Competition Corner – 2010 Preview

Raise your beer mug and give a toast to Chris Simental, the winner of the 2009 Pacific Gravity Homebrewer of the Year Award.  Chris was honored at the Holiday Party on December 12th and presented with an engraved trophy mug.  He was the run-away winner for the second year in a row, having garnered a record 39 points.  His total completely blew away the rest of the field, let by second-place brewer Craig Corley, who had 21 points.  Way to go Chris, and keep up the good work!

The final Club-Only Competition spot this year went to Jon Porter, for a wonderful Belgian Strong Golden Ale. Jon picked up a score of 40 points in the club judging, and 35.5 at the national level.  Alas, it didn’t place in the top 3.

Looking ahead into 2010, Read more

2009 Holiday Party Recap: Winter Storm Fails to Dampen PG Holiday Spirit

by Tomm “Christtmass” Carroll

The Pacific Gravity Holiday Party Carol

Sing along (to the tune of “Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow”):

Oh the weather outside was pouring,

But the beer was so alluring,

And since we’ve got kegs to drain,

Let It Rain, Let It Rain, Let It Rain!

The brew club threw one good meeting,

And cooked up a feast for eating,

The homebrew was just insane!

Let It Rain, Let It Rain, Let It Rain!

So they thoughtfully tarped Neil’s yard

(How we hate drinkin’ out in the storm!),

And the guests came from near and far,

For Mulled Mead and Winter Warm(er).

The turnout was never baffling,

‘Cause Santa was there for raffling,

And as long as we’re feelin’ no pain,

Let It Rain, Let It Rain, Let It Rain

Perhaps jealous that she wasn’t invited, Mother Nature dealt Pacific Gravity a meteorological lump of coal, heaping wind and rain aplenty on our annual Holiday Party Saturday, December 12.

But despite the storm, the party at Neil Saund’s Mar Vista duplex (site of the annual celebration since 2007) came off without a hitch, thanks to the busy PG elves, who erected tarps and E-Z Ups in the outside area, which housed the all-important kegs of homebrew and kept the partiers – but not their thirsts – dry.

Some 175 club members, guests and friends braved the elements to participate in the bacchanal – and to see whose photos and what beer cans and coasters bedecked the fully trimmed Xmas tree this year. A few warmed by the roaring fireplace, although the outside temperatures were rather mild, thanks to the tropical origin of the storm.

Nearly three-dozen homebrewed wassail (or wasslager) offerings were on hand, arguably offering a tipple for every taste. See the full list, below.

Whether you wanted warm (Dan Hakes’ Mulled Mead), spicy (Carl Townsend’s, Matthew Rick’s and Nels Brown’s Spiced Holiday Ales), or sweet (Jonathan Fischer’s Cookies n’ Milk Stout); something to pick you up (Reed Wilson’s Coffee Cocoa Robust Porter), or knock you out (Larry Caldwell’s Madeira Oak-Aged Barleywine); something traditional (Terry Molloy’s English Mild, Neil Saund’s ESB), experimental (Chris Simental’s Oak Tripel), or inspirational (Tim Bardet and Ian Fraser’s Sticke Fred; a Düsseldorf Alt-style beer dedicated to founding club member Fred Waltman as a thank-you for arranging the “Sticke Warriors” beer tour of Germany and beyond this past October), there was a tap for you.

Many bottled beers, mostly of the aged holiday variety, also made appearances for the partiers’ drinking pleasure.

But it was the bodacious banquet that kept bellies full and prepped for further drinking. Club Master Chef Ian Fraser once again topped himself (does the man know no limits?). Not only overseeing most of the preparation and presentation for the holiday feast, he also contributed: Read more

What type of beer should I leave for Santa on Christmas Eve?

This Month’s Question:  What type of beer should I leave for Santa on Christmas Eve?

