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Pacific Gravity Sour Beer Project

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I am really pleased to officially announce for those of you who didnt attend or could not hear me at the Monster Brew on Saturday @ Smog City that the club is starting up a new project for 2014.  One of the many things the board has discussed this year so far is starting up a few new brewing projects throughout the year.  Our first of these projects was to brew a “clone” of Firestone Walker’s PNC this past New Years Day.  Our intent with that project is to be able to barrel age a beer for the club that will be served at the Christmas Party later this year.

Project #2 is a larger project.  Inspired by the beers from Brussels we decided to take the opportunity presented by the monster brew this past weekend @ Smog City to purchase 60 gallons of wort and innoculate it with different types of yeast, wild yeast and other microorganisms in a 60 gallon wine barrel.  Not many of us have the space, money or brewing capacity to brew enough beer to fill a 60 gallon barrel.  For those of you who have wanted to do this in the past but were unable to brew to that scale you will now have an opportunity to participate in this experiment.

The guys @ Phantom Carriage graciously donated a wine barrel to the club for this project and offered some great insight into the process we should

Details on the barrel donated by Phantom Carriage.

Details on the barrel donated by Phantom Carriage.

follow.  For those of you who don’t know, two of our fellow homebrew club associates – Martin Svab and Simon Ford – are two of the guys behind one of LA’s newest breweries.  They have secured a lease on a facility in Carson – about 10 minutes or so from Smog City and Monkish – which is set to open sometime in the next year and will offer tons of awesome small batch beers.  So a big thank you goes out to the guys at Phantom Carriage for their barrel donation and advice, along with Smog City supplying the wort from their Monster Brew to make this project happen.  I also want to thank Kingsley for offering to house this barrel in his garage for the next year.

We are still working out a lot of the details on how we will divide up this project among the club brewers, but at some point in the next year we will divide up an undecided amount of this barrel to homebrewers who are eager to participate.  Ideally brewers will be able to hold onto their portions for as long as they feel the beer needs to mature, or they can add fruit and other flavorings.  Ideas and recommendations are welcome because we have plenty of time until this thing is finished.  Unfortunately there will not be enough for everyone to get their hands on some of it – but over the next few months we will figure out a way to divide it up between those interested.

For now, even though our experiment is technically not a Lambic, the idea of fermenting in the barrel is based off of the processes employed by Lambic producers like Cantillon.  Here is a writeup from the form handed out to visitors of Brewery Cantillon about the first stages of fermentation with their traditional lambic:

Barrel Store

In contrast to winemaking, the type of wood used to make casks is not of critical importance in Lambic production.  For the brewer, the wood is necessary to allow the beer to exchange gases with the surrounding air.  Since there is no need for the tannins present in new wood, we only work with casks which have already been used by winemakers or, more rarely, Cognac producers.  Slowly maturing Lambic in barrels lends it a wine-like flavour, and this lies at the origin of its moniker “cereal wine”.

Invented by the Gaul, wooden barrels were used by brewers for centuries.  Nowadays, however, modern breweries use stainless steel vessels and cooling systems to control the fermentation process.

Fermentation

After a few days, the wild yeasts reacting with the sugars in the wort results in spontaneous fermentation.  At first, the fermentation process is relatively violent and visible.  In fact, for 3 or 4 days the production of CO2 is such that the barrels cannot be sealed because there is a risk that they might otherwise explode.  As part of the process a whitish foam comes out of the bunghole and this can lead to a loss of 5 to 10 litres of wort per barrel.

Maturing

Slow fermentation begins 3 to 4 weeks later.  As there is no longer a risk of explosion the barrel is hermetically sealed.  It is at this point that Lambic is born.  Continued fermentation, which is an extremely complex process, will now go on for another 3 years.

To date, 100 different strains of yeast have been identified in Lambic, with two of them, Brettanomyces Bruxellensis and Lambicus, playing a very important role.  Specifically, they assimilate non-fermentable sugars (dextrins) and reduce the sugar content of 3 year old Lambic to just .02%.

