First Friday, May 7, 2010

  May First Friday we’re going to one of our most popular destinations,
The Richmond Bar and Grill in El Segundo.
Jeff and Patty always set us up with a special keg or two, and this time
promises to be at least as good as past events.

Beer is served in pitchers for our group, and we pay up at the end.
The food is very moderately priced, with almost everything less than 10
bucks.
Burgers, salads, chili dog, and sandwiches are generous, and the service
is excellent.

There are no credit purchases, so bring cash.
If you forget your money, there is an ATM on premises.

For those who have never been to the Richmond, it’s a unique
neighborhood bar in downtown El Segundo.
Parking is great, and the trip is convenient from the West Side or the
Beach Towns.

The meeting is in a private room behind the bar, with its own patio.
To say the least, having you own space is a real plus on a First Friday.

Looking forward to seeing you.

Time: 7pm, unless you want to get there early (early birds pay for their
pints individually before the group event starts).
Address: 145 Richmond St. (1.1 blocks south of West Grand, West of Main
St.)
El Segundo, CA 90245
310-322-7397

California State Fair Entries Due by Sunday April 18th

Entries for the California State Fair Homebrew Competition are due at the Culver City shop by April 18th.  Since we need to ship these entries off, your bottles must arrive packaged for shipping.  This means plenty of bubble wrap and packed into suitable shipping boxes.  Cost for each entry is $10, but the club will pick up shipping costs.  This competition uses the BJCP styleguide.  Three 12 oz bottles are needed for each entry.  Make checks payable to: California Brewers Guild, LLC-HBC.  Entry forms can be found at http://www.calbrewers.com/Documents/Home_Brew_Forms_2010.pdf

April Club Meeting-Thursday April 15 @ 7:30

The April club meeting will be on Thursday, April 15th from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. at Culver City Home Brewing Supply. Extract Beers will be our style of the month and as always we’ll have some homebrewed beers on tap to complement our monthly commercial style tasting. Nathalie Caldwell will be guiding us on a tour of Smoke-Flavored/Wood-Aged Beers,and Specialty Beers for our style tasting and is certain to provide some interesting examples.

Please remember to bring some of your homebrew to share with us! All styles are welcome and you don’t have to bring a whole keg. You can bring the brews you’ve bottled, too!  Of course, any Extract Beers brought in kegs will be considered for the contest and the winner will receive a $25 gift certificate to the shop.

As always we’ll be giving away lots of club swag and beer/brewing related goodies in our monthly raffle.  Your donations to the raffle are always welcome and needed.

Competition! We are doing a Club-Only competition for Extract Beers, extract makes up at least 50% of the fermentables. If you have an extract beer bring three 12 oz. bottles to the meeting and make sure you let Carl Townsend ([email protected]) know they are here.

Carl Townsend will also have a sign-up for a preliminary judging session for Mayfaire, which will be held at the Culver City Shop on Sunday, April 18th at 5:00 PM.

March (dues) Madness Continues! Didn’t renew your membership in March? April is a great month for renewing, too! Renew your membership online or talk to Craig Corley ([email protected]) at the meeting to make sure your dues are paid and your information is up-to-date!

Club Shirts for Sale! Show your PG pride by wearing yours to Thursday’s meeting or, if you don’t have already have one, get one at the meeting. Short-sleeve shirts are $20 and Long-sleeve shirts are $30

*Josh Jensen ([email protected]) will be taking sign-ups and payment for the Southern California Homebrew Festival camping. Please bring him $50 if you’d like to sign up. Deadline to pay for camping is April 22nd. There will be quick side meeting after the main announcements for those going to the fest. If you are already signed up, watch for an email from Josh on Monday with directions, stuff to bring, etc. Don’t forget to buy your membership to CHA to get your ticket for Saturday.
www.calhomebrewers.org

Competition Corner – April 2010

Here we are in the rapidly-warming month of April and we are in the thick of the homebrew competition season.  Coming up this Saturday, April 10th is the due date for Maltose Falcon’s Mayfaire competition.  We are collecting entries for this at the Culver City shop.  On-line sign up is here:    http://maltosefalcons.com/comps/2010Mayfaire Note that the Falcons use their own style guidelines, which you can find here:  http://www.maltosefalcons.com/comps/styles/2010-falcons-style-guidelines . The entry fee is $7.00 and you need 3 bottles for each entry.  This is a local competition and they’ll need lots of judges.  We will do a preliminary round on Read more

First Friday April 2nd

This month we’re all going to Stout, in West Hollywood.