Answer:

I can still remember the days of my youth, or more exactly, at least back to the days when my nephews were young, and they asked their Grandmother if they could leave milk and cookies for Santa.    Their stockings were hung by the chimney with care when my brother piped in, “Don’t you think Santa would rather have a beer with his cookies?” Read more

Beer Tasting Schedule for 2010

The beer tasting schedule for 2010 club meeting has now been released.  The list has three sets of beer to keep in mind.  The most important is the club meeting homebrew keg styles of the month.  Kegs of homebrew are the basic fuel that keeps our club meetings running, so we need several every month.  Take a look at the list now to see what you can brew for the club this year.   Each keg of beer brought to the monthly meeting in this set of styles will be eligible for “Best Beer of the Meeting” award.  We’ll have a voice vote just before the raffle.  The winner gets a gift certificate from the Culver City Home Brewing Supply Company.   Note that we don’t have a keg style of the month for the summer party (which will be in August this year) or the Holiday Party in December.  The reason for this, of source, is that we need kegs from everybody of all styles.

PACIFIC GRAVITY HOMEBREW CLUB

Styles of the Month 2010

Month Homebrew Kegs Styles
of the Month
Judging of
Club-Only
Competition Entries
Commercial Styles
of the Month
Leader of
Commercial
Tasting
January
2010
English Pale Ales
and Scottish/Irish Ales
English Brown Ales
(BJCP Cat. #11)
English Pale Ales
and Scottish/Irish Ales
(BJCP Cats. #8-9)
Reed & Mike
February
2010
Belgian and French Ales N/A Belgian and French Ales
(BJCP Cat. #16)
Jon Porter
March
2010
American Ales
and Stouts
American Ales
(BJCP Cat. #10)
American Ales
and Stouts
(BJCP Cats. #10, 13)
Ian Fraser
April
2010
Extract Beers
(all categories)
Extract Beers
(all categories)
Smoke-Flavored/
Wood-Aged Beers,
and Specialty Beers
(BJCP Cats. #22, 23)
Nathalie Caldwell
May
2010
Lager Beers N/A Pilsners and Bocks
(BJCP Cats. #2, 5)
Peggy Robinson
June
2010
Fruit Beers,
Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beers,
Smoke-Flavored/
Wood-Aged Beers,
and Specialty Beers
N/A Fruit Beers and
Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beers
(BJCP Cats. #20, 21)
Need a volunteer
July
2010
German Wheat/Rye Beers and Mead Mead
(BJCP Cats. #24-26)
German Wheat/Rye Beers and Mead
(BJCP Cats. #15, 24-26)
Need a volunteer
August
2010*
N/A Sour Ales
(BJCP Cat. #17)
N/A N/A
September
2010
India Pale Ales N/A India Pale Ales
(BJCP Cat. #14)
Need a volunteer
October
2010
Strong Ales Strong Ales
(BJCP Cat. #19)
Strong Ales
(BJCP Cat. #19)
Need a volunteer
November
2010
Hybrid Beers N/A Hybrid Beers
(BJCP Cats. #6,7)
Need a volunteer
December 2010** N/A English Pale Ales
(BJCP Cat. #8)
N/A N/A

*The club’s summer party will be held in August 2010. No styles of the month will be designated.
**The club’s holiday party will be held in December 2010. No styles of the month will be designated.

The next column shows the Club-only Competition entries that will be judged each month.   We will run a small judging panel with BJCP judges to select the best beer to send on to the national level.   Quite often, this is the same list as one of the kegs of the month.  If this is the case, you can use your keg to supply samples for the evening judging, but you’ll need to have at least 2 twelve-ounce bottles that can be shipped off.   Bring 3 bottles if you don’t have a keg.   Let the Competition Coordinator Carl Townsend know that you brought an entry.  If you can, please remember to fill out the entry forms before the meeting, which you can download from the AHA website at: http://www.beertown.org/homebrewing/pdf/entry_recipe.pdf.  The club picks up the entry fees and shipping for this one, so it is free to you.

