Silicon Valley Sudzers Homebrew Club

Hello Sudzers,
For our January meeting, we discussed the homebrew competition that Steins is asking us to help organize, and we presented the Sudzers Homebrewer of the Year trophy. Then we tasted ten great homebrews. Thanks to Stein’s and everyone who showed up.

– Steins is holding a homebrew competition in March this year and asked the Sudzers to help organize the judging. The competition will be limited to BJCP category 31A (alternative grain beers). The pre-registration of entries will be at the end of February. The deadline for drop offs will be sometime in mid-March. Judging will occur March 23 with March 24 as a potential backup/secondary judging date, since final judging for the World Cup of Beer will also be held on the 23rd.

– The Sudzers 2023 Homebrewer of the Year trophy was awarded to Stephan Piotrowski. Congratulations Stephan!

– Derek W. gave his annual CFO report on the club’s finances for 2023.

– The off flavor of the month was geranium. Thanks to Mikael for putting this together.

– Mikael also mentioned some upcoming homebrew competitions in the area:

Name	Location	Date	Entry Deadline	URL
El Dorado County Fair Homebrew & Microbrew Competitions	Placerville, CA	02/03/2024	01/22/2024	http://eldoradocountyfair.org/brew-competition.html
Side Gate Brewery- Belgian Beer Bonanza	Concord, CA	02/25/2024	01/26/2024	http://www.sidegatebrewing.com
World Cup of Beer	Hayward, CA	03/23/2024	02/28/2024	https://www.worldcupofbeer.com/
New World Brew Challenge	Loomis, CA	04/06/2024	03/29/2024	https://placerbrewers.org/pubs-invitational-2024

– We had a brief discussion about having a club brew in 2024. Members present liked the idea of using the biere de garde recipe we used for last year’s club brew. The brewing of the beer will happen late summer or early autumn.

– The beers we tasted:

Brewer	Beer Name	Beer Style	IBUs	ABV
Mikael H.	MeBurger	German Pilsner	35	5.8
Sebastian B		Saison	31	6.3
Kevin S	B Strong	strong bitter	50	5.8
Peter P		hazy pale ale	40	4.9
Sebastian B		APA/Session IPA	65?	4.6
Derek	Crimson Missile	American Red Ale	60	5.90%
Peter P		American amber ale	70	6
Stephan / Rob at Clandestine	Red Ryeder	American Amber Ale		6.8
Robert R.	Bière d’Noël	Bière de garde	24	7.80%
Robert R.	Robert’s Old & Bitter	Imperial Stout	80	8.80%

– Remember, membership dues need to be made every calendar year. If you haven’t paid yet, then you can make a payment of $25 to Derek via paypal at derek@sudzers.org

– If you haven’t already, please join our Discord server at https://discord.gg/mBQ7smguu7. All official communication (meeting information, event information, etc.) will continue to go through the mailing list, but Discord provides us a convenient way to have smaller, quicker conversations, so we encourage you to join.

– All shared recipes can be found at https://sites.google.com/a/cloudyforecast.com/brewme/home. If you’d like to have your recipe shared on the site, then please email it in any format to recipe-share@sudzers.org. Full info can be found at http://www.sudzers.org/?page_id=2910

– For a list of all upcoming competitions, check out the Worts of Wisdoms’ calendar: http://www.wortsofwisdom.org/calendar/upcoming-homebrewers-competitions/

Hello, Sudzers!

This month’s meeting will be held at 4:00 pm this Sunday, January 14th at Steins Beer Garden in Mountain View.

http://steinsbeergarden.com/
895 Villa Street
Mountain View, CA 94041

As a reminder, club dues are collected on a calendar year basis.
Becoming a paid member gets you a discount at MoreBeer in Los Altos,
as well as access to the special members-only events we do through the
year.

Agenda:

–  Derek will be collecting dues.If you would like to pay club dues, please send $25 via paypal to derek@sudzers.org or give him $25 in person this Sunday.

–  Steins homebrew competition in March 2024. 

–  Ideas for the 2024 club brew.

— CFO annual report (Derek) 

— Presentation of the Homebrewer of the Year trophy.

— Off flavor of the month.

— Upcoming competitions.

–  Homebrew evaluations. Remember to bring your recipe, since club members
will have lots of questions. Sign in your beer along with your name
and statistics (IBU, ABV, etc.). The info is optional, but helpful in
determining tasting order.

