March Meeting 3/21 at Tortugo Brewing

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We will be meeting March 21 at Tortugo Brewing 7:30PM
916 W Hyde Park Blvd, Inglewood, CA 90302
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, our commercial tasting style is Irish and British dark beers, hosted by yours truly!
Dust off your potatoes for an unofficial stew-off! Bring your crock-pot of Irish or British stew to the meeting. This is just for bragging rights. We will have a side of rice, and hopefully some bread from Tortugo’s neighboring bakery.
We still have spots for the Southern California Homebrewer’s Festival. Do not miss one of the best events of the year! Talk to Terry to sign up for a campsite.
Cheers!
-Elijah

Upcoming dates:

April 5: First Friday @ El Segundo Slice & Pint
April 18: Meeting @ LA Ale Works
May 3-5: Southern California Homebrewer’s Festival
May 11: First Friday Second Saturday @ Harajuku Taproom

February Meeting 2/21 at Tortugo Brewing

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MEETING REMINDER!

Please join us this Thursday, 2/21/2019 for our February meeting!

We will be meeting at Tortugo Brewing at 7:30 PM

Our style of the month is Cider’s and Perry’s with Tyler Schwartz leading the commercial tasting.

Date: 2/21/2109 @ 7:30 PM

Location: Tortugo Brewing, 916 W Hyde Park Blvd. Inglewood, CA 90302

Upcoming dates to remember:

March 1, 2019: First Friday at Irish Times
March 9, 2019: MonsterBrew at Smog City Brewing.  See Carl’s Monster Brew article.
March 21, 2109: March Club Meeting at Tortugo Brewery

Cheers,

Ian

Reminder: Pacific Gravity January Club Meeting

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Don’t miss our first club meeting of 2019, headed by our new president, Ian Fraser.

When: Thursday, January 17, 2019
Time: 7:30
Where: Tortugo Brewing, 916 W Hyde Park Blvd, Inglewood, CA.

Hyde Park Blvd is a few blocks East of Three Weavers, and just North of the iconic Randy’s Doughnuts. From La Cienega and Florence, go east on Florence about 1/4 mile, turning left at the first street. Go under the metro rail tracks, proceed to the big orange building on the East side of the street.

Commercial Style of the Month:   English Bitters. Dean will lead us in the commercial tasting

Homebrew Style of the Month:   English Bitters.

Please bring some home-brewed beer to share.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Club Meetings:
February 21: Tortugo Brewing Company, 7:30 pm
March 21: Tortugo Brewing Company, 7:30 pm

First Fridays:
February 1: Santa Monica Brew Works, 1920 Colorado Ave #c, Santa Monica
March 1: Irish Times, 3267 Motor Ave, West Los Angeles

Annual Smog City Monster Brew:
Saturday, March 9, 6-ish am

See you there!

.

Pacific Gravity: November Recap, Holiday Party, Club Member of the Year Voting

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November Meeting Recap

Our Annual Chili Cookoff at Tortugo Brewing Company was a rousing success. Parker W (2), Robert W, Neil S, Luis D.S., Ian F, and Dean S (2) submitted chilis for consideration by fellow PG members and guests, with voting in the usual 2 categories: Best Chili and Most Unique Chile.

And the winners were {drumroll, please}:
Best Chili: Ian
Most Unique: Parker
Ian and Parker each won a growler of their choice from the Totugo tap list.

Q: What is a Chili Cookoff without some tasty homebrews? A: Not a PG chili cookoff. Our homebrew selection included:
– Pumpkin Spiced Marzen (Parker)
– 10% Apple Cider (Parker)
– Holiday Spiced Ale (Carl)
– Porter (Carl)
– Monstrous IPA (Ian)

Brian W. brought us an interesting array of commercial version of Spiced Beers (BJCP 30), including a vertical tasting of Anchor Specials.

