific Gravity

First Friday Nov. 6th – Beer and Sake Tasting/Pairing with Harajuku Taproom

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Greetings Pacific Gravity!

Hoppy Halloween, Dia De Los Muertos and Election Day 2020!

Hopefully by this Friday we will have much to celebrate, or we will really need a drink! Either way you will get you wish by joining us for:  Pacific Gravity First Friday for: Beer and Sake Tasting/Pairing with Harajuku Taproom.   We will start up a Zoom session Friday November 6th at 7:00 PM.

This will be something new for First Friday, a beer and food pairing! Harajuku has put together a great package! The Harajuku/Pacific Gravity Pack* ($25) includes:

• Baird Beer: Wabi-Sabi Japan Pale Ale (11.2 oz bottle) paired with order of Edamame
• Coedo Beer: Sayama Green Tea Saison (11.2 oz bottle) paired with order of Taproom Gyoza (choice of chicken/pork or shrimp; can be reheated before tasting)
• Joto One Cup Sake: Single serving of Honjozo sake from Marumoto Brewery paired with Midnight Moon Gouda cheese

It’s suggested to order and pick up the PG Pack from Harajuku Taproom on Friday, before the tasting, or Thursday evening, so the food will be the freshest. Gyoza will be cooked when you order it.

Also, Harajuku is offering a 10% discount on any additional food/drink that PG members want to purchase while picking up their PG Packs.  In addition, Harajuku is offering Pacific Gravity members a deal on a mixed case of Baird Beer (one 6-pack each of: Wabi-Sabi JPA, Rising Sun Pale Ale, Suruga Bay Imperial IPA, and Numazu Lager) for $75, single 6-packs for $25. All beers have been in cold storage and are in great shape.*

* IMPORTANT NOTE: HARAJUKU HAS REQUESTED THAT YOU NOTIFY YOUR INTENT TO PURCHASE BY WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, AT NOON, IF YOU 1) WILL BE PURCHASING THE PG PACK (so Harajuku will know how much fresh cheese to order), AND 2) IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN PURCHASING A CASE OF BAIRD BEER, AND IF YOU WANT A MIXED CASE OR SPECIFIC BEERS. Please RSVP your order to me at [email protected] and I will forward it on to them.

Harajuku Taproom is located at: 4410 Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City, CA 90230

Tel: 310-963-7811

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.harajukutaproomla.com

You should receive a link to the Zoom meeting by separate email.  If you don’t get the email, please let me know.  This should be a cool First Friday, jump in and I will see you there!
Cheers,

Ian Fraser
President
Pacific Gravity

Pacific Gravity October Meeting (Virtual) Thursday 10/15

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Greetings Pacific Gravity,

I hope you all are drinking good beer while staying safe during this extended isolation period of 2020. The club is still maintaining a gathering and presence with our virtual club meetings and First Fridays. We hope you can join us for our next club meeting at 7:30PM this Thursday October 15, 2020.

In our ongoing efforts to drink and support local, our October club meeting we are doing a virtual club meeting at Santa Monica Brew Works

PG Alumni Drew Pomati will be online to talk about the beers in the 4 pack plus current events at the brewery!  Santa Monica Brew Works has put together a PG 4 Pack of 16 oz. pints for $20.00; they include:
Pacific Gravity Homebrew Club – Mix 16 oz 4-pack

16 oz Black is Beautiful (Imperial Stout)
16 oz Modern WIT (Belgian-style Witbier)
16 oz Pali Pils (West Coast-Style Pilsner)
16 oz Head In the Clouds (Juicy DIPA)

These 4 packs of 16 oz cans are available now! So stop by, say hi and grab your beers!
Santa Monica Brew Works is located at:
1920 COLORADO AVENUE, SUITE C;
SANTA MONICA, CA 90404

Other business will be upcoming elections, and member of the year, holiday party planning and more!
The zoom link is in the email, if you did not get it send me a note at: [email protected]

Please try and attend!
Ian Fraser

 

Virtual October 10 Big Brew

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Greetings Club Members,

As we struggle to create content that connects us while we all isolate alone we have hit upon a unique way to support the ‘Teach a friend to homebrew’ day on October 10th by doing a Big Brew on Zoom from all of our back yards!

We have selected American Brown Ale as our style (recipe below courtesy of Dean Sussman) and hope everyone will join along and brew a batch.  If Brown Ale is not your style, you can brew any beer you want!  The point is to brew together alone, it does not matter what you brew!
The virtual zoom portion of the brew day will start at 10:00 AM until 4:00 PM
The Zoom link will be sent by separate e-mail.  If you did not get the email but want to join the meeting send me an email at [email protected] and I will forward it to you.

