April 6th is First Friday at Richmond Bar & Grill.

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April’s First Friday will be at one of PG’s favorite beer destinations – the Richmond Bar & Grill – which is located at 145 Richmond Street in historic downtown El Segundo.  We’ve reserved the back room and they always have a special keg or two on tap for us.

Early birds can start arriving at 5pm, but come on down when you can.  Remember that the Richmond is CASH ONLY; there’s an atm on site, but why pay the extra bank fees?  Bring your greenbacks while they’re still worth something…

In addition, El Segundo Brewing is within walking distance, so if you bought a growler at our recent visit, bring it along and get it filled.

Join us for some great beers and lively conversation!  See you there.

SoCal Homebrewers Fest – reminder and payment info.

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Greetings, all.  I’d like to thank everyone that signed up and paid their camping fees for the SoCal Homebrewers Fest at the March meeting.  The Fest is only about 6 weeks away now, so I wanted to remind those interested in attending to read my previous post for all of the pertinent info.

In addition, as there is only one more monthly club meeting left before the Fest, I encourage those of you who haven’t paid to do so at your earliest convenience.  As usual, you can drop your payment off at CCHBS – please put your check (made out to Pacific Gravity with “Ojai Camping” on the memo line) or cash in an envelope and send me an email at schbf@pacificgravity.com to let me know it’s there.  There is no paypal option this year.

In order to avoid certain problems we ran into last year, we’ll be setting a cut-off date for camping fee payments as the close of business at CCHBS on Saturday, April 28th.

Thanks all.  Looking forward to another great Homebrew Fest!

The Southern California Homebrewers Fest is just around the corner! May 4th – May 6th, 2012

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Pacific Gravity will once again join hundreds of fellow homebrewers at the Lake Casitas Recreation Area in Ojai, California, for the 22nd Annual Southern California Homebrewers Festival.  There’s a lot of info here, so please take the time to read it through.

Over forty homebrewing clubs from SoCal and points further will be pouring keg-upon-keg of home-brewed ales, lagers, meads, and other fermented potables on Saturday, the 5th of May, from 11am to 10pm, but as those of you who’ve attended in the past know, we make a weekend of it.  In fact, Friday night is Read more →

Extra Batches Available at Tustin Monster Brew

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There is still room in the mash tun at the Tustin Monster Brew this Saturday.  If you want more than 2 batches, let me know.  And everyone who wants 2 batches will get both.

Drop me a line at Competitions@PacificGravity.com.  We need to have a final count of batches by Wednesday, February 29th.

By the way, because of the early start time, there is no First Friday scheduled on the 2nd.

Cost is $30 per batch.  If you haven’t already paid, bring cash or check with you to the brewery Saturday morning.
Brewing starts at 6:00 AM and will finish up around 1:00 PM.
You must bring a pre-sanitized plastic bucket for each batch you buy.  NO GLASS CARBOYS!
There will be breakfast snacks in the morning.
The kitchen opens at 11:00 AM for lunch.  We recommend that everybody buy lunch.
You will need to get yeast for your beer and whatever additional ingredients you may wish to add.  Read here for how to modify your wort.
Read more here for details of the event.
Here is a map of how to get there.

Carl Townsend & Jon Porter

Sign Up Now for Tustin Monster Brew on March 3rd

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Just a quick reminder to sign up for the 4th Annual Tustin Monster Brew on Saturday, March 3, 2012.  Sign up now by dropping me a line at Competitions@PacificGravity.com.  We need to have a final count of batches by Wednesday, February 29th.

Cost is $30 per batch.  You can sign up for 1 or 2 batches.  Cash or check (no PayPal).
Brewing starts at 6:00 AM and will finish up around 1:00 PM.
You must bring a pre-sanitized plastic bucket for each batch you buy.  NO GLASS CARBOYS!
There will be breakfast snacks in the morning.
The kitchen opens at 11:00 AM for lunch.  We recommend that everybody buy lunch.
You will need to get yeast for your beer and whatever additional ingredients you may wish to add.  Read here for how to modify your wort.
Read more here for details of the event.
Here is a map of how to get there.

Carl Townsend & Jon Porter

One Final Anchor Trip Update

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Just a quick one here in case anyone missed it.  The Carlton is a union hotel and as such we will be charged $6 for every bag they remove from the bus and take to the rooms.  This is not optional, so please be prepared to pay this as you get ON the bus.

