Virtual First Friday at Common Space Brewery Sept 4th

/in /by

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 →

CHA Bragging Rights Only Competition

/in /by
For those of you who typically go the the California Homebrew Festival, you know that they run an informal competition at the fest to decide which club makes the best beer in a narrow range of styles.   This is known as the “Bragging Rights Only Competition”.  Each club can only enter one beer.

This year, the Fest was canceled due to COVID-19.  But, they still want to run the competition.  So, we need to select a beer from the club.  Note that you can enter regardless of whether you usually go to the fest or not.

This year, the style list is a follows:

Helles (2015 4A)
Kolsch (2015 5B)
Hefeweizen (2015 10A)
Amber Lager / Marzen (2015 6A)
German Pilsner (2015 5D)
If you have a beer to enter, please let me know by Sunday, September 13th, and drop off one bottle at my place.  Since I’m not entering, I’ll select the winning entry from all the contenders.
If your entry wins, you will need to submit three more bottles to one of the drop-off sites no later than September 27th.  I’ll have an update with the available drop-off sites later on.
Good Luck!
Carl Townsend

Read more →

PG August Virtual Club Meeting

/in /by

Greetings Pacific Gravity,

I hope this message finds you all well, safe and healthy.

For our August virtual club meeting we are returning to Tortugo Brewing! It is our home base after all!  Joe Kovach will be on hand to discuss his beers and the current situation at Tortugo!  He has also put together a 3 pack of 32 oz. crowlers at the family discount price of $25!

Plus his newly released I survived 2020 by drinking Tortugo to go beer t-shirts are available.  A must have!  Tortugo shirts and hats are $25 each.  Or get the combo pack of a shirt and 3 32oz crowlers for $50.

The 3 packs will include:
CRISTOBAL MEXICAN STYLE LAGER
5.2% AVB 20 IBU
This is no wimpy Lager. This lager pays homage to its traditional German roots while going to enjoy some sun south of the border. This crisp clean lager has nice delicate fruit notes from the yeast a touch of sweetness from the maize.

KICKER ROCK IPA
6.9% ABV 54 IBU
Finished with Citra and Mosaic Hops.  East coast meets West coast with this Tropical IPA. You get hit with Honey dew and Citrus on the nose and a strong malt backbone with a clean refreshing finish.

SEYMOUR KOLSCH
5% ABV 25 IBU

Our Take on a Traditional Kölsch Style. Nice Grainy Notes, Clean Fruit notes from the yeast and a smooth finish.

During the meeting we will all sip along as we learn from the brewer what went into the making of these beers!   This way we have a sense of a ‘style of the month’ beer tasting ass well as being part of our own community! Plus we support one of our own!

We are not posting the Zoom link publicly but all members should have received an email invitation with all the details.  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.

Cheers,
Ian Fraser
President
Pacific Gravity Homebrewers

 

First Friday With Firestone Walker Aug 7 7PM

/in /by

Greetings Pacific Gravity,

It is August already!  I hope this finds you all remaining safe and healthy in this, our 25th year of existence and continued isolation. For our First Friday in August, we have decided on a virtual visit to Firestone Walker Brewing Co. Propagator located here in Venice.

First Friday August 7, 2020 at 7:00 PM VIRTUAL on ZOOM

This will be a more informal format then our previous virtual First Fridays with no organized beers pre-selected.  Sam Tierney, the brewing manager at Propagator, will join us for an informal chat about brewing at Propagator and the beers brewed there! Read more →

Pacific Gravity 25th Anniversary Summer Party Virtual From Smog City Brewing!

/in /by

Greetings Pacific Gravity!

I hope this message finds you all safe and healthy as we continue to shelter in place through the summer!  We are holding this club together using technology, innovative thinking and good friends in brewing!  As you all may have guessed by now, there will be no summer party at Dean’s party pad this month!  And it is a real shame too as we had finally convinced him to allow us to dig a pit in his yard (this year only!) for a whole pig roast to celebrate our 25th anniversary!   He was also going to empty his pool and allow us to turn it into a skate park!  That would have been a rocking event!  Oh well!  The pandemic has forced us to change our plans!  That 25th anniversary version of our summer party will have to occur next year.

This year we will be virtual and we are serving you up a great one to celebrate with your fellow club members!  Jon and Laurie Porter have graciously agreed to host our 25th Anniversary Virtual Celebration of our annual summer party.   For those of you who have been attending our virtual club meetings and first Friday’s will have some clue about how this is going to work.  Porter has put together what we consider a fantastic package of extremely drinkable beers plus a gift for each member who participates!

