First Friday-Nov. 5 at Joxer Daly’s

November FF is at Joxer Daly’s in picturesque Culver City. Greg Beron, best known to Graviteers as an owner of Culver City Home Brew Supply, and a habitue of Joxer’s will arrange for us to have a special brew on tap. Our last time there we had a keg of DeKonnick, a brew rarely seen on tap in L.A. Who knows what’ll be on tap this time. The food is good and inexpensive (try the fish&chips or sliders), and there are a variety of other brews on tap.

Joxer Daly’s is located at 11168 Washington Blvd, just off Sepulveda.

Time: Official FF start time is 7pm, but many of us get to the place earlier than that.

If you are a new member and want to meet many of us old timers please join the crowd. Looking forward to seeing you  all.

Michael Steinberg, PG Activities Director

Learn to Brew/Chili Cookoff Day Nov. 6

As in past years, Learn to Brew Day (formerly Teach a Friend to Homebrew Day), a nationwide AHA event will take place the first Saturday in November. Due to the Summer Party having been held in August, we were forced to pospone the cookoff until November, so Pacific Gravity will also be conducting our annual Chili Cookoff on that day.

The event will be held at the home of our Competition Coordinator and Brewmaster, Carl Townsend. The address is 3621 Redwood Ave, L.A. 90066. It’s just a few blocks west of Beethoven, north of Venice.
BREW:
Carl will brewing on his all grain system, and there is room for 4 additional brewers. If you want bring your equipment and brew, send an E-mail to me at [email protected], or to [email protected]

CHILI COOKOFF:
For the past 2 years, club chef, Ian Fraser has taken the prize for Best Chili. This year, he MUST BE BROUGHT DOWN! Ian has begun to think he owns the prize, and must be taught a lesson. Who’s gonna do it? YOU, of course.

The competition is simple. Make you best chili, bring it in a crockpot or any other vessel which can be heated. A tasting will take place, votes counted, and a winner announced. All serving utensils, garnishes, rice, crackers, salad and dessert will be provided by the club. Just label your entry.

BEER: Bring some. Kegs, bottles, commercial beers are all welcome.

TIME: Brewing commences at 10am
Chili serving and voting starts around Noon.

Competition Corner – October, 2010

Entries are due at the Culver City shop no later than Saturday, October 9th for the last major competition of the season, the California State Homebrew Competition.  This is one of the key competitions that are considered for the California brew club of the year awarded sponsored by Anchor Brewing, so we need a good showing.  Complete rules and entry forms can be found at  http://www.nchfinfo.org/state-comp .  Since this is a remote competition, your entries must be packaged for shipping by UPS.  Read more

First Friday-10/01/10

It’s that time of the month again, boys and girls! This month we’re going to 2 bars, one new, and one old favorite. How can we do it? Easy-they are 100 feet from one another. What could be better than that (except Dan and Anne’s Carriage House Tap Room).

In the last couple of months the Venice Ale House opened on the Venice Boardwalk, right near the venerable Swiss/German restaurant, On the Boardwalk.

They are located right on the boardwalk at Rose Ave. Getting there is easy, and there is a municipal parking lot on the beach, just feet away from both places. If you are a cheapskate, like me, there is usually some neighborhood parking within a few blocks.

The Venice Ale House has 23 taps and  10 bottles, something for everyone, organic, inorganic (WTF!), hops, malt, specialty. While a few are rather ordinary, there  is absolutely NO BudCoorsMillerLight anywhere around. All are priced at 5-8 bucks, and bottles are 5-7, except for La Merle at $16/750ml.  Food is reasonably priced and all organic.

On the Waterfront is definitely NOT organic. It’s the place to go for your German brews. On tap is Köstrizer Black Beer, Bitburger Premium, König Pilsner, Erdinger Dunkel, Erdinger Weizenbier.  There is also a selection of bottled beer, and some of the usual American Brews.

On the Waterfront  Cafe is located at 205 Ocean Front Walk, just north of Rose.

