President’s Message: State of the Club

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As we begin 2011, the state of the Pacific Gravity Homebrew Club is strong. We have already begun to get the ball rolling on upcoming events, and are locked in to our first two big ones for the year.

Tustin Monster Brew

February 26 we’ll be celebrating our 16th  anniversary by going back to the Tustin Brewery for another edition of our enormously successful Monster Brews. P.G. Brewmaster Carl Townsend, and Tustin’s Brewer extraordinaire, Jon Porter have come up with a new recipe for us to brew, doctor at home with specialty grains, adjuncts and yeast. In the past many of us have produced outstanding beers from the base recipes, and this year promises to be no exception. Carl has written an Ask the Brewmaster article outlining the possibilities for this year’s moderately high gravity wort. For reservations, contact Reed Wilson at VicePresident@PacificGravity.com or Mimi Bardet and Audrey Hill-Lindsay at ActivitiesDirector@PacificGravity.com . Cost is $27 per 5 gallon pour, 10 gallons maximum. See the articles detailing the event and make your reservations soon.

Tustin Brewing Company

On March 26 we’ll be going on a Road Trip to Orange County

Road Trip Coordinator, Kurt Periolat, has lined up TAPS  Fish House & Brewery in Brea, and The Bruery. TAPS is a GABF multiple prize winning brewpub with an outstanding lineup, ranging from British Session Ales, to German Lagers, with stops in the U.S. and Belgium. The Bruery is one of the fastest growing and popular new breweries around, and will have something special for us.   For reservations to this event send an E-mail to RoadTripCoordinator@PacificGravity.com or ActivitiesDirector@PacificGravity.com, and prepay through PayPal.

First Friday at Bar Food

As usual, First Friday is coming up (Feb 4th at Bar Food), and our February 17th meeting  will  feature  Belgian and French Ales; tasting to be hosted by Craig Corley, our club treasurer. Bring beer to share, and money or checks, to pay for the road trip and/ or Monster Brew. Don’t forget, PayPal will also be available for payment to the 2 events (UPDATE: Click the links to pay for the OC Road Trip on PayPal, or for 5 Gallons of wort at the Monster Brew).  See the articles detailing these events for more information.

Feedback Welcome

If you have any questions, suggestions, or criticisms don’t hesitate to send a message to me at President@PacificGravity.com Suggestions for events, or ideas for club projects are always welcome. If you are interested in volunteering to help out with club activities, don’t hesitate to ask me, or any of the other Board members.

Looking forward to seeing you soon.

It’s Official: The 2011 Southern California Homebrewers Festival

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SCHBF 2009

A view of the festival in 2009

SCHBF: April 29th – May 1st, 2011

Pacific Gravity will once again join hundreds of fellow homebrewers at the Lake Casitas Recreation Area in Ojai, California, for the 21st Southern California Homebrewers Festival.

Something on the order of 40 homebrewing clubs from SoCal and points further will be pouring home-brewed ales, lagers, meads, and other fermented potables on Saturday, the 30th of April, from 11am to 10pm, but as those of you who’ve attended in the past know, we make a weekend of it. We’ve once again secured the Owl Court group campsite, so round up your tent and camping gear and join us.

We typically arrive on the Friday afternoon before and depart for home on the Sunday after the festival. There are also hotels in nearby Ojai for those disinclined to camp.

Renew your CHA membership now!

Membership in the California Homebrewers Association (CHA) is required for entry into the festival, and those memberships are on sale now. There will be no memberships sold at the festival – no exceptions.

Memberships purchased before January 31st will cost $40; $45 if purchased by February 28th, and $50 thereafter, up until the day before the festival, at which point no more memberships will be sold. You can also sign up to volunteer at the festival and this will gain you free entry.

Owl Court

We will be returning to Owl Court group site

Volunteer registration isn’t open just yet, but FYI – you’ll be required to put in a 2-hour shift, and typical volunteer tasks include working the registration table, helping at the ice truck, parking assistance, and cleanup on Sunday.

If you know that you’ll be attending the Festival but not volunteering, you’re encouraged to purchase your CHA membership soon, as these early memberships will aid the CHA in the preliminary stages of the organization and planning of the festival.