Also, as we are going to be short of riders, we will be passing the hat around to pay for the bus driver’s tip.  James is a great guy and a good bus driver so please bring some cash for this as well.

Abbot’s Pizza is our February Fare!

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I just got off the phone with the kind folks at Abbot’s Pizza, which is located a very short walk away from the shop, and they’ve generously offered us a 20% discount on slices and pies this Thursday for our Belgian & French Ales meeting.  Abbot’s will be open until 11pm on Thursday night.

As many of you know, this meeting in particular requires a “solid foundation” for best results, and I think Abbot’s fits the bill perfectly.

To receive the discount, show your PG membership card, or if you don’t have it with you, simply mention that you’re a member of the Pacific Gravity Homebrewers Club.

Let’s make a great showing with our support for neighboring businesses – come hungry and ready to eat some fine gourmet pizza!  See you all Thursday.

Anchor Bus Times

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The plan is to have people on the bus at 8:30am and being on the road by 9am.  The Bay Bridge will be closing at 8pm on Friday, so in order to avoid traffic, we are going to try and drive straight through.  So plan on bringing something to eat.  We will have some sort of stop to get off the bus and stretch out the legs, though.  With any luck, we will be in San Francisco by 3:30 or 4pm.

Several people requested that we leave later on Sunday, so unless it really puts someone in a bind, I will be moving the departure time back to 12pm.  The plan will be to grab lunch in the Bay Area and then come straight back to Culver City.

On the day of the event, the bus will leave from the hotel to Anchor at 12:30pm.  First seats will go to those who rode the bus up; additional seats will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis for $15.

If you have any questions or concerns feel free to email me at roadtrips@pacificgravity.com

February Club Meeting Thursday Feb 16th, 2012

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Don’t forget to join us for our monthly club meeting next Thursday!

Commercial Styles of the Month:  Belgian & French Ales, carefully selected by our resident Belgian expert, Craig Corley.  He has an amazing selection for us each year.

Homebrew Kegs of the Month: Belgian & French Ales.  Best keg of the bunch wins a $25 gift certificate to CCHBS, which happens at each meeting, so check out the upcoming style of the month on the website and start brewing!  If interested in bringing a keg of your own to an upcoming meeting, sign up with our VP Dave Mauceli, either at the club meetings or via email at: VicePresident@pacificgravity.com

COC- Stouts (BJCP Category #13): If you are bringing entries for the COC, you’ll need 3 bottles of your beer.  Please see Carl’s Competition Coordinator post for more info or email him at: Competitions@pacificgravity.com

COY Anchor Road Trip: If you are planning to hop on the bus to SF the next morning and have not paid for your seat yet, remember to bring $85 (checks payable to Pacific Gravity).  We’ll also have our Club of the Year long-sleeve shirts for sale ($30), in limited quantity, and for those of you who pre-ordered, you can pick up your shirt that night just in time for the Anchor trip!  See the website post for more information about the trip or email Kurt at: RoadTrips@pacificgravity.com if you have any questions and enjoy the party!

COY Party at Anchor Brewing: The Party at Anchor begins at 1pm on Saturday, February 18th and will wrap up about 5pm.  If you are planning on attending and not riding the bus, please send Audrey an email (president@pacificgravity.com) by Monday the 13th so we can give Anchor a head count for the party.

Club Merchandise: We have a few beer leashes ($5) and glasses ($6) left, as well as both long & short sleeve PG shirts ($15) and some Pacific Brewers Cup shirts ($20) for those of you who are interested.

Raffle: Our ever-enthusiastic Fundraiser, Terry Molloy, will be selling raffle tickets for $1 each.

For those of you who have never been to a meeting, this is a great way to meet current members, share and sample other homebrew or commercial beers & meads, and have some fun at the end of a long week!

Hope to see you all there

-Audrey

Tustin Monster Brew on March 3rd

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On March 3, 2012 the Tustin Brewing Company and its Brewmaster, PG’s Jon Porter, will be hosting their 4th professional style Monster Brew.

PG Brewmaster Carl Townsend and Jon have developed a new base wort for this event. This year we are going for a rye-based recipe with about 1/3rd rye malt and 1/3rd Vienna malt.  This will be a great starting point for a Roggenbier, American Rye beer, or if you are into lagers, a Vienna lager with a twist.  For you hop heads, boost up the bitterness with your favorite American hop tea to make an awesome Rye IPA.  Each person will pitch his yeast of choice, Read more →