The plan for this summer party is this, you buy the beer package from Smog City (link:   https://smogcitybrewing.com/collections/beer-delivery-or-taproom-pick-up )  Then cook yourself what ever summer party food you want to eat, then join us Saturday July 25, 2020, starting at 4 PM on the virtual Zoom meeting and drink Smog City beer and eat and enjoy being with your friends (virtually)!

It has been suggested that I send out some recipes from summer party favorites of the past for folks to use if they so desire, which I will do in a follow up post.

The beer package from Smog City will include:
2 From LA wit Love (a very easy drinking White Ale)
2 Sabre Tooth Squirrel (a Smog City classic hoppy Amber Ale)
2 Amarilla Gorilla (West Coast IPA)
1 Bourbon OE (Barrel Aged Barleywine)
Plus each order will include a complimentary Smog City Tulip Glass to drink your beer from!
The cost of the entire package is $33.00.

The great thing about Smog City is they will deliver your summer party beers right to your door!  No need to raid Ian’s garage!  It should be noted that if you order $50 or more, your delivery is free!    So, check out their website and add on another 6 pack to your order and receive the free shipping option!  Please remember to tip your driver though!

The PG beer package will be available starting on Friday July, 17, 2020.
Our Summer Party virtual event will occur on Saturday July 25th starting at 4 PM till…
Jon and Laurie will be joining us to talk about how Smog City is doing during the pandemic, their upcoming plans to open new locations and talk about the beers!

We are trying to incorporate door prize giveaways as well, so there will be prizes!
Please look for my follow up post with favorite recipes from Summer parties past.

We are not posting the Zoom link publicly but all members should have received an email invitation with all the details.  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.

I hope to see you all on Saturday!
Topic: Pacific Gravity Summer Party
Time: Jul 25, 2020 04:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Cheers,
Ian Fraser
President
Pacific Gravity Homebrewers

Pacific Gravity July Virtual First Friday at The Daily Pint

/in /by

Greetings Pacific Gravity,

For our club’s first Friday coming up at 7:00 PM Friday, July 3, 2020 we are doing a virtual First Friday at yet another of one of our club’s longtime supporters.  This First Friday will be a virtual meeting at one of my favorite hang-outs, The Daily Pint!  We want to continue in the same vein as the last First Friday which featured a very successful virtual visit and tasting at Project Barley with our own Rives!  Thank you Rives for getting this set up!

This First Friday will feature Russian River beers purchased from The Daily Pint.  Phil has put together a 4–pack of Russian River 500 ML beers for us to purchase and drink at our First Friday, the lineup includes:

STS Pilsner
Velvet Glow (a new dry pale ale)
Blind Pig IPA
ROBERT (their new Saison)

Because the Pint is a reseller we are paying a little extra on this go around, the 4-pack will cost $40 with all proceeds going to support The Daily Pint. I also hope to have Phil himself join us and give us all the latest news about the goings on at the Pint and his reopening plans.   The beer will be available starting tomorrow Saturday June, 27, 2020 and the pick up address is: 3938 Glencoe Ave, Venice CA.

Please have your $40 cash with you at pick up.

We are not posting the Zoom link publicly but all members should have received an email invitation with all the details.  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.

Cheers,
Ian Fraser
President
Pacific Gravity Homebrewers

Virtual Club Meeting at LA ALE WORKS June 18, 2020

/in /by

Greetings Pacific Gravity,

I hope this message finds you safe and healthy as we continue to shelter in place.

We had such a good time at our Virtual May Club meeting at Tortugo Brewing and sampling Joe’s beers that we have decided to repeat the game plan and go virtual to LOS ANGELES ALE WORKS for our June 18, 2020 club meeting!  Thanks Joe for making a great meeting happen!

Kip and LAAW has put together a knock-out line up of beers in the form of a four pack for club members to purchase.  They are:

‘Long Haul’ – A rum barrel Imperial Stout
‘Quantum Leap’ – A seriously easy drinking IIIPA – 10% ABV
‘Chromatic’ – A juicy double hazy IPA featuring Nelson Sauvin hops – 8.5% ABV
‘Sum Sum’ – Their new summer Ale

The cost of the 4 pack is $20.00.  Kip included the P.G. Club discount in calculating the cost of the 4-pack, so this is a deal!

Starting today you can swing by the brewery and tell them you are here for the “Pacific Gravity 4 pack” and set them aside until Thursday when Kip and Brian will tell us the stories behind the beers, give us updates on how the brewery is operating under current conditions and what beers they have planned for summer!

Kip also strongly recommends folks pick up a can of ‘DigiMax’ while they are there…it is not part of the 4 pack but it is beer that Kip like talking about!  So pick one up while you can!