And then there’s the beer…

Pacific Gravity always has a great showing, and this year should be no different. We have many talented brewers in our club, and we encourage you to contribute a keg for the cause. The club dispense system (CDS) has been upgraded with a new expansion box, so we now have a total of 22 thirsty taps to provide for. In addition, we’ll need kegs for the group campsite, so fire up your kettles and get on with it.

We’ll begin providing sign-up sheets at the January meeting, and ideally, we should strive to have a lot of diversity in our offerings and some unusual beers as well. There are some other things to consider – most attendees will be required to pay for parking this year – $60 for the weekend, so carpooling will make a lot of sense.

We’re working toward making this year’s festival experience affordable, flexible, and the most enjoyable ever for all attending – please stay tuned for details. For more information and to purchase your membership, visit calhomebrewers.org

Brew & Mead Day

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Hello fellow Gravitiers,

There will be a brewing and mead making day at the wonderful host Neil
Saund’s house on Sunday January 23rd. Though it is not an official
club sponsored event, this will be an opportunity for those of you who
are interested in learning to make mead to gain some insight into the
process & even make a first batch. There will also be a number of
others brewing beer for your edification & experience. If you are
interested in either brewing or mead making, please email the
Activities Directors at: ActivitiesDirector@pacificgravity.com to
reserve a space.

Neil has kindly offered to help provide the honey & yeast for the
mead, but all brewers will need to supply their own equipment and the
Activities Directors can help you in understanding what you need to
bring to the event.

This will take place at Neil’s town house, same as the Christmas
Party, in Marina Del Rey. The address is: 12966 Rubens Ave, Los
Angeles, CA 90066.

There will be BBQ’s to grill on, so please bring proteins or veggies
of your choice and of course any other munchies you see fit to share
throughout the day. And of course beer in any fashion is welcome,
though if you need a jockey box to dispense it through, again please
email the Activities Directors at the address above.

Brewing will begin about 10am and continue throughout the day. If you
can let us know of your interest and attendance we can make sure that
everyone will have a space to brew, mentor to learn to make mead from
and supplies to serve food & beer from.

Happy New Year & Let’s kick off a wonderful year of Pacific Gravity in
2011. Thanks again to our host Neil Saund.
-Audrey & Mimi

First Friday at Four Points LAX

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Hi & Happy New Year to Pacific Gravity members!

Please come join us for a very special First Friday — this Friday, January 7th!

As new co-Activities Directors, Audrey and I are very excited about our first event. Please come out & join us for a fun First Friday. And, thanks to our new President, Mike Steinberg, for getting this special event setup.

Some quick facts:
Date: Friday, January 7th
Time: 6pm to 9pm for special discounts (but you are welcome to go any time Friday evening!)
Location: Best BrewsBar in the Four Points by Sheraton LAX Hotel (aka Brewsters)
Address: 9750 Airport Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90045
Website: http://www.fourpointslax.com/BestBrews

Parking: FREE (you can have your parking ticket validated at the bar)

Special Pricing on BEER & FOOD from 6pm to 9pm! 50% OFF!

Looking forward to ringing in the new PG year with all of you on Friday!
Cheers!
Mimi & Audrey

First Friday-January 7, 2011

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  Welcome to 2011, and First Friday, Graviteers!

 Thanks to Phil Baxter, General Manager of the 4 Points by Sheraton LAX, we are going to have a very special event to start off the New Year.

After a hiatus from the 4 Points, Phil has returned and wants to return to those thrilling days of yesteryear, when Pacific Gravity members made regular pilgrimages to what is the finest hotel beer bars in Los Angeles. The bar was remodeled in the last year or two, and is now a very comfortable venue, especially given the rainy weather potential.

In order to entice us to make Brewster’s a regular watering hole for lovers of great beers, Phil has offered us 50% off ALL beer and food, from 6pm-9pm. In addition he will arrange for free parking for PG members and our guests for the evening.

The 4 Points and Brewster’s is located at 9750 Airport Blvd, Los Angeles 90045.

Brewster’s has 7 taps as well as a great list of American Craft beers, Belgians, and German brews in bottle. 
A light food menu is available, including appetizers, sandwiches, burgers, nachos, etc.

The event begins at 6PM, although no one will complain if you show up early. We want to have a big turnout for this special event. It is rare to be extended such a generous offer of half price beer and food for a First Friday, so I’d like as many of you to show up as possible.

