Anniversary Brews at Smog City and Firestone

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This is a reminder that this Saturday 11/8 is our Anniversary brew at Smog City at 9:30 am.

We will be using Porter’s new 5 barrel pilot system, so even if you have been to brew events at Smog in the past, this will be something exciting and new!

The recipe will be an adaptation of Craig Corley’s Trappist Single.  Rather than traditional Belgian grains, we’re going to use micro-malted grains from Admiral Maltings up in the Bay Area. We’ll use German Hercules for bittering and a blend of Tettnanger and Saaz for flavor/aroma additions.  We’ll likely use a dry yeast like Mangrove Jacks Belgian Tripel M31.  We’ll use first wort hopping and a large dose at knock out.

Unlike our usual Smog visits, this is not a “Monster Brew”.  We are not selling wort, so no need to bring sterile buckets.  Instead, we will ferment the whole batch at Smog and then bottling in a couple of weeks (and we will need some help then too!).  You are not going to want to miss this event!

Next, just 2 days later, on this Monday November 10 at 9am(ish) (NOTE NEW DATE!) we will be at Firestone Propagator, where Sam will be helping us craft a Carl/Tomm/Parker/Sam Belgian Dark Holiday Beer with Aburana wood.  Brewing this beer at the Propagator should be epic!

So there you have it – some action-packed days o’ brewing with a Smog-Saturday and Firestone-Monday – Two glorious days of brewer-fantasy-camp!  I encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity to attend one if not both.  I, for one, have requested the day off work!  Also note that these 2 events will count as our “First Friday” for November.

We will need some volunteers to help bottle both of these once they are ready – we will send out an email when we know more.

These are the final two brews of our 30th Anniversary Series that have included: Tortugo, Cellador, Project Barley, Smog City, Firestone-Walker Propagator.

Parker Waechter – President, Pacific Gravity Homebrewers

Smog City PG Anniversary Beer Brewing – Saturday 11/8/2025 at 9:30am(ish)
Smog City Brewing Company
1901 Del Amo Blvd
Torrance, CA, 90501
(310) 320-7664

Firestone PG Anniversary Beer Brewing – Mon 11/10/2025 at 9am(ish)
Firestone Walker Brewing Company – the Propagator
3205 Washington Blvd
Marina Del Rey, CA, 90292
(310) 439-8264

Upcoming Events

  • Nov 8    :  Anniversary Brewing at Smog City 9:30am(ish)
  • Nov 10  :  Anniversary Brewing at Firestone 9am(ish) NOTE DATE CHANGE!
  • Nov 20  :  Club Meeting at Tortugo Brewing Company 7pm
  • Dec 6    :   Holiday Party

First Saturday October 4 at Rasselbock

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Our October “First Friday” event will be be held this Saturday October 4th from noon to 3pm at Rasselbock in Mar Vista. It is Oktoberfest, so please join us for festivities and of course some most excellent German beer!

Our October club meeting will be the traditional Chili cook-off, but this year it will be held at Tortugo on Saturday October 11th at noon.  So start planning your best/most unique entries now!  Also, this will be your opportunity to nominate members for the Member of the year and the 2026 Board!

Our brew day at Project Barley, Lomita was a lot of fun.  Rives and Stephen were great hosts and let us play brewer fantasy camp for a day.  When it comes time to bottle, we will likely need some help – I will let you know more when the time comes.

Parker Waechter – President, Pacific Gravity Homebrewers

October First Saturday  – Saturday October 4, 2025 Noon – 3 PM
Rasselbock
3817 Grand View Blvd
Los Angeles,  CA  90066
(310) 439-2938

Competition Corner 
Results of Pacific Brewers Cup have been released.  Congrats go to Craig for two ribbons: First Place for 293 – SA #9 – Weise Färse, a  German Wheat beer, and a 3rd place for 294  – Blonde #21, a Belgian Blond ale. Craig’s Blond was edged out by Carl’s Blond, which picked up a 2nd place ribbon.  Full results can be found at   https://strandbrewersclub.org/pbc/bcoem/ .  Thanks to Jeff Hoy and the entire Strand Brewers crew for running the competition this year.