Unlike winemakers, Lambic brewers do not top up barrels to counter the effects of evaporation.  Therefore, after 3 years of maturing in a barrel some 20% of the original liquid will have been lost and the sellable volume contained in a cask will have dropped from 400 to 320 litres.  To protect themselves, certain types of yeasts agglomerate to form a film (flora) which completely separates the beer from the air in the barrel.

Lambic can be drunk after just a few weeks but a brewer will have to wait a year to have a more refined beer which can be used for making more elaborate products (Gueuze, Kriek, etc.)  Like all liquids matured in wooden barrels, Lambic does not foam (cereal wine).  Its acid taste, unique flavours and aftertaste make it a very complex product which is quite distinct from all other beers.

For our project, we scraped together the following assortment of bugs and yeast for the barrel project:

I built up a 3 gallon starter on Monday 3/2/2014 with an OG of 1.035 made with Wheat Malt Extract and pitched the WY3788 and WY1214 smack packs.  On Friday night before the Monster Brew we added the Brett, Pedio, Bug Farm and Bug County.  We pitched the entire 3 gallons of starter into the barrel after adding the first 30 gallons.  Below you can find pictures of the barrel after 24 hours of fermentation.  It definitely foamed out the top!  We placed a #10 stopper with an airlock in the barrel – this stopper is slightly smaller than the standard bunghole which will allow the stopper to be popped out of the barrel easily if it builds up too much pressure.  I am going to add wort from a mostly raw wheat and 2-row mash next weekend to add some starches to the wort composition.  Once active fermentation stops we will replace the small stopper with a more standard stopper for long term aging.

If you have any questions about this project please don’t hesitate to post about it here on our website or you can contact me @ president [at] pacificgravity.com

Brian.

 

How Do I Modify My Smog City Monster Brew?

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This Month’s Question:  How do I modify my wort from the Monster Brew at Smog City Brewing?SmogCityLogo

 

Answer:

I hope you are all planning to join us at Smog City Brewing Company’s First Annual Monster Brew, Saturday, March 8th, 2014, from 7:30 AM to 2 PM hosted by our very own Jon Porter.  See the main article about the logistics for the day. We’ll be brewing up a batch of Kölsch-based wort.  Where it goes from there is up to you!  We’re hoping to have as many variations on the theme as possible for upcoming events such as the Southern California Homebrew Fest, club meetings and summer party.  Read more →

Join Strand Brewers at Stone’s AHA Rally in March!

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Hey Pacific Gravity!

Strand Brewers Club is making final arrangements for a bus trip to the AHA Rally at the Stone Brewery on Saturday, March 15th….and Pacific Gravity members have been invited to join!

Cost will be $35 for transportation to and from Stone Brewery in Escondido and some other stops as noted below.

Note—you have to be a member of the AHA to get in for free. If you are not a member, you can sign up before the Rally at Stone Brewing for $38 which gives you a year’s membership, subscription to Zymurgy magazine, and discounts at other events.

Or if you don’t want to join the AHA, you can ride along to the Lost Abbey Brewery which we’ll hit before the Rally, enjoy the fine bistro restaurant and tasting room at Stone on your own, and come with us to White Labs afterwards.

We need you to commit by Friday, March 7th. Just respond to this E-mail. Then, based on the honor system, you can bring a check made out to The Strand Brewers when you get on board on March 15th.

Here are the details.

There will be two pick-up spots:

9:00 AM–Redondo and Marine Park&Ride lot on the Green Line (2406 Marine Ave., Redondo Beach, 90278) 

https://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF-8&q=redondo+and+marine+park+%26+ride&fb=1&gl=us&hq=redondo+and+marine+park+%26+ride&cid=17426062215133048589&ei=Sib9UvicMtLBoASD1YF4&ved=0CDQQrwswAA

9:30 AM–Willow Station Park&Ride lot on the Blue Line  (2750 American Ave., Long Beach 90806)

https://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF-8&q=redondo+and+marine+park+%26+ride&fb=1&gl=us&hq=redondo+and+marine+park+%26+ride&cid=17426062215133048589&ei=Sib9UvicMtLBoASD1YF4&ved=0CDQQrwswAA

Each lot has plenty of free all day parking.