See you there.

 Michael Steinberg

President, Pacific Gravity

First Friday-December 3, 2010

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FIRST FRIDAY-December 3

Father’s Office-Culver City

December First Friday will be held at one of the finest gastropubs in LA, the famous F.O.

Located at 3229 Helms Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90034  (TEL: (310) 736-2224), between Venice and Washington, F.O.  is known for its Office Burger, a 12 dollar work of burger art, as well as sweet potato fries, both served without ketchup. Have some aioli, instead. There is also a great beet salad and the lamb skewers are to die for (well, almost).

Oh yeah, there are 36 beers on tap, as well as a small wine selection and a few classic cocktails such as the Old Fashioned, Manhattan, Side Car, Negroni, Martini, and Aviation, all made with top shelf ingredients.

Be sure to get there early, especially if the weather is good, since the place fills up fast on Fridays. Consider the event training for the Pacific Gravity Holiday Party.

Hope you can stop Christmas shopping long enough to make it.

Michael Steinberg

PG Activities Director

Holiday Party Set Up

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 Our annual Holiday Party is rapidly approaching and it takes a lot of effort to put together.  As with all our parties, we count on club members to volunteer to help out.  There are a number of ways you can volunteer to help.  We need help with set up and clean up, we need members to bring potluck dishes for our feast, we need members to donate beer and we need assorted equipment.

Set Up and Clean Up

We’ll be doing two rounds of set up for the party and we’ll need help for both on Sunday, Dec 5th at noon we’ll be meeting at Neil’s duplex to do an initial setup.  We’re planning on setting up most of our equipment and decorating the house and our Christmas tree.  Everybody who shows up is encouraged to bring a can or two of beer with them, we plan on emptying the cans and using the empty cans as decorations on our Christmas tree like last year.

On Saturday, Dec 11th in the afternoon we’ll be meeting at Neil’s duplex to do final set up.

On Sunday, Dec 12th at 11 am we’ll meet at Neil’s duplex to clean up alter the party.  We always need lots of people to help with clean up and the more we get the faster it goes.

If you’d like to volunteer for set up or clean up contact:  Michael Steinberg at ActivitiesDirector@PacificGravity.com.

Potluck and Food

The menu should reflect past Holiday Parties featuring Prime Rib, Carbonnades ala Flamande, roast & deep fried turkeys, spiced ham and much more!  As is customary with our holiday parties, this is a potluck event, the club supplies the main dishes and we count on members to provide the side dishes, salads and deserts.  So if you have a favorite family holiday recipe and want to share it with the rest of us, this is your time to shine!

Please remember to label any dishes, utensils, etc. that you bring so that we can get them back to you.

If you’d like to volunteer food for the party contact: Ian Fraser at MasterChef@PacificGravity.com or Michael Steinberg at ActivitiesDirector@PacificGravity.com.

Beer

We also need beer for this event, lots of beer!  Or mead!  Or cider!  We’re counting on you to provide it. So pull out your kegs and dig deep in your closet for those old tasty bottled treasures and bring them along!   Please let us know what and how much homebrew you’re planning on bringing.  Loaner kegs are available for those who are not so equipped.

Any of you who have already volunteered kegs should drop them off at the shop by Thursday, Dec 10th or bring them to Neil’s Saturday afternoon before the party.

We’ll be dispensing a lot of beer and will need more taps, jockey boxes and dispensing equipment than we currently have.  If you can volunteer dispensing equipment or can bring your new club jockey box, please let Carl know.

Please remember to label any kegs or dispensing equipment that you bring so that we can get them back to you.

If you’d like to volunteer beer for the party, contact Carl Townsend at CompetitionCoordinator@PacificGravity.com.

Equipment

We’re still looking for some assorted equipment.  Please let us know if you can volunteer any of the following:

  • PA System
  • Folding tables
  • Patio heaters
  • Jockey boxes/beer dispensing equipment
  • Christmas lights/decorations

Any of you who will be volunteering equipment should try to bring it to Neil’s this Sunday, Dec 5th or Saturday, Dec 11th in the afternoon before the party.

Again, please remember to label any equipment that you bring so that we can get them back to you.