As usual, the First Friday officially begins at 7pm, but many of us will be arriving by 5, while there is still some daylight. Join PG for what promises to be a great time.

         
 waterfrontcafe.com         

www.venicealehouse.com

First Friday-Sept. 3

Well, Graviteers, another super PG Summer Party has come and gone.

Now that we’ve recovered, we must get back to business, as usual. That means First Friday! To celebrate Labor Day weekend, we are going to Culver City’s newest gastropub, Waterloo & City, located at 12517 Washington Blvd.

A few of us have already visited, and the consensus at last month’s FF was that we should go back to Culver City, try a new place, and support it.

The Tap lineup consists of Weihenstephan, Green Flash IPA, Hofbrau, Allagash White, Stone Pale, Arrogant Bastard, Duvel Green, and Ohara’s Irish Stout, a brew I’ve not seen anywhere else. There is also a cider on tap. The bottle list is pretty extensive, with something for everyone’s taste.  Prices of draughts are 4 (Green Flash) to 10 bucks (Duvel). Bottles average 7-12 for the ones we’d consider drinking.

Food is what has made W & C a destination for many. There are small pizzas, enough for 1 or 2 to share, and other appetizer sized portions.  Prices range from 6-12 bucks. If you want to have a full meal, and sit at a table, it would be wise to make a reservation, due to the overwhelming popularity of the place. The telephone number is: 310-391-4222.

W & C opens at 5pm, and happy Hour is from 5-7.

Hope to see you there.

Mead Day!

It’s that time of year again… Mead Day!  We missed the official AHA National Mead Day, but that is not going to stop us.  So we will be celebrating our own Mead Day on September 11 at the home of Dan & Anne Hakes.  We will be brewing, tasting and talking about mead.  Last year Mead Day was held at my house and I made an all agave syrup fermentation.   We will be sampling that along with the mead we made last year and see how it’s coming along.  I have a few other meads sitting around and you never know what I might find in the cellar.  If you have some mead to share, bring it along. Beer is welcome too!

Michael Steinberg will be bringing snacks, and the Carriage House Taproom will be open.  Drop by, socialize, and watch how easy it is to make mead!

Saturday September 11, 2010

12:00 noon

2379 W 21st Street, Los Angeles, CA 90018

323-203-5089

Competition Corner – August 2010

Lift up you taster cup and raise a toast to Craig Corley, Best of Show winner for the 2010 Los Angeles County Fair Homebrew competition!.  His Saison took top honors.  Also honoring the club was Carl Townsend, whose English Porter pulled in the second runner-up best of show.  Altogether, ten different Pacific Gravity brewers pulled in 27 awards, Read more

Summer Party Pics!

Thanks to Luis for capturing some great images from the party, view them here!

PG Summer Party Needs Your Help!

This year’s summer party will celebrate the 15th Anniversary of Pacific Gravity and we’re ready to party like it’s 1995!!

The party is next Saturday, August 14, 2010 at Dean Sussman’s party pad located at 1310 Amalfi Dr. Pacific Palisades CA 90272.  The party starts at 2 PM and continues on into the evening.

We still need volunteers to help make this party a huge success! How can you help? Here’s a list of ways:

SET UP AND CLEAN UP
We need your help setting up tables, beers, tiki torches, and decorations on Friday night at 6pm. Then, we need your help taking it all back down Sunday morning. As always, those generous enough to help set up and clean up will enjoy delicious beers and those who clean up on Sunday morning will enjoy more delicious leftovers than theycan shake a stick at and plenty of “hair of the dog” to help get them going! To sign up for clean up or set up please e-mail [email protected]

KITCHEN HELP

Ian is our masterchef and he needs your help preparing food for everyone. To volunteer, please e-mail [email protected]  As always, this event is a potluck and we’d like to encourage you to bring dishes that fit with the theme including appetizers, desserts, and side dishes.  Last year many of you brought dishes that the party a huge success!  We hope you can repeat that effort again this year!   So far we are very light on food sign up from the members.  To sign up to bring food, email [email protected]

SALSA CONTEST AND POTLUCK
The food this year is going to be a delicious SoCal Taco Bar theme and there will be a salsa bar with one talented salsa chef winning 1st place for best salsa or guacamole.  We want to put name labels on your salsas so if you want to sign up to bring a salsa (or guacamole) please e-mail Ian Fraser at [email protected]