11:30–If we get to Escondido by 11:30, we’ll stop at the Lost Abby Brewery for an hour.

12:30–leave Lost Abbey to go down the street to Stone Brewing.

The Rally goes from 1 PM to 4 PM. Expect to taste some incredibly interesting home brewed and commercial beers.

On the AHA site:

http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/events/stone-brewing-world-bistro-gardens-2014/

On the Stone Brewery site:

http://www.stoneworldbistro.com/aharally/

4 PM—bus ride down to White Labs tasting room. If you haven’t been there, this is one of the most educational experiences for any brewer. They serve you a four glass flite of the same beer brewed with different yeasts, and the results are eye opening.

6PM—head back north, arriving at Willow Street around 7:30 PM and Redondo & Marine by 8 PM.

Please contact me ASAP ( vicepresident@pacificgravity.com )to reserve your seat. Don’t forget you have to be an AHA member to attend the Rally (but not to come on the trip) and you’ll need to bring a check for $35 made out to The Strand Brewers Club when you show up on March 15th.

There will be beer and refreshments on the bus.

 

Cheers,

 

Kingsley

 

February Meeting Recap and Upcoming Events

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First off I want to thank Ian Fraser again for hosting us on Saturday.  We had a great turnout and a ton of great beers on hand.  I also want to thank Carl for hosting the commercial beer tasting for us.

For those of you who were

 

  • March 2014 Meeting – The March club meeting will be on 3/20 @ Culver City Homebrew Supply.  Details to be posted within the next week.
  • March 2014 First Friday – March’s First Friday (3/7/2014) is going to be @ Irish Times @ 7pm.  Thank you to Ryan and the City Tavern crew for hooking us up for the night!
  • 2014 National Homebrewer’s Competition – The rules have changed this year so make sure you read up about how to get your beer entered into the comp.  Here is a good link to review for important dates (CLICK).  Carl will get more information out in an upcoming competition post.
  • 2014 Southern California Homebrewer’s Fest – There was a new law posted last October that has put the festival in jeopardy.  The AHA and CHA are working to fix this interpretation so that the fest will be allowed to secure a permit for the fest.  Stay tuned to this site for future updates which will go into greater detail and provide you with a template letter to send to your local representatives to try to fix this problem.
  • Culver City Homebrew Supply – The store is back open and is stocked with the supplies you need to get your next batch fermenting!  You can park in any of the spots in front of the store – “LA Pizza” does not exist.  You can also park on “Little Culver” just next to the Avis.  It is a frontage type road that has ample parking and is free.  Your membership in Pacific Gravity gives you a 5% discount at the store so make sure your membership is paid up and get that discount.
  • Pacific Brewers Cup 2014 – We are hosting this year’s competition and are looking for volunteers to help us organize the event.  If you are willing to volunteer your time email Carl @ competitions@pacificgravity.com.
  • Club Membership dues are coming up in March.
  • Lastly our first monster brew of the year is now officially scheduled for 3/08/2014 @ Smog City.  We will post more details as we get closer to the event.

All of the events with dates listed above have been added to the websites calendar.  Thanks again to everyone who made the trek down to Smog City on Thursday and I look forward to seeing you all at future events.

Brian

January Meeting Recap and Upcoming Events

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IMG_0056I hope you all had a great time on Thursday.  I had a blast hanging out with everyone and sharing beers.  It was also great to see a number of new members and prospective members meet up with us.  Also another thank you is due to Porter and everyone at Smog City for hosting us for our meeting.  I cant think of a better place to get together.