Then on Thursday, June 18, 2020 at 7:30 PM tune into the virtual Zoom club meeting at LA ALE WORKS, sip some LAAW beers, and talk to the brewers and here the plans the club has for then next couple of months!

We are not posting the Zoom link publicly but all members should have received an email invitation with all the details.  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.

Cheers,
Ian Fraser
President
Pacific Gravity Homebrewers

First Friday June 5th – Here is the Beer List, Order before Sunday 5-31

/in /by

Greetings Pacific Gravity,

OK, HERE ARE THE DETAILS FOR FIRST FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 2020 @ 7:00 pm

For our club’s first Friday coming up at 7:00 PM Friday, June 5, 2020 we are doing a virtual First Friday at our club member Rives own Project Barley Brewery.

Rives will deliver 3 packs of Project Barley beers to a central location. Any members who want to participate will purchase the 3 beers; and we will have our in-house judges Carl and Tomm evaluate each of the beers while you taste along.  Rives will be on hand and can tell us each of their stories!

When you pick up your 3-packs of pints, we will have judging score sheets available to anyone who wants to score the beers along with Carl and Tomm.

The 3-pack includes the following beers:

  • Fruit Tart: Key Lime (a Key-Lime Pie inspired kettle-sour.)
  • Em Day’s Pale Ale (modern West Coast Pale Ale with Citra, Mosaic  and Galaxy).
  • Imperial Walker Stout (classic Imperial Stout).

The cost of the 3-pack of pint (16 oz) cans is $15.00; this price includes the gas and tip for the delivery driver. All funds go to Project Barley, the club is not trying to make any money on this process.

Rives will drop off the beers at my house about noon on Sunday and they will be available for pick up any time after that.  That means you have until 8:00 AM Sunday morning to let me know if you want in on this, drop me an email at: [email protected] to be included.    Also check with me at this address if you don’t have the Zoom info.

The beer pick up address is: 3938 Glencoe Ave, Venice CA please have your $15 cash with you at pick up.

Cheers,

Ian Fraser
President
Pacific Gravity

First Friday June 5th – Project Barley Virtual Tasting

/in /by

Greetings Pacific Gravity,

I hope this email finds you well during this extended time of isolation and virtual living!

Pacific Gravity is continuing the concept of adding content to our virtual get togethers and we had an excellent club meeting featuring Joe Kovach and Tortugo beers. Thank you Joe for the beer and talking to the group! Also congrats on the gold medal!

For our clubs first Friday coming up at 7:00 PM Friday, June 5, 2020 we are going to try and make it more then just social drinking together and feature Rives own Project Barley Brewery.

What we hope to do is have Rives deliver some of Project Barley beers to a central location, have any members who want to participate purchase the 2 or 3 beers and we will have our in house judge Carl evaluate each of the beers while you taste along and Rives can tell us each of their stories! All funds go to Project Barley, the club is not trying to make any money on this process.

What we need from you A.S.A.P is to know if you want to get in on the action! If so let me know at [email protected] so we can be sure to have enough stock of beers available for purchase!

Once we set it all up, we will send out the announcement email with all the details and Zoom meeting link next week.

Please respond ASAP as we want to make the beers available for pick over the coming weekend!

Let’s do this!

Cheers,

Ian Fraser
President
Pacific Gravity

Pacific Gravity May Club Meeting -Virtual- Thursday May 21 at 7:30PM

/in /by

Greetings Pacific Gravity,

I hope this message finds you all well, safe and healthy during this extended time of crisis and uncertainty! Pacific Gravity is doing what we can to add a little normalcy and continuity during this time.

In our ongoing effort to continue to comply with state mandated regulations against group gatherings, our May 21, 2020 club meeting will be virtual. Time will be at 7:30 PM.

However we want to be at Tortugo Brewing! So how do we achieve this? Well we are bringing Tortugo to you! Our meeting will include a virtual celebration of Tortugo Brewing. Joe Kovach will be on hand to discuss his beers and in particular the Balta Red and the Secret IPA. Here is how it works! Stop by Tortugo Brewing starting tomorrow and pick up some of his beers, be sure to include the ‘Balta Red’ and the ‘Secret IPA’ in your purchases.

Joe has the following beers available at this time:
Cristobal Mexican lager 5.2%;
Seymour Kolsch 5%;
Isabela white ale 4.5%;
Baltra red ale 6%
Kicker rock IPA 6.9%;
West Coast Livin IPA 8%;
Porter 7.5%;
Applewood Smoked pale ale 5.2% &
Secret IPA 7%;
Lava beer dry hopped red ale 6%

Also he has these but these beers sell out fast!
New mai tai pa 5% (available Thursday)
New Island time 3% (available Thursday)
New Caught in the Rain 5% (available Friday) Read more →