Competition Corner – March 2019

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The beers have been organized into their walk-in cooler lair
In hopes that Master Level Judges soon would be there.    

Well, the big event is almost here:  The 5th Annual Los Angeles Belgian Brew Challenge.  With thanks to Los Angeles Ale Works, just about everything is set for judging day on Sunday, March 24th. We have a cadre of judges lined up, including not one, but two Master level judges.  Any competition could use a couple more judges, so if you ever wanted to give it a try, come on down.  Activities will get under way at 8:00 AM on Sunday, March 24th at LA Ale works, 12918 Cerise Ave, Hawthorne, CA 90250. If you want to judge, please sign up at http://comp.belgianbrewchallenge.com/.  I’d like to give an advance shout-out for all volunteers including judges, stewards, the master chef, bottle sorters and course, our sponsors. Read more →

Competition Entries Update – AHA Nationals and LABBC

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Thank to Tom Hok, we will have transportation of entries to San Diego for the AHA competition!
Tom will be at the Monster brew at Smog City on Saturday (3/9).  You can bring entries with you if you are coming.
Otherwise, please bring them by my place tomorrow or Friday.  I’ll be out and about most of tomorrow (Thursday), but you can leave them in a cooler behind my unlocked metal gate if I am not home.  If you miss this deadline, you are on your own to ship them to Alesmith, or whichever regional site you have selected.  They must arrive no later than March 14th.
As previously noted, the entry deadline  for LABBC is Friday March 8th.  Bottles may be dropped off at one of the local brew shops or at Los Angeles Ale Works.  If you plan to join us for bottle organizing at LAAW, you can bring them Sunday morning March 10th at 9AM, but please note that the entries must be registered by Friday the 8th.
PLEASE do not mix up your entries!  Keep them separate.
Good Luck to all entrants!
Carl

Competition Corner – February 2019

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The on-line registration deadline for the California State Fair is this Friday, February 8th.  This one has been moving earlier in the season each of the last several years.  Registration is already open at http://home.castatefair.beer/.  You can drop off entries at South Bay or Eagle Rock shops, but they must be packed for shipping.  Local drop-off is February 11 – February 15, 2019.

Coming up right behind the State Fair is the 5th Annual Los Angeles Belgian Brew Challenge comes up next.  Since this is one of our own competitions, we will need help in planning, bottle organizing and judging.  On-line registration for Judging and Stewarding is already open at http://comp.belgianbrewchallenge.com/.  General registration of entries will be open February 8th.  As in past years, this is a competition limited to Belgian styles and will be held at Los Angeles Ale Works.  Entries will be due on March 8th, with judging on Sunday March 24.

April will include the Jeff Sanders Memorial Competition, run by Strand Brewers club.  This is another limited-style competition focusing on the styles Jeff liked most.
Also in April will be the Maltose Falcons Mayfaire Competition

Rounding out the competition year are the following:
July – Los Angeles County Fair
September – Pacific Brewers Cup
October – California State Homebrew Competition

Although not part of the Pacific Gravity Homebrewer of the year cycle, here is a local competition you might want to enter:

  • The Romancing the Beer Competition, held by the Thousand Oaked Homebrewers.  Registration is open now at http://www.romancingthebeer.com/ Entries are due February 8th, and can be dropped off at the Eagle Rock, Woodland Hills or Steinfillers brewshops. They need judges on Feb 23rd, at Five Threads Brewing Company in Thousand Oaks.

If you are hard-core competition junkie, there are a bazillion other contests to enter.  The AHA has their master list at http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/competitions/aha-bjcp-sanctioned-competition/.

 

AFC Entry Dropoff – Due Thursday Jan 24th

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Thanks to a roadtrip offer by Peter Moran, we have personalized handling of our homebrew competitions entries for America’s Finest City Competition to Alesmith Brewing Co.  But, you must drop off your entries to me (Carl) no later than Thursday, January 24th.

Registration is open at https://quaff.org/AFC-2019/ .  2 bottles are needed for each entry, but if you throw in a 3rd bottle, Peter will make sure it gets extra special handling!