The third column in the schedule shows the commercial style tasting that we’ll do at the club meeting.  We are actively looking for volunteers to lead the monthly tasting sessions.  The session volunteer gets to select which beers to buy and gets to espouse his or her knowledge of the styles during the pouring.  The club has a budget set aside to buy the beers.  Based on past experience, it is a good idea to go buy the beers a couple of weeks in advance.  And of course, the more rare and exotic you commercial selections are, the better.  Dean Sussman is our Style Tasting Coordinator, so drop him a line if you are interested in volunteering.

Holiday Party-Again

O.K. PG’ers, we’re headed down the home stretch for this coming Saturday’s Annual Holiday Party at Neil Saund’s Duplex. The address is 12966 Rubens Ave. It’s at the Southeast corner of Alla Rd and Rubens Ave in Los Angeles.

A group of loyal members went to Neil’s house this past Sunday to set up, and the place is ready to go, including the roaring fireplace.
Final setup will happen early Saturday, and the party will begin at 7PM, ending around midnight.

Don’t forget, this is a pot luck, with the club supplying main dishes, including prime rib, Carbonnades a la Flamande (Beef & Beer stew), deep fried turkeys, and shrimp platters. Appetizers, salads, and desserts are welcome additions to the festive occasion. Seasonal side dishes such as sweet potatoes, hot veggies, turkey dressings, and the like have been brought in the past, and are guaranteed to be hits once again.

We need volunteers for the clean up crews. Some night owls can help when the party winds down, and most will be needed Sunday morning, around 10AM.

Please contact me at [email protected],  Ian Fraser at [email protected], or Craig Corley at [email protected]  if you are willing and able to help.

Lastly, it is likely that the weather will be cool, and perhaps rainy (we sure hope not). Dress accordingly. We will have some canopies set up, should it rain, and heaters outside to keep us warm. Weather permitting, we will also have one or two fire pits going for your enjoyment.

Holiday Party – Volunteers Needed

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 6th 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 12th in the afternoon we’ll be meeting at Neil’s duplex to do final set up.

On Sunday, Dec 13th 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: Craig Corley at [email protected]

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 [email protected] or Michael Steinberg at [email protected].

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, 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.

Also, if anyone will be heading to Stone Brewing in the next week or so, let us know.  We’d like to refill a couple of the 3 liter bottles to use as toasting beers.

If you’d like to volunteer beer for the party, contact Carl Townsend at [email protected].

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 6th or Saturday, Dec 12th 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: Craig Corley at [email protected]

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.

December 2009 Club Events

Note: There are no Ladies Club or regular Club Meetings in December, both are replaced by the Holiday Party.

Online and subscribe-able club calendar available at: http://ical.me.com/cgcorley/PacificGravityEvents

For more info on upcoming events, check for related articles herein or contact [email protected]

Holiday Party; We Need Your Help!

The Holiday party is fast approaching and we need your help! The party is set for December 12th this year. Our summer party was a huge success primarily because of those of you who cooked a dish and brought it to the party! Our holiday party has always been the more traditional “pot-luck” of the two parties and so I am hoping all of you can come through for us again!

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! Pies, cakes, cookies and cupcakes! The desserts last year were amazing and I did not even get to try them all!

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 [email protected] 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.

We are cooking for 200 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!

Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you!

Ian

New PG Shirts Arrive!

PG_shirt_mockup

Latest word from the printer is that the new shirts will be ready in time for November’s meeting! Get to this month’s meeting and bring your wallet!

Just in time for the holidays we’ll have lady’s (American Apparel) sizes S, M, L in short sleeves and men’s (Hanes) S, M, L, XL, XXL, and even a few XXXL’s in short and long sleeves. (Sorry XXXL is short sleeve only). Outfit your whole crew!$20 for the short sleeves, $25 for long.

Promote your club in style!

Competition Corner

Results of the California State Homebrew Competition have been announced.  The best effort of the club this time was carried by Pete Morris, who picked up two 2nd place ribbons and a 3rd.  Close behind him is a new name to the winners’ circle, Heath Haynes, who picked up two 3rd place ribbons.  Rounding out the field were one ribbon each for Craig Corley, Carl Townsend and Chris Simental.  Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to everyone who entered.  Best of Show Read more