Congratulations: 2019 ELECTED BOARD MEMBERS

By popular vote, the 2019 PG Board is:

President: Ian Fraser
Vice President: Elijah Barone
Treasurer: Terry Molloy

2018 CLUB MEMBER OF THE YEAR – VOTING OPEN UNTIL DECEMBER 6

If you are a member in good standing and were not at the chili cookout meeting, you can still vote by email. Send your choices to me at: vicepresident @ pacificgravity dot com (standard email address, spelled phonetically to prevent phishing).

The nominees:

Parker Waechter  (brings multiple kegs to every meeting and PG event)
Carl Townsend (organizer of competition submissions, font of brewing information, education coordinator)
Michael Musgrave (outgoing president, sponsor acquisition specialist, lots of stuff you don’t see that keeps the club moving)
Tim Bardet (outgoing treasurer, storage unit organizer, and event supply hauler, tireless volunteer)
Elijah Barone (beer sharer, story teller, club cheerleader)

You can vote for up to 2.

HOLIDAY PARTY NEWS!

When: Saturday, December 15, 2018
Time: 5:00
Where: Neil Saund Duplex, 12966 Rubens (at Alla), Del Rey, 90066

Plan to bring some beer to share, and a dish for the pot luck. Details to follow.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

December 7: First Friday at The Doughroom, Culver City

December 9: Initial Party Set-up at Neil’s duplex. 12 Noon – 4:00

December 15: P.G. Holiday Party
Details about set-up dates will be forwarded soon.

December 16; Party Clean-up. 11a – ? The more hands we have, the faster it will go. Last year only took a couple of hours.

January TBD, 2019: Annual Trip To Rob Ruben’s Distillery, El Segundo

 See you Soon!

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Pacific Gravity Reminder: Meeting This Thursday, Board Nominations Needed

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Our next club meeting is right around the corner. We have some important club business to discuss with all members (see below), so please attend if you can.

When: Thursday, October 18, 2018
Time: 7:30pm
Where: Tortugo Brewing Company, 916 W Hyde Park Blvd, Inglewood, CA.

Hyde Park Blvd is a few blocks East of Three Weavers, and just North of the iconic Randy’s Doughnuts. From La Cienega and Florence, go east on Florence about 1/4 mile, turning left at the first street. Go under the metro rail tracks, proceed to the big orange building on the East side of the street.

Education: In the second of a series, Carl will be demonstrating how water chemistry affects the taste of your homebrew, and how you can fine tune your H2O to the style you are brewing.

Commercial Style of the Month:   European Pale Ales.

Homebrew Style of the Month:   European Pale Ales, and any home-brewed IPA.

CLUB BUSINESS:  BOARD MEMBER VOLUNTEERS/NOMINATIONS REQUESTED

Nominations are being accepted for all three (3) elected positions: President, Vice President, and Treasurer

As we advised previously, Tim Bardet is retiring as Treasurer. Also, President Michael Musgrave recently started a new position that is sure to take up significant amounts of his time.

That is one firm opening (Treasurer), and a potentially provisional opening (President).

We will solicit nominations at the October meeting, or you can present our nomination via email to the board (board @ pacific gravity . com).

MORE CLUB BUSINESS: P.G. CLUB MEMBER OF THE YEAR

Nominations are being accepted for the Pacific Gravity member that you think has gone above and beyond helping P.G. be the great home brewers club that it is. Please raise your nomination at the October meeting, or by email to the board (board @ pacific gravity . com) .

Voting will be held at the November meeting.

 

 See you Thursday!

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Pacific Gravity Update: October Meeting, Etc

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OCTOBER CLUB MEETING

This is no Trick, but definitely a Treat .. our next club meeting will be held at an exciting new venue: PG Member Joe Kovach’s “new” brewery, Tortugo Brewing Company. Joe has some tasty beers on tap, and has some pretty interesting plans for future beers and expansion.

We will also be finalizing the board member election slate of the 2019 P.G. Board (see below for nomination info).

When: Thursday, October 18, 2018
Time: 7:30pm
Where: Tortugo Brewing Company, 916 W Hyde Park Blvd, Inglewood, CA.

