Author: Sudzers

Thanks to Sudzers VP Jim W for taking notes!

·         NCHF review – big round of thanks for Mike C in organizing. Overall impression was good beer and a good time. The barrel-aged Dark Matter was excellent.

·         Thirsty Thursday will be held downtown San Jose at Original Gravity. (Editor’s note, we have subsequently decided to go to Harry’s Hofbrau Redwood City, where a keg of 2013 Bourbon County Brand Stout and some other goodies from Goose Island will be on tap: https://www.facebook.com/events/291529714370458/)

·         Beer and food pairing event will be held for members on November 1^st. More details to follow.

·         Dark Matter brew day in the planning. This event will be at Mike Conant’s house, most likely the Saturday following Thanksgiving.

·         Sudzers member Chris R paid a return visit from the East Coast.

Homebrews presented:

Chris R’s Labour of Love ESB

Mikael & Bill’s Ginger Beer

Charles’ DIPA

Chris L’s Spicy Black Ale

Shawn’s ESB

Tyler’s Belgo Wheat Wine

Adam’s Strong Scotch Ale

Tim’s Camping Cider

Doug’s Instigator Dopplebock

Sudzers Chief Communications Officer Derek’s latest column from the Los Altos Town Crier:

Props to crops of nonstop hops: Enjoy the variety of Bay Area IPAs

photo courtesy of Hermitage Brewing Co.

Hello Sudzers! Our October meeting will be held Friday, October 3 at 7 pm
at Nick’s house. Need the address or directions? Email
moresimcoe@sudzers.org. Don’t forget to carpool if possible to make
sure there’s enough parking to go around.

Meeting agenda:

7:00 Social Time

7:15 Club Business

-Recent events:
-Northern California Homebrewers Festival

-Upcoming events:
-Thirsty Third Thursday October 16
-Beer pairing dinner November 1
-Dark Matter brew day in November at Mike C’s place in Aptos – date?

7:30 Homebrew evaluations. Reminder: Bring your recipe – club members
will have lots of questions! Sign your beer in on the whiteboard along
with your name and statistics (IBU, ABV, etc. – optional, but helpful
in determining tasting order)

After homebrew evaluations: more social time/informal commercial brew
sharing. Always welcome: homebrews from any style to share.  Don’t have any
homebrew on hand right now? Feel free to bring other interesting brews
you’ve picked up. Don’t have a beer to bring? Please bring some snacks
to share.

Special thanks to Ted at Steins Beer Garden and his terrific staff for
hosting us

Welcome to new attendees Bill, Kevin, and Sue

Susie C. talked about the BJCP exam preparation class that she and
Steve C. will be teaching. The BCJP exam now consists of three parts:
the Online Entrance Exam, the Tasting/Judging Exam, and the written
exam. The class will focus on the Judging exam, and all participants
are encouraged to visit bjcp.org and take the online exam, which
consists of 200 questions in one hour. The exam costs $10 (or three
tries for $20), and can be taken as many times as necessary until you
pass. The exam list is full, but you can get on a wait list by
contacting Derek W. You don’t need to be signed for the exam to take
the class, but you will need to pay to offset the cost of reviewing 27
styles in 5 meetings! The first meeting is Wednesday September 17 at 7
pm at Nick’s house. Susie will send out more details.

September’s Thirsty Third Thursday meetup/Northern California
Homebrewers Festival Warm-Up will be September 18 at Harry’s Hofbrau
San Jose

Northern California Homebrewers Festival September 19-20: Mike C
is organizing for the 40 Sudzers and guests who are attending. He will
send out more details soon – please contact him with questions.

Beer Pairing Dinner, Nov 1st:
5 courses
Appetizer: Shrimp/veggie kabobs with IPA
Soup with ? beer style
Salad course (including Sudzers barrel Flanders Red dressing) with Saison
Beef Stew with dry stout
Spent Grain bread
Chocolate dessert with Russian Imperial Stout and/or Coconut porter

Contact Justin V or Chris Q to volunteer to prepare a dish and/or beer
– the club will pay for ingredients

Dark Matter Brew Day will be held mid to late November at Mike C’s
house in Aptos – details to follow.

Los Altos Hills Hoedown:
Need to hook up a Jockey box – tomorrow. West wind barn on Moody.  Set
up around 14:00.  Steve C will set up.

Homebrew tasting:
Adam C – Autumn Brown Bitter,  made from the second runnings of a
strong Scotch ale, with carrot cake spices added
Matt – Porter with Pandan extract
Justin – 3 Philosophers clone

Sudzers Chief Communications Officer Derek’s latest column from the Los Altos Town Crier:

Fruit beers offer unlikely complexity

We will not be meeting at Nick’s house this month – please email moresimcoe@sudzers.org for meeting location information.

