June Club Meeting

Hey y’all,  I hope your summer is heating up and you’re finding some shade during brew days.

Quick reminder: We’re holding our monthly meeting at Terry’s house this coming Saturday June 16th.  We’ll have all of the typical activities going on, plus a jockey box build session. On the grill we’ll provide bbq chicken but we could use some side dishes. Homemade or store bought, doesn’t matter to us. Bring salad, corn, rice, bread, whatever – Let’s have a cookout.

If you’re interested in watching (or if you’re participating in) the jockey box build, arrive at 11am. Noon if you just want to come for the meeting.

Looking ahead, we’re confirmed for July 28th at Dean’s for this year’s summer bash. Please help us spread the word to other members. It seems like somebody gets the date too late every year, so talk it up.

See you soon!

– Michael

Pacific Gravity News: First Friday, April Roundup

This Friday (May 4) is First Friday! And It’s a Classic!

Where: Daily Pint, 2310 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica, CA, 90245
Time: 7:30pm

April Meeting Kegs

We had quite the line-up of kegs at the April meeting. Thank you to the following members who donated legged home-brew:

Parker W: Dubbel
Carl T: Pale Ale
Parker W: Standard Bitter
Ken M: New England IPA
Carl T: Belgian Blonde
Parker W: Altbier
Tim J: Monster Lager
Andrew W: Double Chocolate Imperial Stout
Tim J: Dark Red

There were quite a few growlers and bottles floating around, too. Thanks to everyone who shared.

Southern California Homebrew Festival

We are less than a week away. It’s going to be a hot day!  I will be sending out a final email on Monday or Tuesday.

Pacific Gravity Big Brew: Saturday, May 26

Still in town for Memorial Weekend? Come on over to the annual Big Brew and check out the brew rigs of your fellow PG members in action, including the system that Carl uses to brew his award winning beers.

Date: Saturday, May 26.
Place: Carl’s Place, 3621 Redwood Ave. Los Angeles, Ca. 90066
Time: 10:00 – 6:00

All Grain Brewers should plan to start mashing in around 10:00 am. Extract brewers can start later.

If you secured a spot to brew, arrange an equipment drop off time with Carl (competitions @ pacific gravity . com) on Friday. Please do NOT show up at 7am on Saturday and expect a warm greeting.

Craft Day:  Make Your Own Jockey Box: Saturday, June 16

Where: Casa Molloy, 6738 W. 87th Place, Westchester
Time: 10:30a – 6:00p

You supply the cooler. We’ll order the supplies. You make your jockey box. Easy, eh? Starting from scratch, each beer line line requires:
1. a length of stainless tube ($30 per 10-foot length, you cut to size);

2. vinyl beer line ($5 per 10 feet);

3. 4 screw clamps for securing beer line ($4 per set of 4);

4. ball lock disconnect ($7);

5. swivel nut for ball lock ($3);

6. dispense hardware options, either:
(a) cobra head picnic tap ($5) OR
(b) shank ($30) + standard chrome faucet ($30)

If you haven’t signed up already, please respond to me at: vicepresident @ pacific gravity.com and advise how many of each item that you would like us to order.

For the shank & faucet option, advise how many shanks and how many faucets (e.g. if you want to purchase your own faucets).

Homebrewers Club In Need Of New Home

An era comes to an end: it’s been a great 20+ years, but our May meeting is the last one we will be holding at Culver City Homebrew Supply. Our June and July meeting places are already set (jockey box day and summer party, respectively), so we will need a meeting place for August.  If you know of a meeting place on the Westside that has room for 30-50 people and will allow us to share homebrew on-site, please drop a line to: board @ pacific gravity.com.

 

HAPPY BREWING!

Pacific Gravity Reminders: Meeting This Thursday, April 19

Where: Culver City Homebrew Supply, 4234 Sepulveda Blvd, Culver City.
Time: 7:30pm

COMMERCIAL STYLE of the MONTH:   Strong Belgian Ales

As always, we will have some interesting commercial examples.

HOMEBREW STYLE of the MONTH:   All Belgian Beers

Kegs, bottles and growlers welcome.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HOMEBREWERS FESTIVAL:

If you are not going to the fest, but can donate a keg, please bring it to the meeting.  We will return the keg after the fest.

If you would like to be part of the meal plan, please respond to the email I sent last week. Cost is $25 for Friday/Saturday dinner, Saterday/Sunday breakfast.

Meal responders so far:
Ian F
Tim B
Carl T
Michael & Tania M
Brian & Kate W
Eli & Haley B
Joe H
Larry P
Dean S
Ken M
Greg B.

2018 BIG BREW:

Pack up your brewing system and head over to Carl’s place for our annual Big Brew. The first 6 responders to his email (competitions @ pacific gravity . com) are guaranteed a space to set up your rig. Other space will be allotted on an availability basis.  All-grain and extract brewers welcome.