The entry registration cap has already been reached for the California State Competition, which is the last competition of the year.  But the physical bottle entry deadline is rapidly approaching.  Entries are due October 16th.   Shipping details to Morebeer in Concord, CA. can be found at https://chc.brewingcompetitions.com/    There are no local drop-off opportunities.

Upcoming Events

  • October 4: First Saturday – Rasselbock
  • October 11 : Saturday  Chili Cook-off and Club Meeting at Tortugo Brewing Company!

First Friday September 5 – Five Point Five El Segundo

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Hidey Ho Pacific Gravity!

Our First Friday event for September will be this Friday 9/5 at 7pm at Five Point Five Brewing Co in El Segundo.

They are a fairly new brewery (in Surfridge’s old spot), but I am told they have some very solid beers and it is a nice space to hang out.

In other news, we have a date for our next Anniversary Brew:
Project Barley will be brewing our 30th anniversary collaboration on Friday Sept 19 at 6am at their Lomita location.  anyone who would like to attend welcome.  Rives has said we should have the opportunity to purchase 5 gallons of wort monster-brew-style for anyone who would like to ferment some of their own – pricing and details TBD.  Standard monster-brew rules – no glass, pitch yeast at home etc.

Parker Waechter – President, Pacific Gravity Homebrewers

September First Friday – Friday 9/5/2025 7-10pm
Five Point Five Brewing Co
137 Nevada St
El Segundo, CA 90245
424-248-8379

Upcoming Events

  • Sept   5: First Friday (Five Point Five Brewing Co, El Segundo 7pm)
  • Sept 18: Club Meeting at Tortugo Brewing Company – Festbier and Amber Lagers
  • Sept 19: Project Barley Anniversary Brew 6am
  • Sept 20: Judging for Pacific Brewers Cup. Judges and Stewards still needed.  Sign up at at
    https://strandbrewersclub.org/pbc/bcoem/

Pacific Gravity First Saturday August 2 Project Barley Redondo Pier

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Our First Saturday event for August will be this Saturday 8/2 at noon at Project Barley on the Redondo Pier (near Naja’s). They have a pretty good selection of their beers on tap along with some guests, and they have annexed space next door and have thereby expanded their food and tap selection from what people may recall from the past. It should be a pretty nice day to hang out on the pier and share a beer with your motley club-mates!

August First Saturday – Saturday 8/2/2025 12 Noon
Project Barley Taps & Grill
136 International Boardwalk
Redondo Beach, CA 90277
310-376-9215

In other news, Tortugo has released their PG 30th anniversary beer that Joe and Carl brewed on July 4!!  It is a pretty tasty New Zealand pale and is available on tap and for sale in cans.  A big thanks to Joe and the Tortugo folks for this!! Stop by and enjoy while it lasts!

Also, do not forget the summer party is now less than 3 weeks away, so please plan your beer/food contributions and be ready for another legendary celebration!

Parker Waechter – President, Pacific Gravity Homebrewers

Competition Corner
Pacific Brewers Cup is fast approaching.  The entry window is now open at https://strandbrewersclub.org/pbc/bcoem/ .  They have reached the half-way point on total entries, so don’t delay registering.  You can start dropping off entries August 1st at the local homebrew shops or at Project Barley (either Square or Lomita, not Redondo Pier).  Personally, I’d recommend waiting closer to the end of the entry window on August 29th.  While you are at it, sign up as a volunteer.  They need judges and stewards.  Judging day is September 20th at Project Barley Lomita.

Upcoming Events

  • Aug    2:  First Saturday Project Barley, Redondo Pier 12 noon
  • Aug  16: Summer Party!! 
  • Aug  29:  Entry deadline for Pacific Brewers Cup
  • Sept 20: Judging for PBC

First Friday April 4 (TOMORROW!) – Firestone Walker Propagator

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Our First Friday event for April will be this Friday (tomorrow!) 4/4 7:00 at Firestone Walker Propagator in Venice.

They always have a wide selection of different styles available for tasting including sours, stouts, some barrel aged things and yes, even some IPAs…

Their food is also quite good, so it should be the full First-Friday experience!