Well known for their Burgers, and having a good beer lineup to go with the food, here’s a place for you Mid Town people to go.

The following is from the LA Time Article November 20, 2009:

“Taking over the former Karma Coffehouse in Hollywood’s Cahuenga Corridor, he and partner Charles Lew, 34, both of whom are lawyers turned bar/restaurant owners, wanted to open a neighborhood place where they could pair high-end burgers with adventurous beers. Dominated by a copper and oak half-circle bar, Stout has 30 taps that pour beers such as Port Hop 15, Saison Dupont and Delirium Tremens. The menu offers nine standard burgers along with suggested beers for each. With the Six Weeker, a coarsely ground, 6-ounce burger dressed with fig compote, arugula, melted brie and caramelized onions ($10) Stout recommends either a Brother David, a rich, light and moderately malted Belgian ale, or a Scaldes, a high-alcohol, heavily malted Belgian dark ale with fruit flavors. Stout has 10 additional 750ml bottled beers ($20 to $50) and six wines ($6 to $13 a glass).”

Address: 1544 North Cahuenga Blvd (near Selma).

View Larger Map

AHA Competition Entries Due This Friday 3-26

Entries for the world’s largest homebrew competition are due by this Friday, March 26th:  the American Homebrewers Association’s National Homebrew Competition.  Entries for this event must be registered on-line at http://www.brewingcompetition.com/NHC/nhc.php .  You only need to submit one bottle per entry for this round, but if you beer advances to the finals, you need to have three more, which will be due in early June.  Cost for each entry is $9.00 for AHA members or $14.00 for non-members, and must be paid with the on-line site.  Make sure you are registering for the Southwest region.  Bring your bottles to the Culver City shop by this Friday, March 26th and we’ll transport them down to San Diego for you.

Technically, you can register your beers up through April 1st at 5:00 PM Pacific time, but you’ll be on your own to ship them down the San Diego.

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 2011.  Dues are $30 for the year and are prorated for members who joined the club within the last year.

Club Treasurer, Craig Corley will be collecting dues at our March 18th club meeting.  Can’t make the meeting, there are a number of other ways you can pay your dues. You can go old school and send Pacific Gravity a check to PO Box 2451, Culver City CA 90231.  You can drop off your dues the next time you’re shopping at Culver City Home Brewing Supply. And for the ultimate in convenience, you can renew your dues online via Paypal on the club website ( http://pacificgravity.beerzine.com/renew-your-membership/ ), just click on Renew.

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.

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 like discounts on your purchases at Culver City Home Brewing Supply as well as access to the club brewing system, various brewing activities and information.

Have questions about your dues or how much you owe? Check with Craig at the March club meeting or by email at [email protected].

Competition Corner – March 2010

For many beer drinkers, March is associated with the consumption of mass quantities of Guinness Stout, or, all too often, fizzy yellow beer that has been colored to make it green.  For those of us in homebrew clubs, however, March is the warm-up month for homebrew competition season. Read more

First Friday, March 5th

If it’s March it MUST be Irish Times. As usual, PG will begin its month long St. Patrick’s Day at First Friday, 3/5. For those of you who have never been there, Irish Times is one of the premier Irish bars on the West Side. It has long been known for corectly pouring a Guiness. It takes a 2 full minutes, and the wait is well worth the time. The food menu is moderately priced,  with the usual burgers and fish & chips.

The bar is conveniently located at 3267 Motor Ave, just North of the corner of National and Motor.

Parking is in the street.

Official start time is 7, but if you want faster bar and food service get there a little earlier.

March First Friday

If it’s March it MUST be Irish Times. As usual, PG will begin its month long St. Patrick’s Day at First Friday, 3/5. For those of you who have never been there, Irish Times is one of the premier Irish bars on the West Side. It has long been known for corectly pouring a Guiness. It takes a 2 full minutes, and the wait is well worth the time. The food menu is moderately priced, with the usual burgers and fish & chips.
The bar is conveniently located at 3267 Motor Ave, just North of the corner of National and Motor.
Parking is in the street.
Official start time is 7, but if you want faster bar and food service get there a little earlier.