As a practice we are going to get in the habit of posting recaps of meeting information for club members who were unable to attend or maybe couldn’t hear us at the meeting.  Or maybe you killed off enough brain cells that night that you need a refresher.  Either way here is our monthly meeting recap:

 

  • February 2014 Meeting – Next month’s meeting is going to be on 2/22/2014 at Ian Fraser’s house in Venice.  This month’s meeting will be on a Saturday.  Kingsley is going to post an update in the next week with the time of the meeting and an address.
  • February 2014 First Friday – February’s First Friday (2/7/2014) is going to be @ City Tavern in Culver City @ 7pm.  Thank you to Ryan and the City Tavern crew for hooking us up for the night!
  • 2014 National Homebrewer’s Competition – The rules have changed this year so make sure you read up about how to get your beer entered into the comp.  Here is a good link to review for important dates (CLICK).  Carl will get more information out in an upcoming competition post.
  • 2014 Southern California Homebrewer’s Fest – There was a new law posted last October that has put the festival in jeopardy.  The AHA and CHA are working to fix this interpretation so that the fest will be allowed to secure a permit for the fest.  Stay tuned to this site for future updates which will go into greater detail and provide you with a template letter to send to your local representatives to try to fix this problem.
  • Culver City Homebrew Supply – The store is back open and is stocked with the supplies you need to get your next batch fermenting!  You can park in any of the spots in front of the store – “LA Pizza” does not exist.  You can also park on “Little Culver” just next to the Avis.  It is a frontage type road that has ample parking and is free.  Your membership in Pacific Gravity gives you a 5% discount at the store so make sure your membership is paid up and get that discount.
  • Pacific Brewers Cup 2014 – We are hosting this year’s competition and are looking for volunteers to help us organize the event.  If you are willing to volunteer your time email Carl @ competitions@pacificgravity.com.
  • Club Membership dues are coming up in March.
  • Lastly our first monster brew of the year is now officially scheduled for 3/08/2014 @ Smog City.  We will post more details as we get closer to the event.

All of the events with dates listed above have been added to the websites calendar.  Thanks again to everyone who made the trek down to Smog City on Thursday and I look forward to seeing you all at future events.

Brian

 

So Long, Sam!

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Here is a note from longtime club member Tomm Carroll in regards to the recent loss of LA Beer pioneer Sam Samaniego of Stuffed Sandwich in San Gabriel. Thanks Tomm for writing this and allowing us to post it to the site along with the pictures. -Brian

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by Tomm Carroll

Happy New Year became a not-so-happy one for the homebrew and craft beer community in Los Angeles when news spread one week into the new year that LA beer pioneer Sam Samaniego of the legendary Stuffed Sandwich restaurant and beer bar in San Gabriel had passed away on the morning of January 8, after a long and courageous battle with cancer. He is survived by loving wife and restaurant co-owner, Marlene. The Stuffed Sandwich opened in 1976. No other information was available as of this writing.

As a tribute to Sam — who was a great friend to Pacific Gravity, by the way — following is an article I wrote and photos (by Danise Delgado and myself) from the defunct Pacific Gravity Gazette newsletter covering a road trip that PG took to the Stuffed Sandwich in October 2006. They were good times.

One of my fondest memories of Sam was that he absolutely hated any head on a draught pour of beer; check out the photo of him at the tap. We miss you, Sam!

Get Stuffed!

Them Belly Fulla Beer in San Gabriel (2006)

by Tomm Carroll

Another month, another road trip… Thirsty Pacific Gravity members had barely recovered – or sobered up – from the massively popular bus trip to Escondido for Stone Brewing’s 10th anniversary party in September, before they bravely boarded another Brew Bus on October 21 for a visit to another beervana – the Stuffed Sandwich in San Gabriel. Riding the bus were 34 club members (many of them newbies), their guests and a keg of Arrogant Bastard (thanks to PacGrav board member Martin Svab, who also organized the road trip – and brought along his Mom!).

To call Sam and Marlene Samaniego’s famed eat-and-drinkery a “sandwich shop” is to call Antwerp’s the Kulminator “a great place to get a cheese board.”  While local liquor laws require a purchase of solid sustenance before ordering a liquid refreshment (or two, or five…), this is a place to visit primarily for its vast selection of beer, not its array of hoagies, lunchmeats and humongous ribs. Which is not to say the food is disappointing in the least. On the contrary, although it may often be a secondary consideration here, the Stuffed Sandwich’s food is quite tasty and satisfying. And it does help fill your belly to prep it for some serious sampling of suds.