Parker Waechter – President, Pacific Gravity Homebrewers

April First Friday – Friday 4/4/2025 at 7-10 PM
Firestone Walker Propagator
3205 Washington Blvd.
Marina Del Rey, CA 90292
(310) 439.8264

Southern California Homebrew Festival

The Southern California Homebrew Festival will be held May 2-4, 2025 at Vail Lake near Temecula.  Sign up is available now at https://www.calhomebrewers.org/ . Remember, you need to join CHA first, ($10) and then you can sign up for the fest itself.  The last day to buy festival admission is April 30, so get to it if you have not!

Ian’s stellar food plan is also available this year, so contact him directly if you would like to participate.

If you have not already contacted Terry Molloy abut attending, please let him know ASAP at tmsoccercoach@gmail.com .  If you plan on camping or food with the club, there will be a separate fee payable to Terry. SCHBF fees for tent campers ($35 to Terry) and food plan ($50 to Ian).

This fest is always a blast; you won’t want to miss it.

Competition Corner

We have three competitions right on top of each other in April.

  • First of all, the next deadline is the annual Mayfaire Competition.  Sign up now at https://competitions.maltosefalcons.com/2025Mayfaire/ . Entries are due due between March 24th and April 11th at local homebrew shops.  Judging is right in our neighborhood at Santa Monica Brew Works on April 26th.
  • Next up is the AHA National Competition.   if you have already reserved entry space, note that the entry submission window runs from April 14th to 18th.  AHA should have sent you the info packet.  San Diego entries need to be shipped to Alesmith Brewery.
  • Finally, we have the California State Fair.  Sign up now at https://calexpostatefair.com/competitions/california-homebrew/  Local entries are due at Angel City Brewery between April 14 – 26.

It’s Time to Do the Dues!

It’s March and that means its time for our annual Pacific Gravity membership dues collection.  All club members need to pay their dues to keep their membership active until March 2026.  Annual dues are $48 for individuals or $72 for couples and are prorated for members who joined the club within the last year.

Keep in mind that your dues are the primary way we fund such club activities as club parties, monthly meetings, club brews and much more.  Your paid membership also ensures that you’ll continue to receive the many club benefits available, access to various brewing activities, discounts and information.

There are several ways you can renew your annual dues.  Club Treasurer, Craig Corley will be collecting dues at the upcoming March club meeting and other upcoming club events.  You can go old school and send Pacific Gravity a check to PO Box 2451, Culver City CA 90231. And for the ultimate in convenience, you can renew your dues online via the PayPal links below:
Individual Membership – Full 1-year Renewal: https://py.pl/121AAr
Couples Membership – Full 1-year Renewal: https://py.pl/5LD8s

Along with your dues renewal, we need all members to complete a Membership Application/Liability Waiver. And in the case of couples memberships, we need this for both members.  You can fill out and submit your Membership Application/Liability Waiver at the following link: https://forms.gle/f2xCjNBAp5qoJjFK8

All current club members should have gotten a renewal notice via email detailing their dues renewal amount and member information on file. This is a good opportunity to update our membership records, so please let Craig know of any changes to your member information (address, email, phone, etc) or include changes with your check/renewal form.

For any individual members who might be interested, the couples membership provides full membership status/benefits to both partners of a couple including membership cards, emails, etc. Note that the couples membership is optional, couples can continue with one partner being an individual member and the other being their guest.  It’s an additional $24 to upgrade your individual membership to a couples membership and you’ll need to include your partner’s name and email along with your payment.

Have questions about your dues or how much you owe? Check with Craig at the March club meeting or by email at Treasurer@PacificGravity.com.

Upcoming Events

  • March 24th – April 11th: Mayfaire Competition entries are due
  • April 4: First Friday- First Friday Firestone Walker Propagator 7pm
  • April 11: Mayfaire Competition entry deadline
  • April 14 – 18: AHA National Competition entry submission window
  • April 14 – 26: California State Fair entries are due
  • April 17: Club Meeting at Tortugo Brewing Company – Style: German Beers
  • April 26th:  Mayfaire Competition Judging

Pacific Gravity First Friday February 7 at Brewport Tap House, El Segundo

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Greetings Pacific Gravity!