So swing by the shop, buy your ingredients and let’s brew some beer!

American Brown Ale
Targets:  5.5 gallons of wort, 1.052 OG, 1.012 FG, 22 IBU, 25 SRM, 5.2% ABV  [see Note #1 below]

This recipe aims to produce a “middle-of-the-road” American Brown Ale:  not too strong, not too bitter, not too hoppy, with a nice malt-and-chocolate profile.

This beer should pair wonderfully with Thanksgiving dinner.  And if you brew it during the October 10 Pacific Gravity Big Brew, it should be ready just in time for Thanksgiving!

8.0 lb. American 2-row malt  [see Note #2 below]
2.0 lb. Munich malt 10°L  [see Note #2 below]
12.0 oz American chocolate malt 350°L
10.0 oz. CaraMunich malt 60°L

0.4 oz. Chinook hop pellets 11.6% AA for 60 minutes
0.5 oz. Cascade hop pellets 7.3% AA for 10 minutes
0.5 oz. Cascade hop pellets 7.3% AA for 0 minutes

White Labs WLP001 American Ale Yeast  [see Note #3 below]
Mash grains at 152°F for 60 minutes.

Sparge to get about 7.0 gallons of wort.
Boil wort for 60 minutes, adding hops according to schedule above.
Cool wort and pitch yeast.
Note #1:  These targets are based on an assumed efficiency of about 70%, and an apparent yeast attenuation of about 76%.  Your mileage may vary, and you may need to adjust things based on how your homebrew system works.
Note #2:  For an extract version of this recipe, substitute the American 2-row malt and the Munich malt with 7.5 lb. of light malt extract.
Note #3:  Here are just a few possible substitutes for the WLP001 American Ale Yeast (but the possibilities are endless):  White Labs WLP051, Wyeast 1056, Wyeast 1272, Safale US-05.

 

Virtual First Friday at Tortugo Brewery Oct 2nd, Virtual Big Brew October 10th

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Greetings Pacific Gravity,

Please join us on Friday, October 2nd for our First Friday (Virtual) at Tortugo Brewing.  We will get started at 7:00 PM.

Joe will join us with the latest news in the brewery industry, happenings at Tortugo and a conversation about the beers.  First Friday’s are less organized and more free flow than club meetings, but Joe is still offering a 3 pack of 32 oz. crowlers with the club discount for $30!

The 3 pack includes:

  • Seymour kolsch 5.2% Traditional kolsch style
  • West Coast Llvin 8% big bright double west coast IPA
  • Mai Tai PA 5% Kicker rock on pineapple, orange, coconut, cherry!

So swing by and pick up your beers and get geared up for Friday!

Virtual Club Big Brew on October 10, 2020. 

Tired of being quarantined?  Missing those opportunities to drink fresh homebrew?  Well, then, join us for Pacific Gravity’s first ever Virtual Club Big Brew on October 10, 2020.  The festivities will kick off at 10:00AM.  The official style is Dean’s favorite American Brown Ale.  Dean’s recipe is included below, though feel free to brew whatever you want.  For those of you with non-portable setups, this will be an excellent opportunity to demo your home system on your home turf.  Carl will crank up the amazing thermosiphon reboiler.

Craig will have Zoom up and running.  The link will be sent via e-mail as the date approaches.

So, plan out your recipe now, and make the trek out to the Eagle Rock Home Brewing Supply Co. to pick up your supplies shop.  While you’re out, pick up something simple to throw on your grill too.  We’d like to see just how many people we can get brewing at once!  If you have the setup, I’d recommend you put up some bottles so we can distribute them around for a future virtual club meeting.

Virtual Club Big Brew
Saturday, October 10, 2020
10:00AM to about 4:00PM
Location:  Your place and Zoom!

Dean’s American Brown Ale (targets:  5.5 gallons of wort, 1.052 OG, 1.012 FG, 22 IBU, 25 SRM, 5.2% ABV)  [see Note #1 below]

This recipe aims to produce a “middle-of-the-road” American Brown Ale:  not too strong, not too bitter, not too hoppy, with a nice malt-and-chocolate profile.  This beer should pair wonderfully with Thanksgiving dinner.  And if you brew it during the October 10 Pacific Gravity Big Brew, it should be ready just in time for Thanksgiving!