Carl’s Address:  3621 Redwood, LA 90066.
On Thursday night, I’ll be at Los Angeles Ale Works from 7:30 to 9:00 PM, so if you like swing on by and hand them to me in person.

If you miss the Thursday deadline, you can still ship your bottles to AleSmith Brewing Company 9990 AleSmith Ct, San Diego, CA 92126 no later than January 31st.

Competition Corner – January 2019

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Rain, Rain, while you’re here,
Keep things cool to lager my beer.

With a new year upon us, I hope you are taking advantage of the cool winter weather to get some fresh batches of beer going.  I’m currently working on a “garage lager”.  At some point, it will need to go into the beer fridge, but in the meantime, the garage is holding it at a steady 54 degrees.  Also in the works is an “aquarium heater ale”, kept at a comfy 72 degrees, despite a rather chilly house temperature.

Last year, Kingsley Toby had a bang-up year and walked away with the coveted Pacific Gravity Homebrewer of the Year award. Who will win this year?   Here is a rundown of the competitions eligible for point awards in 2019: Read more →

California State Homebrew Competition Drop-off Info

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The deadline the California State Homebrew Competition is rapidly approaching.  This is the final competition for the 2018 Pacific Gravity Brewer of the Year Award.

Thanks to an offer to drive from Michael Ritchie, we will have personalized hand delivery of our entries San Francisco.   You can drop off your beers at one of two places:

  1. Bring them by my place (3621 Redwood Ave, LA 90066) no later than this Thursday evening, Oct 4th.
  2. Bring them to our First Friday gathering at Phantom Carriage this Friday, October 5th. Phantom Carriage is at 18525 South Main Street, Carson, California 90248.

Registration is open at https://castate.brewcompetition.com/ .  If you miss the Friday deadline, you can still get your beers in if you ship them Read more →

Pacific Brewers Cup Entries Due Friday Sept 14th

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Entries for the 2018 Pacific Brewers Cup are now being accepted and are due no later than Friday, September 14th.  On-line registration is available at http://strandbrewersclub.org/pbc/bcoem/.  Strand Brewers Club will be running the show this year.   This is a large competition is hosted on a rotating basis between Pacific Gravity, Strand Brewers and Long Beach Homebrewers.  All styles based on the 2015 BJCP Style Guides are accepted.  Each entry requires three (3) 12-oz bottles, with a fee of $9.00.  Alas, with the closing of the Culver City homebrew shop, your entries need to go to one of the other local shops, listed below.

Judging for PBC will be held Saturday morning, September 29th at The Verandas Beach House 401 Rosecrans Avenue, Manhattan Beach, CA 90277.  Plan to be there around 8:00 AM, PDT.  Strand Brewers Club has helped us out quite a bit with our past PBC efforts, so I’d like to see a good turn-out of Pacific Gravity members  to help with judging or stewarding.

After PBC, the last competition for the Pacific Gravity Brewer of the Year Award will be the California Sate Homebrew Competition. Registration is open at https://castate.brewcompetition.com/ .  Entries need to make it up to San Francisco.  If anyone is interested in doing a road trip to drop off the entries, please drop me a line at Competitions AT pacificgravity.com sometime before the next club meeting (Sept 20th). The club will reimburse yo for some of your gas money.  Timing of the trip is flexible, preferably in the last week of September or first week of October.  Entries would need to arrive at Ferment Drink Repeat 2636 San Bruno Avenue San Francisco, CA 94134  Must arrive by October 11th.  If no one steps forward to drive, each entrant will be on the hook to ship entries.

PBC Drop-off sites:

Please pay attention to the notes provided for each drop-off location. There could be earlier deadlines for some drop-off locations listed, particular hours when entries are accepted, certain individuals to leave your entries with, etc. All entrants are responsible for reading the information provided by the organizers for each drop-off location.