Please join us this Friday for February First Friday at Brewport Taphouse in El Segundo.  They have a large selection of craft beer on a self-pour dispensing system that sells by the ounce, so it should be a good opportunity to try some interesting things.  They appear to have decently sized food menu, so we should not go hungry.

I hope to see you there!

Parker Waechter – President, Pacific Gravity Homebrewers

February First Friday: 2/7/2024 at 7:30 PM
Brewport Tap House

204 Main Street
El Segundo, California 90245
(310) 648 8972

 

Competition Corner

The registration windows for the first two competitions of 2025 are now open.

First up in the National Homebrew Competition.  You must be an AHA member and then select which site you want to enter at https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/national-homebrew-competition/  There is a cap of 750 entries at each site, but they have removed the entry cap per person, so these are likely to fill  up fast.  If your first pick is full, go ahead and try another site.  The bottle entry window varies by location, ranging from early March to mid-April.

Next up is America’s Finest City Competition in San Diego.  Registration is at https://www.quaff.org/AFC-2025/  Entries will be due by February 27th at Alesmith brewery.

Here is a run-down on the rest of this year’s future competitions:

  • April – Mayfaire Competition
    • Entries due April 11th at local homebrew shops.
    • Judging April 26th
  • May/June  State Fair.
    • Likely Angel City drop-off site
  • June/July Long Beach Red White and Brews?
    • American beers, 30 different styles
  • September – Pacific Brewers Cup
    • Strand running it in 2025
  • October California State Competition

Upcoming Events

  • Feb 7   : First Friday (Brewport Tap House, El Segundo 7:30 pm)
  • Feb 20 : Club Meeting at Tortugo Brewing Company – English Beer

Pacific Gravity Holiday Party (setup) 2024

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Our Holiday Party is rapidly approaching, but first we need your help!

This Sunday 12/08/24 at noon we will be doing the setup (and drinking beer!) over at Neil’s, so come on down and lend a hand! Not only do we need help with setup we will also need supplies and equipment from those who can provide it.  This is our First Friday Event for the month of December.

In addition to setup help, things we likely need are:
Beer – Details/Sign up Info below
Firewood
Outdoor fire pit
Propane heater\outdoor heater
Chairs
Tables,
E-Z ups (canopies)
Power strips
CO2 Tanks

Holiday Party Setup  Sunday, 12/8 at 12:00pm.
12966 Rubens Ave, Los Angeles, CA. (at Alla Road)

Holiday Party Clean up will be Sunday, December 15th at 10am – Please help out if you can.

Holiday Party Details

The Holiday party will be a Neil’s Duplex on December 14th at 5:00PM.  Also, we will announce the Member of the Year Award and the Brewer of the year award.

The menu will likely be similar to past holiday parties featuring meat on the BBQ, deep fried turkeys, spiced ham and much more!
You can help! Although the club will be providing many of the main dishes, this is still a pot luck party – so bringing your favorite party dish will surely be appreciated!
If you have a favorite family holiday recipe and want to share it with the rest of us, this is your chance!  If you have any questions about what to bring you can ask Chef Ian (masterchef@pacificgravity.com).  Some general suggestions would include any kind of main dish but especially all side dishes, veggie dishes, salads, desserts and appetizers! It would be cool to see a lot of Carbonnades ala Flamande again – if anyone has fear, there is a simple instant pot recipe that can give you a starting point. 

Beer
Got beer?  We need all types of beer, meads, cider and sodas for this event.  Pull out your favorite holiday beverage, dust off the bottle or keg and bring it down!  We’ll have front bar portion of our serving system set up to help dispense your holiday homebrews.  If you plan to bring beer, soda or other seasonally festive beverage, please contact Carl at: Competitions@pacificgravity.com & let him know what you will bring.  Everyone who signs up in advance will have a festive tap tag.
This is an outdoor event… it will be cold!  Please plan accordingly!

Bring a chair if you can!