8.0 lb. American 2-row malt  [see Note #2 below]
2.0 lb. Munich malt 10°L  [see Note #2 below]
12.0 oz American chocolate malt 350°L
10.0 oz. CaraMunich malt 60°L

0.4 oz. Chinook hop pellets 11.6% AA for 60 minutes
0.5 oz. Cascade hop pellets 7.3% AA for 10 minutes
0.5 oz. Cascade hop pellets 7.3% AA for 0 minutes

White Labs WLP001 American Ale Yeast  [see Note #3 below]
Mash grains at 152°F for 60 minutes.
Sparge to get about 7.0 gallons of wort.
Boil wort for 60 minutes, adding hops according to schedule above.
Cool wort and pitch yeast.Ferment and enjoy!

Note #1:  These targets are based on an assumed efficiency of about 70%, and an apparent yeast attenuation of about 76%.  Your mileage may vary, and you may need to adjust things based on how your homebrew system works.
Note #2:  For an extract version of this recipe, substitute the American 2-row malt and the Munich malt with 7.5 lb. of light malt extract.
Note #3:  Here are just a few possible substitutes for the WLP001 American Ale Yeast (but the possibilities are endless):  White Labs WLP051, Wyeast 1056, Wyeast 1272, Safale US-05.

Cheers,
Ian

Virtual September Club Meeting at Project Barley Brewery

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Greetings Pacific Gravity,

We are entering the September phase of the longest March in history!  I hope you all are drinking good beer while staying safe during this extended isolation period of 2020. The club is still maintaining a gathering and presence with our virtual club meetings and First Friday’s.  For our September club meeting we are doing a virtual club meeting at Project Barley Brewery.

Club Meeting at Project Barley (virtual)
September 17, 2020 at 7:30 PM

Rives will lead us on a tasting of some of their current releases and update the group on current events in the craft brewing industry as they fight for parity under the law to get reopened.  Rives has selected some interesting beers for the group, they include:

Monkey and the Engineer (Hefeweizen)
Parker’s Milk Stout
Rojo Red IPA, made with wet hops from a farm in Fillmore that Rives helped harvest
Faberge IPA Brut IPA, it finished at 1.000 SG; with all southern Hemisphere hops

4 packs of 16 oz cans will be made available starting Friday afternoon through next Thursday for $20.00 per 4 pack.  Rives will drop them off at my place for pick up:  3938 Glencoe Ave, Venice CA 90291.
So stop by, say hi and grab your beers!
The zoom link is in the email, if you did not get it send me a note at: [email protected]

Coming up:
Virtual First Friday October 2nd, 7:00 PM
Virtual Club Big Brew October 10, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM featuring Dean’s American Brown Ale
Virtual Club Meeting Thursday, October 15, 7:30 PM

Competition Corner – September 2020 New “LateFaire” Details

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The Maltose Falcons have decided to keep their record string of Mayfaire competitions alive despite the imposition of the COVID-19 crisis!

In order to accommodate socially-distanced judging, the total number of entries has been capped at 100, and the styles have been lumped together into eight broad groupings. Entries, however, must be designated with their respective styles from the Falcons or BJCP stylesguides.

Registration is now open at https://competitions.maltosefalcons.com/2020Mayfaire/  Entries are $10 each and require three bottles.  The entry deadline in Sept 11th, but I’m certain it will max out almost immediately, so sign up now if you have entries.

I’ll make a trip up to the Woodland Hills shop on Thursday, Sept 10th, so if you have entries, you can drop them off with me by Wednesday the 10th.

The Falcons are also requesting judges.  If you are available, please sign up with the above link, and also drop me a line.  All judging will use social distancing techniques.

Also, don’t forget about the CHA “Bragging Rights Only” competition.  At this point, there is only 1 entry, which will win by default if no one else enters.  The deadline is September 13th.

Virtual First Friday at Common Space Brewery Sept 4th

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Greetings Pacific Gravity,

Can you believe it is almost September already?  That’s crazy!

I hope this finds you all safe and healthy while we continue to shelter in place.  In our ongoing efforts to bring you new and interesting content and experiences we are featuring Common Space Brewery (https://www.commonspace.la/ )  for our September First Friday on Friday, September 4, 2020.

First Friday at Common Space Brewery Virtual Zoom Meeting
September 4, 2020, at 7:00 PM

Josie Becker (CSB brewer and PG member) will be leading the tasting for Pacific Gravity.
Brent Knapp (CEO and alumnus of Tomm Carroll’s first UCLA Extension Craft Beer Class!) may join in for a bit of the tasting.  Common space has put together a Pacific Gravity beer set for this event.

The Pacific Gravity 4-pack (chosen by Josie) consists of: Read more →