7:30 Club Business

Upcoming events:
-BJCP exam prep class begins September 17
-Thirsty Third Thursday September 18
-Northern California Homebrewers Festival, Sept.19-21
-Beer pairing dinner November 1
-Host needed for fall Dark Matter brew day in November

7:45 Homebrew evaluations. Reminder: Bring your recipe – club members
will have lots of questions! We will not have the whiteboard, so
please check in your beers with Derek W when you arrive (if you know
in advance that you’re bringing something, please feel free to email
moresimcoe@sudzers.org ahead of time with ABV and IBUs to help determine tasting order).

Cheers!

On August 2, as part of the KraftBrew Fest to wrap up the 2nd Annual Silicon Valley Beer Week, the Sudzers were invited to do a brewing demonstration at the festival. Since the event was held at the Gordon Biersch production facility, we reached out to Dan Gordon about collaborating on a brew. We decided to brew the club’s version of Gordon Biersch Oktoberfest, with Jim W and Justin V each bringing their systems to the Gordon Biersch parking lot, and brewing utilizing the water, yeast, and hops generously provided by Gordon Biersch. Our plan is to taste the beer side by side with the real thing at a future event with Gordon Biersch brewers. Tanner and Cameron from GB were extremely helpful in providing both guidance in recipe development and logistics on the brew day. Thanks to all club members who participated in the event – we got to talk with hundreds of beer enthusiasts and potential homebrewers about the joy of homebrewing.

Nick gave an excellent recap of the July brew day at MoreBeer – see http://www.sudzers.org/?p=1591 for a write-up and photos.

The group discussed the upcoming brew day at Gordon Biersch as part of the KraftBrew Fest, where Justin and Jim W will be brewing their versions of Gordon Biersch Oktoberfest, using water, yeast, and hops generously provided by Gordon Biersch.

Derek and Robin are hosting a club brew day at their house on August 9 to brew beers for NCHF. Derek will be brewing Zombie the Elder (Pliny clone substituting Citra for all hop additions), and Pranab will brew a Chai-spice Brown Ale.

Our August Thirsty Third Thursday destination on August 21 will be Fibbar MaGees in downtown Sunnyvale.

Mike C will be the chief organizer for this year’s Northern California Homebrewers Festival, Sept.19-21. We have 30 (!) Sudzers registered to attend!

Jim W gave a very informative presentation on The Art of Fermentation including yeast management, wort preparation, and temperature control – you can view his slides here.

Homebrew presentations included:

Jim W’s Darker Shade of Pale Black IPA

Tugood’s Flat #1 English Brown Ale

Paul’s Rauchbier

Aaron’s Nut Brown Ale

Carter’s Galay Pale Ale

Derek W’s Cherry-Oaky Brown Ale (with wort from the AHA Rally at Heretic Brewing)

Derek W’s 89 Degree Saison

Mike C’s Solid Citizen Imperial Saison

Charles’ Raison D’Etre Belgian Dark Strong

Vern’s Getting Toasted Breakfast ESB

Justin’s Hoppositional Defiant Double IPA

Justin’s Friggin’ Huge Wee Heavy

Derek H & Steve H’s Barrel Aged Prenuptial Imperial Stout

Tim’s 11% New World Saison with Sauvignon Blanc

Our August meeting will be held Friday, August 1 at 7 pm
at Nick’s house. Need the address or directions? Email
moresimcoe@sudzers.org. Don’t forget to carpool if possible to make
sure there’s enough parking to go around.

If you would like to pay your 2014 dues, entitling you to many club
benefits, including a 10% discount at MoreBeer and member-only events,
please bring $25 cash.

Meeting agenda:

7:00 Social Time

7:15 Club Business

Recent events:
-MoreBeer Brew Day

Upcoming events:
-KraftBrew Fest collaboration with Gordon Biersch, August 2
-Brew Day at Derek & Robin’s house, August 9
-Thirsty Third Thursday August 21
-Northern California Homebrewers Festival, Sept.19-21

7:30 Presentation – Jim W on fermentation

7:45 Homebrew evaluations. Reminder: Bring your recipe – club members
will have lots of questions! Sign your beer in on the whiteboard along
with your name and statistics (IBU, ABV, etc. – optional, but helpful
in determining tasting order)

After homebrew evaluations: more social time/informal commercial brew
sharing. Always welcome: homebrews from any style to share.  Don’t have any
homebrew on hand right now? Feel free to bring other interesting brews
you’ve picked up. Don’t have a beer to bring? Please bring some snacks
to share.