Holiday Party: Saturday 12/14, at 5:00 PM.
12966 Rubens Ave
Los Angeles, CA. (at Alla Road)

Tomm Carroll Beer Collab at MacLeod’s Saturday Afternoon Dec 7th

Our very own Tomm Carroll, club beer historian and industry liaison has created a collaboration brew with MacLeod’s brewer Stephen Reeves.  MacLeod’s is known for there session able British Cask Ales on cask.  This collaboration is a historical Scottish malted oat stout they have named “Sowen’ Oats” and weighs in at 4.6%.  It will be served 5 different ways – cask, keg, nitro and 2 pins (5.4 G casks) with additional flavorings – licorice and heather.
Tomm and Stephen plan to be there and talk about the beer, probably around 1 or 2 pm.
I plan to be there then for a couple hours to check this out – it should be interesting!

MacLeod Ale Brewing Company
14741 Calvert St
Van Nuys, CA, 91411

Parker Waechter – President, Pacific Gravity Homebrewers

Upcoming Events

  • Dec 7    : Tomm Carroll Collab Release at MacLeod
  • Dec 7    : Strand Monster Brew at Scholb
  • Dec 8    : Holiday Party Setup 12:00pm at Neil’s Duplex
  • Dec 14  : Holiday Party

First Friday Nov 1 at El Segundo Brewing Company

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Please join us tomorrow for our November First Friday at El Segundo Brewing Company.  They were one of our sponsors for Pacific Brewers Cup, so we want to give them some love.

Last Saturday’s Chili cook-off was a great event, as expected.  There were 7 entries, and all we very good.  The big winners were Neil and Ian – they tied for “best” and Neil won for “most unique” – quite a feat for Neil’s to be both best and unique!

Parker Waechter – President, Pacific Gravity Homebrewers

November First Friday: 11/1/2024 at 7:30 PM
El Segundo Brewing Company
140 Main Street
El Segundo, CA 90245
(‭310) 529-3882

 

Strand Monster Brew At Scholb 12/7
Strand Brewers club is hosting a monster brew at Scholb Premium Ales (2964 Columbia St, Torrance CA 90503) on  Saturday 12/7/2024 08:00-12:00 noon.  The cost is $35 for 5 gallons of wort (Dills Cornhole Pilsner) and is limited to 44 batches, so if you are interested, sign up with them soon at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe1-CHt01yAVc8KR73id9M1SFghbBmDEZcQfJ7BdNkiXz2oOg/viewform .

Upcoming Styles of the Month

  • November 2024 – Fruit/spice beers, meads, and ciders/berries
  • December 2024 – No style of the month (Holiday Party)

Upcoming Events

  • Nov 1:   First Friday (El Segundo Brewing Company 7pm)
  • Nov 21: Club Meeting at Tortugo Brewing Company – Style Fruit/spice beers, meads, and ciders
  • Dec 7:    Strand Monster Brew at Scholb
  • Dec 14 : Holiday Party

First Friday & PBC Awards Oct 4th at Wurstküche Venice

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Guten Tag Pacific Gravity!

I hope that everyone is enjoying this Oktoberfest season and finding lots of excellent German food and beer to enjoy.  To that end, Tomm Carroll has helped us set up our October First Friday at Wurstkuche in Venice.  We will have a table outside in the back. They serve a pretty good variety of German and Belgian beers on draft as well as a large selection of sausages from standards to exotic meats and even vegetarian.

This will also serve as the awards ceremony for Pacific Brewers Cup, so please come collect the plethora of ribbons you won in the competition, or simply support those who did!

Parker Waechter – President, Pacific Gravity Homebrewers

October First Friday: 10/4/2024 at 7:30 PM
Wurstküche
625 Lincoln Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90291
(‭310) 581-9404

California State Homebrew Competition – Enter now! 
The entry deadline for the California State Homebrew Completion is approaching and they are nearing their total entry cap!  Enter now at https://chc.brewingcompetitions.com/

Pacific Gravity Chili Cook-off 10/19
Our next club meeting will be the ever-popular Chili Cook-off which will be held at Terry Molloy’s house on Saturday, October 19th.  As we get closer more details will follow, but please start planning your recipes.  Awards for both the “best” and “most unique” chili will be presented.  Board Member and Member of the Year nominations will occur at this event, voting for both will occur at the November club meeting.