This is your opportunity to see the brew rigs of fellow PG members in action, including the system that Carl uses to brew his award winning beers.

Date: Saturday, May 26.
Place: Carl’s Place (Address to follow)
Time: Carl will start mashing in around 9:30am

If you secure a spot, it would be helpful if you could drop off your equipment the day before.  Arrange a drop off time with Carl (competitions @ pacific gravity . com).

MAKE YOUR OWN JOCKEY-BOX DAY:

This is the event many of you have been waiting for!  You, too, can have your own jockey box, perfect for serving your homebrew at family outings, friends’ houses, or in your own backyard.

Date: Saturday, June 16.
Place: Casa Molloy Event Center (Address to follow)

We will start taking orders for parts (excluding cooler) at the meeting. The parts cost per beer line (stainless steel tube, beer line, clamps, ball lock, tap) range from $47 for a picnic tap system, to $80 for a shank and basic faucet system (forward seal faucets are higher).

SHARE YOUR HOMEBREW:

Please bring some of your home-brew to the meeting.

DUES are DUE.

Dues are $36 per individual, $54 for couples.  If you haven’t paid yet, please do it at the meeting.

NEEDED:  MEETING PLACE

As you know, Culver City Homebrew Supply, our longtime club meeting place, will cease business by the end of May, 2018.  We are looking for a place to hold our monthly club meetings. If you know of a local Westside establishment with a large meeting area where we can share our homebrew, or even if you would like to host meetings in your backyard, please email the board (board @ pacific gravity . com) or talk to one of the board members at Thursday’s meeting.

See you Thursday!

Pacific Gravity Reminders: Meeting This Thursday, Mar 15

Where: Culver City Homebrew Supply, 4234 Sepulveda Blvd, Culver City.
Time: 7:30pm

COMMERCIAL STYLE of the MONTH:   Irish and Dark British Beers

As always, we will have some interesting commercial examples.

HOMEBREW STYLE of the MONTH:   Irish and Dark British Beers

Kegs, bottles and growlers welcome.

OTHER NEWS:

We will be updating our plans for upcoming activities including:

FEBRUARY KEGS:

Thanks to the following members for bringing kegs to the February meeting:

  • Parker W.:  Oaked Brown
  • Tim B. / Ian F. Collaboration: Smoked Lager
  • Michael & Tania M:  Pils

SHINY KEG AWARD:

  • Ruben S.:  Imperial Red Ale

SHARE YOUR HOMEBREW:

Please bring some of your home-brew to the meeting.

DUES are DUE.

March is dues month: $36 per individual, $54 for couples.  If you haven’t paid yet, please do it at the meeting.

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL HOMEBREW SUPPLY SHOP!

Culver City Homebrew Supply offers a discount to Pacific Gravity members, and an additional discount on meeting night? Getting ready for a brew day?  Need some equipment?  Save a couple of dollars and purchase your supplies and ingredients at Thursday’s meeting.

See you Thursday!

Reminder: Pacific Gravity Meeting This Thursday, Feb 15

Where: Culver City Homebrew Supply, 4234 Sepulveda Blvd, Culver City.
Time: 7:30pm
Homebrew Style of the Month: Browns, Ambers, Reds, and California Common.

We will be updating our plans for upcoming activities including:

AND … introducing, in our raffle, a Junior Beer Judge Testing Kit!

We will have some interesting commercial examples of our style of the month.  Please bring some home-brew to share, too.

DUES are DUE.

March is dues month: $36 per individual, $54 for couples.  Feel free to pay your fees early at the February meeting.

EXTRA HOMEBREW SUPPLY DISCOUNT!

Did you know that Culver City Homebrew Supply offers an additional discount on meeting night? Getting ready for a brew day?  Need some equipment?  Save a couple of dollars and purchase your supplies and ingredients at Thursday’s meeting.

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL HOMEBREW SUPPLY SHOP!

See you at the meeting!

REMINDER: Pacific Gravity Meeting This Thursday, January 18

Where: Culver City Homebrew Supply, 4234 Sepulveda Blvd, Culver City.
Time: 7:30pm
Homebrew Style of the Month: Anything goes.

You don’t want to miss our preview of the exciting events we have in store for 2018 including:

  • the 2018 Monster Brew
  • First Friday plans
  • Craft Day: Build your own jockey box
  • 2018 Big Brew: Check out other members’ brew rigs
  • Club bus trip plans
  • Southern California Homebrew Festival update.

AND … our first Super Raffle of the Year!!!!

See you there!