If you’d like to volunteer equipment contact:  Michael Steinberg at ActivitiesDirector@PacificGravity.com.

And finally, if you’re volunteering equipment, kegs or food, plan on picking up your items at the Sunday clean up. We really don’t have any capacity to store items that are not picked up.

Neil Saund’s duplex is located at:  12966 Rubens Ave. Los Angeles, CA

It is the house on the SE corner of Alla Rd. and Rubens Ave.

The Holiday Party Is Coming!

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The Holiday party is fast approaching and we need your help!  The party is set for December 11th this year.  Once again we will be hosted by Neil Saund at his Holiday Party Duplex.  Neil’s address is 12966 Rubens Ave. Los Angeles, CA.  The party will start around 7 PM and continue on until midnight.  

The food is mostly traditional style holiday dishes, I expect we will see things like deep-fried turkey’s, baked ham, Carbonnades a la Flamande and prime rib served with sides like stuffing, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, many kinds of vegetables and salads and breads.  Plus the desserts!  Bread pudding, pies, cakes, cookies and cupcakes!  The desserts last year were amazing and I did not even get to try them all!

I need your help with the pot luck.  What I am hoping to do is have a similar type of sign up as we did for the summer party.  If you can make a dish, any dish, please let me know and I will add you to the master food list.  You can email me at masterchef@pacificgravity.com just give me your name and which dish you plan to bring.  I will coordinate the list and update the group as to things we may need.   I am hoping that the guests will bring items like mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, yams and sweet potatoes, salads and desserts.  If you have a special holiday dish or food tradition I would love to try it, so bring it on!

We are cooking for 250 party goers but don’t let that scare you!  I am not trying to get one person to make all the food, but rather I am hoping we can get many members to make a single batch that when added all together will be our feast!  If you can make a large batch (or even a small batch) of any of the above items I want to hear from you!

Cheers, thank you and see you there!

Ian

The Holiday Party is Coming

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Gravity Santa

Photo credit: Luis di Stefano

Mark your calendars!

This year’s holiday party will take place on Saturday, December 11, 2010, from 7 pm to midnight.  It will once again be held at Neil Saund’s duplex in Marina Del Rey.

Please sign up and let us know if you’re bringing any kegs.  The event is a potluck, so it’s a great chance to wow us with your special dish!  Appetizers, desserts, stuffing, go wild!  The club supplies the main dishes, but everything else is fair game.

Food & Beer volunteers are greatly appreciated, we can’t do this without your help!

We are also looking for volunteers to set up on Saturday 12/4 and tear down on Saturday 12/11.  Please contact Nathalie or Peigi and let them know if you’re available.

As always, we will be announcing the Brewer of the Year, and giving away a ton of great door prizes.  Keep your fingers crossed for clear skies this year!

Learn to Brew Day/Chili Cookoff-November 6, 2010

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For those of you who have been drinking too much beer, here’s a reminder that the AHA sponsored Learn to Brew Day event will be held at the home of our Brewmaster, Carl Townsend on Nov. 6. Carl will be demonstrating all grain brewing techniques. Anyone who wants to move up from extract brewing to all-grain should be sure to attend this event.

In addition to the Demonstration Brew, Carl has room for up to 4 more on site brewers. If you’d like to take advantage of the day and brew outdoors, you may reserve a spot by contacting Carl or me. Bring your own equipment to the event.

Because we had our Summer Party in August, we did not have our annual Chili Cookoff Competition. Therefore, we’re are combining it with the Learn to Brew Day event. For the past 2 years, Club Chef, Ian Fraser has won the Best Chili prize. Last year he also took home the Most Unique award. The rules of the competition are simple: Bring a pot of chili.

All sides (sour cream, grated cheddar, onion, green pepper, hot sauces, crackers, rice, salad, and dessert) will be supplied by the club. You don’t even have to bring a spoon to serve the chili. The more entries we have, the better the competition will be. No reservations for entry are needed. Just bring it by noon.

TIME: Brew begins at 10am, and ends when the place is cleaned up, usually around 5 or 6.

              Chili competion/lunch is at 1pm

WHERE: 3621 Redwood Ave.

                   L.A. 90066

Questions? Contact me at ActivitiesDirector@PacificGravity.com or Carl at CompetitionCoordinator@PacificGravity.com