A view of the festival in 2009

SCHBF: April 29th – May 1st, 2011

Pacific Gravity will once again join hundreds of fellow homebrewers at the Lake Casitas Recreation Area in Ojai, California, for the 21st Southern California Homebrewers Festival.

Something on the order of 40 homebrewing clubs from SoCal and points further will be pouring home-brewed ales, lagers, meads, and other fermented potables on Saturday, the 30th of April, from 11am to 10pm, but as those of you who’ve attended in the past know, we make a weekend of it. We’ve once again secured the Owl Court group campsite, so round up your tent and camping gear and join us.

We typically arrive on the Friday afternoon before and depart for home on the Sunday after the festival. There are also hotels in nearby Ojai for those disinclined to camp.

Renew your CHA membership now!

Membership in the California Homebrewers Association (CHA) is required for entry into the festival, and those memberships are on sale now. There will be no memberships sold at the festival – no exceptions.

Memberships purchased before January 31st will cost $40; $45 if purchased by February 28th, and $50 thereafter, up until the day before the festival, at which point no more memberships will be sold. You can also sign up to volunteer at the festival and this will gain you free entry.

Volunteer registration isn’t open just yet, but FYI – you’ll be required to put in a 2-hour shift, and typical volunteer tasks include working the registration table, helping at the ice truck, parking assistance, and cleanup on Sunday.

If you know that you’ll be attending the Festival but not volunteering, you’re encouraged to purchase your CHA membership soon, as these early memberships will aid the CHA in the preliminary stages of the organization and planning of the festival.

And then there’s the beer…

Pacific Gravity always has a great showing, and this year should be no different. We have many talented brewers in our club, and we encourage you to contribute a keg for the cause. The club dispense system (CDS) has been upgraded with a new expansion box, so we now have a total of 22 thirsty taps to provide for. In addition, we’ll need kegs for the group campsite, so fire up your kettles and get on with it.

We’ll begin providing sign-up sheets at the January meeting, and ideally, we should strive to have a lot of diversity in our offerings and some unusual beers as well. There are some other things to consider – most attendees will be required to pay for parking this year – $60 for the weekend, so carpooling will make a lot of sense.

We’re working toward making this year’s festival experience affordable, flexible, and the most enjoyable ever for all attending – please stay tuned for details. For more information and to purchase your membership, visit calhomebrewers.org