REMINDER: Nov-11 Pacific Gravity Chili Cook-Off, Elections, Mead Tasting

The Pacific Gravity November meeting will be held on Saturday, November 11, at the Casa Molloy event center, 6738 W. 87th Place in Westchester.  That’s 87th PLACE.  There is an “87th” Street, but we won’t be there.

1) We will be voting for President, Vice President, and Treasurer at the Nov-11 meeting.

If you would like to nominate yourself or someone else for 1 of the 3 elected positions, please email us at [email protected] by 11pm Thursday .  All nominees must agree to serve for the full 1-year term.

Current nominees are:

President: Michael Musgrave

Vice President: Terry Molloy

Treasurer: Tim Bardet

2) Club Member of the Year:

This is our way of honoring the club member who you feel has gone above and beyond the call of duty to make our club great. If you would like to nominate someone, please email the nomination to [email protected] by 11pm Thursday.

Current Nominees:

Terry Molloy

Ian Fraser

Mimi Bardet

Carl Townsend

Parker Waechter

If you cannot vote at the meeting, email you selection for Club Member of the Year to Dean Sussman, [email protected].

3) Unseat the Chili King:

This is your chance to show Chef Ian that you know your way around the kitchen. We will vote for Best Chili and Most Unique Chili. To enter, bring a pot of chili. we will assign your entry a random number.  There will be electrical available for electric crockpots. There will be tasty prizes for the winners.

4) We need beer!

Our style of the month is meads and ciders.  Feel free to bring a keg or bottles of beer to sample during the chili cook-off.

5) Mead Demonstration:

Michael Patterson will once again be demonstrating his excellent no-boil mead making technique.  The demo starts at 12pm.  If you would like to make a mead, you are welcome to bring your equipment and make a batch. Please note: chilling water will not be available.

6) Mead Commercial Tasting:

Following the announcements, we will be sampling commercial meads.  Please bring along your homemade meads or ciders to share.

7) Meeting Schedule:

Mead making demo:  Noon

Chili tasting:  1:00 PM

Announcements:  2:00 PM

Elections:  3:00 PM

Commercial Mead Tasting: 3:15 PM

 

See you there.

August Club Meeting at CCHBS

Hey PG!

I hope you’ve all been enjoying the summer, preferably brewing lots and lots of delicious homebrew. I’m sending this simple message out as a reminder that THIS THURSDAY is our August club meeting at Culver City Homebrewing Supply starting at 7:30pm. Here’s a short list of what to expect…

– Our commercial tasting style this month is “Sour”, hosted by Tim J.
– Best Beer of The Meeting competition style is also Sour beer. (Kegs and bottles are welcome!)
– I’ll be cooking up some tasty cheese burgers on the grill, condiments will be care of Dean, and homemade buns by Tom R. (Suggested donation is $5 per burger, every dollar helps and is appreciated!)
– Announcements, raffle & prizes, and of course: Generally excellent comradery.

Looking forward to seeing you there! Details and directions below.

Thanks!

Michael

17aug7:30 pmAugust Club Meeting7:30 pm Culver City Home Brew Supply

April Club Meeting and LABBC Ribbon Ceremony @ LA Ale Works

Hey PG and happy Monday!

April’s Third Thursday is almost upon us, so this is a notice of where we’ll be meeting and what is planned.

ONE BIG REMINDER UP FRONT: This meeting is one of our scheduled charity drive events for 2017. Read on for more info and please bring whatever you can!

  • Kip and team have invited us to meet at LA Ale Works in Hawthorne again. Map and directions are at the end of this post.
  • We’ll start with the ribbon ceremony for this year’s Los Angeles Belgian Brew Challenge winners, and then move on to a few minutes of club announcements back behind the fermenters.
  • The style of the month for April is Belgian, and member Barry is all set to host the tasting. I’m looking forward to the best beer of the meeting competition too, because you know: I LOVE BELGIAN BEER!  😀 😀
  • Did you loan us a cooler for LABBC? (this year OR last)  We’ll have them available for pickup and they really need to go home. Kip has generously stored them for us over the past month, it’s time we get them out of his way!
  • LABBC left behind a ton of 2nd bottles that weren’t opened (didn’t make it to the mini best of show) and they’ve been “chillin” in my fridge at 34F. I’ll be bringing them too for random tasting and I’d like them to go home with a bottler who will clean and refill them.  If not, they are dumpster bound.
  • We’re also collecting donation items that will go on to people-in-need via our connection with the Ocean Park Community Center – The People Concern.

This is a great excuse to go through your closets and/or go to your favorite low cost stores to purchase donate-able supplies. You can shop stores like: Ross and other discount clothing stores, 99 cent stores, Costco and other whole sale stores, or even CVS, Walgreens, and Target. Want to give Money? Mimi your Charity and Special Event coordinator can take cash or checks (made out to: OPCC) for the OPCC.net organization. She’ll take it along with the purchase items for drop off.