KEGS AND JOCKEY BOXES AND LIME DRINKS
After all, isn’t that what our club is all about!? Our drink competition this year features lime, any drink alcohol, non-alcoholic, beer, or soda that features lime is eligible for our drink competition. Of course, all beers are welcome and we encourage you to drop off your keg at CCHBS by 5pm on Friday so they can be taken to the party. Please let Michael Steinberg know that you’ll be providing a beverage so that he can create a label for your drink. Email Michael at [email protected]

If you made a jockey box at our jockey box event or have a jockey box, please bring it so we can keep all these delicious beverages nice and cold!!

Of course, be sure to have your name on any equipment that you bring to the party.

CD SYSTEM
Wanna spend some quality time with the new and improved CDS? Volunteer for a one hour shift pouring beers for your fellow revelers by e-mailing Michael Steinberg at [email protected]

SHAVE ICE
The shave ice machine is always a big hit at the party. Sign up for a one hour shift running the machine and pouring Dan’s delicious flavored meads. It’s a great chance to take a break in the shade and work on perfecting your sno cone flavor combos! Email Nathalie Caldwell at [email protected]

FRONT GATE
Sign up for a one hour shift working at the front gate checking in members, collecting entrance fees, and selling raffle tickets. Email Craig Corley at [email protected]

TABLES AND CANOPIES
We need tables and canopies. Please contact Michael Steinberg at [email protected] if you’re able to bring a table or canopy to the party.

We look forward to seeing you at party and thanks in advance for your generous volunteering!!

Party on, Pacific Gravity!

2010 Pacific Gravity Summer Party

Party like a 15 year old!

By Ian Fraser

This year’s summer party will celebrate Pacific Gravity’s 15 years in existence!  To that end we are going old school!  The retro theme is a throwback to our earliest summer parties of old but updated to celebrate our anniversary!

But first the business, the summer party will be held August 14, 2010 at Dean Sussman’s party pad located at 1310 Amalfi Dr. Pacific Palisades CA 90272.  The party starts at 2 PM and continues on into the evening.  Admission is free for you and 1 guest if you are a club member and $15 for each additional guest.  Kids are free.  Dean has a swimming pool and welcomes his guests to use it but all children must be supervised by an adult while in the pool.

This is our largest event of the year and we need your help to pull it off!  As always this event is run by you volunteers and those of you who have helped in years past know how critical that is!  Set up this year will take place on Friday Aug. 13 starting at 6 PM, the after party clean up will take place Sunday morning about 10 AM.  Those of you who have done this before know how much fun we have at the set up, and last year everyone on the Sunday clean up crew wound up taking food home.  We will be sending out additional information regarding what to bring, equipment needs and volunteer information.

The food theme will be a throwback to PG’s early days and feature carne asada.  However I gotta be me and blow it up, so we will have carne asada, pollo asado, and smoked turkey in mole sauce, fresh grilled fish, smoked tongue and even carnitas as our proteins featured in the largest taco bar I have ever attempted.  For you volunteer cooks out there any and all side dishes are welcome!  We will need lots of sides, salads, and desserts to round out our menu.  But given the main dish theme what I would really like to do is encourage everybody to make a salsa or guacamole and we will feature all of them on a table and even try to label yours so that everybody will know who brought what!  I am trying to arrange a judging and we will acknowledge the crowds favorite salsa!  So I herby throw down the challenge, bring your salsa or guacamole and try to beat me out as our very first salsa/guac. winner!

Our drink competition this year features lime, any drink alcohol, non-alcoholic, beer or soda that features lime is eligible for our drink competition, so get your creative juices flowing and create something!  As always we will have a best beer competition as well as the drink competition plus the salsa competition, so there are many ways to win this year.

If you plan on bringing a soda or beer please let us know so that we can have a label made for you by contacting Mike at [email protected], if you plan on bring any food items or a salsa guacamole please contact me at [email protected].  Stay tuned for more information as we get the details ironed out we will be forwarding them to you.