South Bay Brewing Supply
1311 Post Ave Torrance, CA 90501
310-486-9412
*entries will be picked up starting at opening time on 9/15

Stein Fillers
4160 Norse Way Long Beach, CA 90808
562-425-0588
*entries will be picked up starting at opening time on 9/15

Ballast Point – Home Brew Mart
5401 Linda Vista Rd #406, San Diego, CA 92110
(619) 295-2337
*entries will be picked up starting at opening time on 9/15

Eagle Rock Home Brewing Supply
4981 Eagle Rock Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90066
323-258-2107
*entries will be picked up starting at opening time on 9/15

The Home Beer, Wine, And Cheesemaking Shop
22836 Ventura Blvd Woodland Hills, CA 91354
818-884-8586
*entries will be picked up starting at opening time on 9/15

More Beer Riverside
1506 Columbia Ave Suite 12 Riverside, CA 92507
951-779-9971
*entries will be picked up starting at opening time on 9/15

Monrovia Homebrew Shop
1945 South Myrtle Ave, Monrovia, California 91016
626-531-0825
*entries will be picked up starting at opening time on 9/15

Competition Corner – August 2018

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While most of us were having a blow-out summer party, (thanks Dean!) other diligent beer judges were hard at work judging the Los Angeles County Fair.  Congratulations to Kingsley Toby, who picked up the overall second place Best of Show with his beer, Second Sleep, a whiskey-aged stout.  It also picked up First Place in Category 26 Wood-Aged Beers.  This is not the first ribbon he has won with this proven recipe.  This beer truly has legs, from both a competition and visual evaluation standpoint!  Kingsley also picked up a first place for his First Light Belgian Pale Ale, and a 3rd place for his Luminous Wit, which we were gleefully sipping in the hot mid-day sun at the summer party.   Congratulations Kingsley!

A good showing was also made by Parker Waechter with his “Unreasonable Need For External Validation”, which took First Place in the American Pale Ale category.  If you ask me, it’s been validated!  Congrats also to Craig Corley, with a pair of seconds for Blonde #17 and Saison Mb5.  Full results of the County Fair can be found at http://competitions.maltosefalcons.com/.

With these victories, Kingsley has taken a commanding lead in the Brewer of the Year award, with 22 points.  Parker is second with 8 points, and Craig is right behind with 7 points.  But fear not, there are still two big competitions to go this year.  First up is Pacific Brewers Cup.  Strand Brewers Club will be running the show this year.  Entries are due on September 14th, with the main judging session on September 29th.  Check back here for entry details.  Finally, we have the California Sate Homebrew Competition, with entries due in October.

 

County Fair Homebrew Entries Due Friday 7/13

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Entries for the 2018 Los Angeles County Fair are due this Friday,  July 13th.  Registration is up and running at http://competitions.maltosefalcons.com/.  With the closure of the Culver City shop, make sure you leave time to drop off your entries.  They can be left at the Eagle Rock homebrew shop, Woodland Hills Shop or Steinfillers in Long Beach.  This competition uses the Maltose Falcons styleguide .

The main judging session for the contest will be on Saturday, July 28th, which unfortunately is our Summer party day.  We may be assisting with a prelim session, tentatively scheduled for July 23rd.

Results are in from the AHA National Competitions Finals.  Alas, no one from the club had any entries placing.  Full results can be found here.

Looking forward, Strand Brewers Club will be running Pacific Brewers Cup this year.  Look for details in the coming weeks.We will close out the competition year with the California State Homebrew Competition some time in October or November.

If you are interested in more competitions, check out the AHA competition website for a comprehensive listing.

Competition Corner – March 2018

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We are moving into the heavy part of the homebrew competition season, so I hope your beers are ready.  There are a number of deadlines to keep track of.

First of all, the entry submission window for the National Homebrew Competition is now open.  You should have gotten an e-mail from NHC with shipping information to your judging center.  Eric Rosen has volunteered to drive down to San Diego, so if that is your entry site, you can drop off entries at the Culver City shop by 2:00 PM Sunday, March 25th.   If your site is NOT San Diego, you are responsible for shipping off your entries.   Shipped entries must be received by March 30th.  Two bottles are needed for the first round.  If your beer advances to the finals, you will need three more bottles.

Rapidly approaching is the Los Angeles Belgian Brew Challenge.  We still need entries, judges and stewards.  Read more →