If you have clothes & other items to donate, see the detailed list below. They are mostly in need of men’s clothing in large sizes. Clothing can be “gently used” and should be clean. Visit this link for other donations ideas: https://www.opcc.net/?nd=in_kind

Monetary donations will also be accepted – checks or cash. Special donation envelopes will be available at the meeting. Tax receipts for monetary donations will be sent to you by mail.

Below is a list of items that we can always use:

Clothing

Sweat socks – for men, women and children

Sweat shirts and pants for adults – all sizes especially larger sizes

Sneakers – men’s & women’s most needed

Shower shoes/thongs

Rain ponchos for adults & children

New underwear – men’s, women and children

Flannel and long sleeve shirts for adults

Personal & Household items

Hygiene Items

Toothpaste

Toothbrush

Teodorant

Shampoo

Disposable razors

Bar soap

Hand & body lotion

Sanitary napkins & tampons

Blankets (preferably wool)

Backpacks or duffel bags

Sleeping bags for adults

Diapers – all sizes

Bedding: Twin size sheets, comforters and pillows. Please note pillow must be new.

Gift Certificates

Supermarkets (Ralphs, Vons,Albertson’s)

Fast food restaurants

Book & music stores

Movie passes

Clothing stores, department stores (Marshalls, Target or Ross)

Art Supplies

Markers, finger paints, facepaints, crayons, watercolors, glue, glitter, collage materials, coloring books,

activity books, stickers.

These charity drive events are an excellent way for us to give back to the local community. There’s something satisfying in knowing that our donations go to people in our own city who need help. Thank you each in advance for bringing out whatever you can afford.

Until Thursday! 🙂   Cheers!

Michael

20apr7:30 pmApril Club Meeting7:30 pm LA Ale Works

 

Pacific Gravity February 2017 Recap

(From Terry M)

Our Homebrew Style of the Month was Amber & Brown Ales.  Kegs included:

  • Tim / Ian / Larry’s Cider;
  • Parker W’s Peanut Butter Porter;
  • Michael Patterson’s Saison and German Lager from the same wort;
  • CCHBS’s Melrose Mild; and
  • Ruben’s Oatmeal Stout in a mini freshman keg that stood tall with all the senior kegs.

Bottles/Growlers included:

  • Eli’s Doctored Porter right out of the fermenter;
  • Andrew W’s Evil Monk Belgian;
  • and a few others that I did not get to sample.

Thanks to all that brought beer to share.

Education Corner: Michael Patterson led a Single Hop tasting session. I hope everyone there was able to take advantage of Michael’s creative learning presentation.

Commercial Tasting:  Andrew W. led the commercial tasting, starting with some interesting Ambers (Dude’s Blood Orange Amber, Mission Brewery’s Amber, and Alesmith’s 2015 Decadence Belgian Amber) before launching into some interesting Brown Ale examples (Los Coast’s Raspberry Brown, Alesmith’s Nut Brown, and Port Brewing’s Board Meeting Double Brown).

An additional thank-you to Andrew for the thoroughness of the tasting session. Each commercial beer is evaluated, along with its vital stats, and the tasting itself had an interesting twist: the first example from each style had fruit, followed by a classic example, then a higher gravity example. Well done.

Raffle swag included lots of hops from the Corley Cellar (congratulations Larry) and some classic PG Glass-&-A-Beer specials.

Welcome New Members:

Josh M.

Damien S

David S.

March Activities:

First Friday will be held at our traditional March First Friday site: Irish Times Pub, 3267 Motor Ave, Los Angeles.

The 9th Annual Monster Brew will take place at Smog City Brewing, 1901 Del Amo Blvd in Torrance. Each 5-gallon pour will cost $30. Brewing starts at 6:30a, with wort distribution around Noon. See the Monster Brew section for more details and hints on how to modify the wort for your style of choice.

Our next club meeting is Thursday, March 16, 7:30pm at LA Ale Works, 12918 Cerise Avenue in Hawthorne.

March Style of the Month is Irish Ales and Stouts, in recognition of St. Paddy’s Day. Please bring your homebrew in growlers or bottles only; due to CA Alcohol & Beverage Control (A.B.C.) regulations, homebrew kegs will NOT be allowed on site.

You can drop off your entries for the 3rd Annual Los Angeles Belgian Beer Challenge at the meeting. Entry deadline is Friday, March 17. Judging will take place at LA Ale Works on March 26.

SCHBF Update:  22 of the 30 camping slots for the May 5-7 festival have been reserved. Cost is $30 per camper. Please pay at any upcoming club event. Don’t forget to follow the registration process at the California Homebrewers Association website so you can get into the festival itself.