Hyde Park Blvd is a few blocks East of Three Weavers, and around the corner from iconic Randy’s Doughnuts. From La Cienega and Florence, go east on Florence about 1/4 mile, turning left at the first street. Go under the metro rail tracks, proceed to the big orange building on the East side of the street.

EDUCATION HIGHLIGHT: In the second of a series, Carl will be demonstrating how water chemistry affects the taste of your homebrew, and how you can fine tune your H2O to the style you are brewing.

COMMERCIAL STYLE of the MONTH:   European Pale Ales.

And whatever Joe Has On Tap.

HOMEBREW STYLE of the MONTH:   European Pale Ales, and any home-brewed IPA.

IMPORTANT!!!  BOARD MEMBER NOMINATIONS REQUESTED

As we advised previously, Tim Bardet is retiring as Treasurer. Also, President Michael Musgrave recently started a new position that is sure to take up significant amounts of his time.

If you are keeping score, that is one firm opening (Treasurer), and a potentially provisional opening (President).

Please consider volunteering your nomination, either by emailing the board (board @ pacific gravity . com) or by voice at the October meeting. Nominations will be accepted for all elected board positions.

Voting will be held at the November meeting.

NOMINATION REQUEST #2: P.G. CLUB MEMBER OF THE YEAR

Do you think one of your fellow Pacific Gravity members has gone above and beyond helping P.G. be the great home brewers club that it is? If so, please be sure to nominate him/her at the October meeting, or by email to the board.

Voting will be held at the November meeting.

NOVEMBER EVENTS:

First Friday:
Date: Friday, November 2.
Place: Yorkshire Square, 1109 Van Ness Avenue, Torrance
Time: 7’ish pm

Yorkshire Square is on Van Ness, just North of Torrance Blvd..

November Chili Cookoff / Club Meeting / ** Board Member Election **:
Date: TBD: Nov. 10 or Nov 17.
Place: TBD
Time: 12:00 Noon

As has been our practice in the past couple of years, we will combine the Chili Cookoff with the November Club Meeting. It will be on either the 2nd or 3rd Saturday of November. We haven’t worked out all the details yet – get your chili recipe ready!

AND!!  WE WILL BE ELECTING FOR THE 2019 PACIFIC GRAVITY BOARD!!

DECEMBER EVENTS:

First Friday:
Date: Friday, December 7.
Place: The Doughroom, Culver City
Time: 7:30 pm

 

2018 Holiday Party:
Date: TBD
Place: TBD
Time: 5:00 pm

As has been our practice in the past couple of years, we will combine the Chili Cookoff with the November Club Meeting. It will be on either the 2nd or 3rd Saturday of November. We haven’t worked out all the details yet – get your chili recipe ready!

Remember: Bring some of your homebrew to the meeting and events.

 

See you next Thursday!

 

Pacific Gravity: Next Meeting, Looking Back, Looking Forward

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SEPTEMBER CLUB MEETING

One of Pacific Gravity’s signature events is the annual Monster Brew held in conjunction with Jonathan Porter, Owner, Brewer and Proprietor Extraordinaire of Smog City Brewing. Our next meeting is truly special: we are going to share our Monster Brew creations with Porter and the staff at Smog City

When: This Thursday, September 20, 2018
Time: 7:30pm
Where: Smog City Brewing Company, 1901 Del Amo Blvd, Torrance, CA.

EDUCATION HIGHLIGHT: In the first of a series, Carl will be demonstrating how water chemistry affects the taste of your homebrew, and how you can fine tune your H2O to the style you are brewing.

COMMERCIAL STYLE of the MONTH:   IPAs, hosted by Reuben.

And whatever Porter Has On Tap.

HOMEBREW STYLE of the MONTH:   Your Monster Brew, and any home-brewed IPA.

Kegs, bottles and growlers of the style of the month are encouraged. All homebrews are welcome.