Due to a SNAFU in pre-ordering food while we were on the bus (it wasn’t your fault, Michael!), only nine lucky members had their sandwiches and souvenir beer glasses (Whitbread Ale) ready upon arrival; the rest of us had to queue up and place orders anew. But there was still plenty of time for all to peruse the extensive bottle list, ask Sam for recommendations, order and share their beers, and choose some to take home – or to pass around on the bus ride home.

Not only are nine taps a little out of the ordinary for a sandwich joint, but Sam’s shop always has several rare and/or aged beers among those draught choices. Everyone was pleasantly surprised to find Greene King IPA (the classic British session beer seldom found outside the UK), Unibroue’s rich, smooth and dark Belgian-style ale Trios Pistoles (usually only available in 750 ml bottles) and North Coast’s Old Stock Ale, vintage 2004 (a high-gravity old ale that only betters with age) – all available by the pint!

Good cheer and good beer were flowing that afternoon. Among the sharers were Neil Saund, who passed around a bottle of the delightful sour Hanssen’s Oud Gueuze; Mitch Kraus and Mimi Bardet, who offered pours from a selection of artisinal ales from Michigan’s Jolly Pumpkin Brewery that they ordered; and Rick Hayes, who brought us the funk as he distributed samples of De Proef Brouwerij’s Flemish Primitive Wild Ale (Got barnyard?  How ‘bout the whole barn?).

Wielding a $100 stipend from Pacific Gravity, club board member Ian Fraser treated the curious drinkers still standing to a number of pricey rarities from Sam’s well-stocked beer fridge. Highlights of the mini-beer run were De Koninck’s Winter Koninck, La Trappe’s Quadrupel (from the only Trappist monastery/brewery in the Netherlands, the Koningshoeven Abbey), and, likely the most amazing brew of the day: the ultra-powerful (12% abv) Scaldis Prestige –– an oak barrel-aged version of the popular Belgian strong ale. That tall bottle took up half of Fraser’s club budget, and even Sam nabbed a taste of it.

Before the departure time arrived, Graviteer beer geeks scoured the Stuffed Sandwich’s selection of specialty beer glasses and, more importantly, its stash of aged beers. Maybe it’s the approaching end of the year, but many of the “take away” purchases were holiday beers. Sam has a collection of Anchor Christmas beer magnums dating back to 1996. Also purchased were some extremely hard-to-find Samichlaus lagers from 1992 and ’93 –– from the beer’s original maker, the now-defunct Hürlimann Brewery in Switzerland. Another popular to-go choice were mixed six-packs of Sierra Nevada Bigfoot, with (fortunately) room temperature bottles of the prized barleywine dating from the present back to the early 1990s.

As the brew bus ambled back to Culver City, the riders were all happy and indeed stuffed –– but not with sandwiches. That sloshing sound that could be heard when we rounded curves and corners en route home was the beer in our bellies. Thanks, Sam, for another great time in San Gabriel.

Happy 2014!

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Welcome to 2014 everyone!  I thought it would be a good idea to introduce myself to everyone in case we have not met at any of the meetings.

As you all hopefully know by now my name is Brian Holter and I am the incoming President of the club.  I have been a member of the club since 2006 and I have been a regular meeting attendee for the past 3 or 4 years.  We have a big year ahead of us in 2014 and it is going to be an exciting time to be a member of our club.

The first thing I want to mention is that the Homebrew Shop in Culver City is now officially back open!  The new address is:

4234 Sepulveda Blvd, Culver City, CA

There is a parking lot in front of the store.  Every spot is labeled as “pizza” parking only, but Greg assures me that we can park in those spots.  If you wont take my word for it (Greg did tell me after I’d had a few beers at last week’s First Friday), you can park on the “frontage” Culver Blvd road which has tons of parking space and no meters (=awesome).  I was at the store on Sunday and it looks great and should make for an awesome new store for Culver City.

As I mentioned in an earlier post our first club meeting of 2014 is going to be held at Smog City in Torrance next Thursday the 16th of January @ 7:30pm.  At that meeting I will make sure to introduce myself and the rest of the board members for the upcoming year and go over some of the plans for the club along with the usual competition and Pacific Brewers Cup 2014 updates from Carl.