Strand Monster Brew An Scholb 12/7
Strand Brewers club is hosting a monster brew at Scholb Premium Ales (2964 Columbia St, Torrance CA 90503) on  Saturday 12/7/2024 08:00-12:00 noon.  The cost is $35 for 5 gallons of wort (Dills Cornhole Pilsner) and is limited to 44 batches, so if you are interested, sign up with them soon at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe1-CHt01yAVc8KR73id9M1SFghbBmDEZcQfJ7BdNkiXz2oOg/viewform .

Upcoming Styles of the Month

  • October 2024 – Alternative fermentables beers (using sugars and/or grains other than malted barley)
  • November 2024 – Fruit/spice beers, meads, and ciders/berries
  • December 2024 – No style of the month (Holiday Party)

Upcoming Events

  • Oct 19: Chili Cook-off – Style Alternative Fermentables
  • Nov 1:   First Friday (TBD)
  • Nov 21: Club Meeting at Tortugo Brewing Company – Style Fruit/spice beers, meads, and ciders
  • Dec 7:    Strand Monster Brew at Scholb

Club Meeting This Thursday, Sept 19th at Tortugo Brewery

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Zicke Zacke Zicke Zacke Hoi Hoi Hoi!

Yes, it is that time of year again (ok, SLIGHTLY early, but still…) – this Thursday will be our Oktoberfest meeting!

There will be some traditional Oktoberfest food! There will be one, if not two members in Lederhosen!
And let us not forget, das Bier! Our style of the month is German and Czech Beers, which coincidentally fits the theme, so please bring your marvelous Märzens or whatever excellent homebrew you have to share!

For anyone who missed it, the summer party was a huge amount of fun – many thanks to Dean for hosting, Ian and Rob for cooking, Carl and Tom Rierson for making the serving system and competition stuff happen, Joe, Porter and Tomm for donating great prizes, Neil for single-handedly producing the majority of the beer served, Scott for the most over-killing sound system ever conceived, and to everyone who brought food/beer/soda and other contributions to the event!
Congrats to Carl for best beer (Cascade Wet Harvest IPA), and Luis for best soda (Guava Strawberry soda) of the summer party!

This Saturday 9/21 is Pacific Brewers Cup judging – please talk to Carl if you would like to help by stewarding or judging.

Also, Tomm Carroll has arranged our next First Friday (10/4) – an Oktoberfest and Pacific Brewers Cup ribbon presentation at Wurstkuche [add link to https://www.wurstkuche.com/]  in Venice!  We will have a table/section outside in the back of the patio area.  They always have a good selection of beer and sausages to enjoy!
In addition, for anyone who would like to do their actual Oktoberfest event opening, Tyler has offered us a 25% discount on tickets for the first session – Saturday Sept 28 at 12:00pm.
Use the link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/933981763597?aff=oddtdtcreator
and the code PacificGravity at checkout.

Oans, zwoa, drei, Gsuffa!!!
Parker Waechter – President, Pacific Gravity Homebrewers

September Monthly Meeting; Thursday 9/19/2024 at 7:30 PM
Tortugo Brewing Co.
916 W. Hyde Park Blvd.
Inglewood,  CA  90302
(424) 227-9963

Upcoming Styles of the Month

  • September 2024 – German and Czech beers
  • October 2024 – Alternative fermentables beers (using sugars and/or grains other than malted barley)
  • November 2024 – Fruit/spice beers, meads, and ciders/berries
  • December 2024 – No style of the month (Holiday Party)

Upcoming Events

  • Sept 19: Club Meeting at Torgugo Brewing Company – Style German and Czech beers
  • Sept 21: Pacific Brewers Cup Main Judging Session
  • Oct 4:   First Friday/PBC Ribbons at Wurstkuche Venice 7:30
  • Oct 19:  Chili Cookoff – Style Alternative Fermentables