LOOKING BACK AT THE SUMMER OF 2018:

We sure had an interesting summer:

  • 36 PG and WASH (West Adams Society of Homebrewers) members attended the annual Southern California Homebrewers Festival at Vail Lake in Temecula. We shared 23 kegs with home brewers from around Southern and Central California.
  • We held our last meeting at PG’s long time home, Culver City Homebrew Supply.
  • Our annual Big Brew highlighted the different methods used to make award winning (and tasty) beers, from Michael’s Brew-in-a-Bag, to Carl’s Thermo-Siphon Reboiler, to Parker’s Set-it-and-Forget-It Grainfather.
  • PG members congregated at the Casa Molloy Event Center to make jockey boxes and add to our auxiliary stock of party taps.
  • Another cozy Summer Party involving much sampling of fellow PG members home-brews, interesting commercial beers from around the country, and the culinary inspirations of Ian Fraser and his Merry Band of Sous Chefs.
  • Our combined August club meeting / Tania’s Birthday Party was held at Neil Saund’s duplex.
  • And finally, a Labor Day Weekend Downtown-LA Brewery Crawl. To kickoff the crawl, Art District’s Head Brewer Devon Randall bought everyone’s first pint, and her staff treated us to a tour of the brewhouse. We also sampled their freshest beer.

Now, let’s kick our Fall into high gear.

OCTOBER EVENTS:

First Friday:
Date: Friday, October 5.
Place: Phantom Carriage Brewing, 18525 S. Main Street, Carson, CA
Time: 7’ish pm

Phantom Carriage was started by a couple of Pacific Gravity alumni.

October Club Meeting:
Date: Thursday, October 18.
Place: Tortugo Brewing Company, 916 W. Hyde Park Blvd, Inglewood
Time: 7:30 pm

Tortugo is only a couple of months old, and was started by PG member Joe Kovach. He has some pretty tasty beers on tap, including a Belgian Wit that is right on the mark.

Hyde Park Blvd is about 2 blocks East of the intersection of Florence and La Cienega, and about 4 blocks East of Three Weavers.

WANTED: VOLUNTEER BOARD MEMBERS

After many years of outstanding service, Tim Bardet is retiring as Treasurer. At the September and October meetings, we will be taking nominations for Treasurer, and – if you are so inclined – the other elected positions (President, Vice President).

If you would like to be part of Keeping Pacific Gravity Great, please volunteer your nomination.

NOVEMBER EVENTS:

First Friday:  TBA
Date: Friday, November 2.
Place: TBA
Time: 7’ish pm

Phantom Carriage was started by a couple of Pacific Gravity alumni.

November Chili Cookoff / Club Meeting:
Date: TBD
Place: TBD
Time: TBD

We haven’t worked out all the details yet, but just wanted you to be ready for it.

Remember: Please bring some of your homebrew to the meeting and events.

 

See you Thursday!

August Club Meeting @ Neil’s

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Hey all! Michael here, I hope this message reaches you all well.

Quick reminder: Our August club meeting is THIS Thursday at Neil’s duplex on the west side ( 12966 Rubens Avenue, Los Angeles 90066 )

We’ll be celebrating club secretary Tania’s birthday with some tacos & rice and beans care of club chef Ian and our host Neil. This should be a really fun and memorable meeting. If you’re a new member (or a prospective one) this is a great opportunity to meet and greet our most knowledgeable brewers and there will be some great beers on tap, as always.

Our commercial tasting will be led by member Barry, who will walk us through his selection of American Wild Ales. Home-brew style of the month is Euro Sour or American Wild ales but (as always) you’re encouraged to bring whatever you have in a keg or bottle right now. I’ll be bringing out a very very fresh keg of Ladies Wit Attitude, brewed in the “Pink Boots” spirit by a group of our awesome and talented ladies of PG.

A few other items for our roadmap…

Saturday September 1st we’ll be heading downtown for our annual Arts District / DTLA brewery crawl. This event replaces our First Friday for the month of September this year.