The board and I are working hard at finding a more permanent location for our monthly club meetings – I hope to have news on that in the next couple of months.

If you have any questions, suggestions or concerns about the club please feel free to send me a message here on the website and I will get back to you as soon as I notice it, or just come talk to me at future events.

I look forward to seeing all of you next week.

Cheers to the new year and a lot of fun together in the 2014!

Brian Holter

Holiday Party Preparation

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Quick reminder, we will be setting up for the holiday party tomorrow (Sunday) at noon.  If you can make it, please come by Neil’s duplex (12966 Rubens Ave. LA, CA).  Also please plan to volunteer the day of the party for final setup and the day after for clean up.  Email vicepresident@pacificgravity.com to let us know about your plans.

If you can bring easy ups, tables, heaters, or other things we need at the party, please email President@pacificgravity.com .  We haven’t had many submissions, and we really need tables to pull off dinner.

Please email kperiolat@gmail.com with the dish you are bringing for the potluck if you would like a label made.

Most importantly, please email competitioncoordinator@pacificgravity.com with the beer you are bringing.  Please include the style, quantity, and ABV.

Member of the Year Vote

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If you didn’t vote for member of the year at the club meeting, you can do so via email.  Please send your vote via email toPresident@pacificgravity.com  You may cast up to two votes.

Dean Sussman
Tim Bardet
Carl Townsend
Noelle Cross
Terry Molloy
Jon Porter
Also, you may vote for one of the following candidates for Treasurer:
Tim Bardet
Ramesh Khalili

Pacific Gravity Holiday Part December 7th

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Greetings members, I’m happy to announce that the Pacific gravity Holiday Party will be on Saturday, December 7th.  The party is being graciously hosted by Neil Saund (address below).  We will get started at 6 PM and are schedule to complete the festivities at 11.  Members in good standing are invited and may bring a guest.  We’re all adults, so use you judgement when inviting people.

Neil Saund’s duplex

12966 Rubens Ave. LA, CA
Saturday Dec 7th @ 6:00 pm

Bring Food!

This is a potluck party, so we are depending on YOU to bring your favorite holiday dish to share.  Please know that there will be lmited cooking and prep space, so bring your offering ready to eat and hot (if appropriate) in a disposable container (Smart & Final is a great resource for this).  If you must bring it in non-disposable dish, please be prepared to take that dish home with you at the end of the party.  We already have several volunteers to bring fried turkey, grilled lamb, ham, and carbonade, but we need help rounding out our main courses.  Bring sides or holiday staples like stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, creamed corn, veggies, and salads.  Bring appetizers and finger food like shrimp, pig in a blanket, egg rolls, stuffed mushrooms.  Bring you family recipe or holiday traditions.  There will be no “service” but dinner should commence by 7 PM.  Please email kperiolat@gmail.com with the dish you would like to bring so we can make a label for your food.

Bring Yourself!

We need volunteers to help pull off a 150+ person party!  We will be doing preliminary setup on Sunday, December 1st at noon where we will setup everything that can survive being rained on (you never know).  Final setup will be done on the morning of the party on December 7th.  If you can volunteer for setup duty, please email VicePresident@pacificgravity.com.  If you can’t be there to setup, please come to help with the cleanup.  We need to start cleanup at 10 AM on Sunday morning.  Again, email VicePresident@pacificgravity.com to volunteer.

Bring Stuff!

We are renting some things, but we need the membership to help with much needed equipment.  Please email President@pacificgravity.com if you can bring any of the items listed below to the party:

  • Easy Ups (in case of inclimate weather)
  • Patio Heaters
  • Jockey Boxes
  • CO2 Tanks
  • serving tables

We already have things for the raffle, but if you have lightly used equipment, glassware, or other schwag to donate, please contact FundRaiser@pacificgravity.com

Bring Beer!

Please email Carl at CompetitionCoordinator@pacificgravity.com with your beer’s name, style, ABV, and keg volume so that he can make labels. Feel free to bring home brew or special commercial beers in bottles to share with other guests as well.