Thursday September 20th we’ll be meeting at Smog City Brewing Co. for our September club meeting. The theme of the night will be Monster Brew beers, and I’m hoping everyone has set aside a bit of their brew to share. More info on that meeting coming soon…

Looking forward to seeing you all Thursday night!

Michael

June Club Meeting

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Hey y’all,  I hope your summer is heating up and you’re finding some shade during brew days.

Quick reminder: We’re holding our monthly meeting at Terry’s house this coming Saturday June 16th.  We’ll have all of the typical activities going on, plus a jockey box build session. On the grill we’ll provide bbq chicken but we could use some side dishes. Homemade or store bought, doesn’t matter to us. Bring salad, corn, rice, bread, whatever – Let’s have a cookout.

If you’re interested in watching (or if you’re participating in) the jockey box build, arrive at 11am. Noon if you just want to come for the meeting.

Looking ahead, we’re confirmed for July 28th at Dean’s for this year’s summer bash. Please help us spread the word to other members. It seems like somebody gets the date too late every year, so talk it up.

See you soon!

– Michael

Pacific Gravity News: First Friday, April Roundup

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This Friday (May 4) is First Friday! And It’s a Classic!

Where: Daily Pint, 2310 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica, CA, 90245
Time: 7:30pm

April Meeting Kegs

We had quite the line-up of kegs at the April meeting. Thank you to the following members who donated legged home-brew:

Parker W: Dubbel
Carl T: Pale Ale
Parker W: Standard Bitter
Ken M: New England IPA
Carl T: Belgian Blonde
Parker W: Altbier
Tim J: Monster Lager
Andrew W: Double Chocolate Imperial Stout
Tim J: Dark Red

There were quite a few growlers and bottles floating around, too. Thanks to everyone who shared.

Southern California Homebrew Festival

We are less than a week away. It’s going to be a hot day!  I will be sending out a final email on Monday or Tuesday.

Pacific Gravity Big Brew: Saturday, May 26

Still in town for Memorial Weekend? Come on over to the annual Big Brew and check out the brew rigs of your fellow PG members in action, including the system that Carl uses to brew his award winning beers.

Date: Saturday, May 26.
Place: Carl’s Place, 3621 Redwood Ave. Los Angeles, Ca. 90066
Time: 10:00 – 6:00

All Grain Brewers should plan to start mashing in around 10:00 am. Extract brewers can start later.

If you secured a spot to brew, arrange an equipment drop off time with Carl (competitions @ pacific gravity . com) on Friday. Please do NOT show up at 7am on Saturday and expect a warm greeting.

Craft Day:  Make Your Own Jockey Box: Saturday, June 16

Where: Casa Molloy, 6738 W. 87th Place, Westchester
Time: 10:30a – 6:00p

You supply the cooler. We’ll order the supplies. You make your jockey box. Easy, eh? Starting from scratch, each beer line line requires:
1. a length of stainless tube ($30 per 10-foot length, you cut to size);

2. vinyl beer line ($5 per 10 feet);

3. 4 screw clamps for securing beer line ($4 per set of 4);

4. ball lock disconnect ($7);

5. swivel nut for ball lock ($3);

6. dispense hardware options, either:
(a) cobra head picnic tap ($5) OR
(b) shank ($30) + standard chrome faucet ($30)

If you haven’t signed up already, please respond to me at: vicepresident @ pacific gravity.com and advise how many of each item that you would like us to order.

For the shank & faucet option, advise how many shanks and how many faucets (e.g. if you want to purchase your own faucets).

Homebrewers Club In Need Of New Home

An era comes to an end: it’s been a great 20+ years, but our May meeting is the last one we will be holding at Culver City Homebrew Supply. Our June and July meeting places are already set (jockey box day and summer party, respectively), so we will need a meeting place for August.  If you know of a meeting place on the Westside that has room for 30-50 people and will allow us to share homebrew on-site, please drop a line to: board @ pacific gravity.com.

 

HAPPY BREWING!