Hope to see you all at Steins!

After 93 columns over the past decade+, including 334 different beers from 119 California craft breweries, Sudzers CFO Derek W is “retiring” from his monthly beer column. He will still write occasional seasonal pieces for the Los Altos Town Crier, but not as frequently. He’s also finally answering the question he always dances around: “What’s your favorite beer?” Cheers!

Over a decade of cheers: Reflecting on brews news

Sudzers CFO Derek W’s monthly beer column in the Los Altos Town Crier features holiday recommendations from Port Brewing and Drake’s Brewing. Cheers!

Hops for the holidays: Selecting the best celebration brews

Hello Sudzers,

For our November meeting, we discussed the homebrew competition that Steins is asking us to help organize. Then we tasted twelve great homebrews. Thanks to Stein’s and everyone who showed up.

– Steins is planning on a homebrew competition to be held in March of next year and asked the Sudzers to help organize the judging. Since they would like the beers entered to be brewed with lesser used malts and grains, the competition will be limited to BJCP category 31A (alternative grain beers). 

– Two sudzers won medals at the California Homebrew Competition. Sebastian Brisbois won a gold in the European sour ale category with a Lambic, and Kevin Sinarle won a silver in the Specialty IPA category with a Brut IPA.

– The off flavor of the month was contamination. Thanks to Mikael for putting this together.

– The holiday party will be December 2 at Kevin’s place. An email with further details will be sent out.

– The beers we tasted:

Brewer	Beer Name	Beer Style	IBUs	ABV	Brewer Notes
Sebastian B.		Witbier	20	5.4	Omega Jovaru Lithuanian farmhouse yeast
Mikael H	Finback Crispy Town	Pilsner	25	4.6
Kevin S	Weird Science	NZish Pilsner	45	5.5
Derek		Honey crisp apple cider with plums		5.6
Robert R.		Saison	28	8.60%
Kevin S	Malt Wishes and Hop Dreams	Brut IPA	38	6.8
Stephan	Bench Clear Brawl	Hazy IPA		6.8
Allen M	Jim’s Juice Bomb	NE DIPA	45	7.8
Mikael H	Dennyish IPA	IPA	75	6.6
Adam C		Dry Irish Stout w/ Coffee		3.70%
Kevin S	JAK s Milk Stout	Sweet Stout	32	5.6
Peter P		Strong Ale	29	8%

Hello, Sudzers!

This month’s meeting will be held at 4:00 pm this Sunday, November 12th
at Steins Beer Garden in Mountain View.

http://steinsbeergarden.com/
895 Villa Street
Mountain View, CA 94041

As a reminder, club dues are collected on a calendar year basis.
Becoming a paid member gets you a discount at MoreBeer in Los Altos,
as well as access to the special members-only events we do through the
year.

Agenda:

–  Derek will be collecting dues. If you would like to pay club dues, please send $25 via paypal to derek@sudzers.org or give him $25 in person this Sunday.

–  Steins homebrew competition in March 2024. 

–  Upcoming Sudzers holiday party (12/2)

– Off flavor tasting.

–  Homebrew evaluations. Remember to bring your recipe, since club members
will have lots of questions. Sign in your beer along with your name
and statistics (IBU, ABV, etc.). The info is optional, but helpful in
determining tasting order.

Hope to see you all at Steins!

Pints of pilsner proliferate across the Peninsula (featuring Alpha Acid, Freewheel, and Ghostwood)

A different drink for festivities: Ditch the bubbly, bring the brew (featuring Ghostwood and Narrative Fermentations)

Cheers!

Hello Sudzers,

For our September meeting, we discussed this year’s NCHF. Then we tasted 4 homebrews. Thanks to Stein’s and everyone who showed up.

– The Northern California Homebrewers Conference (NCHF) is coming up soon (September 15-16). People who are planning on going can coordinate via Discord.

– The California State Homebrew Competition will held October 28 and November 4-5. If anyone is interested in entering beers or being a judge/steward, more information is available from the competition’s web site: https://castate.brewcompetition.com/

– The beers we tasted:

Brewer	Beer Name	Beer Style	IBUs	ABV	Brewer Notes
Noah M	Tripel-sided lightsaber	Tripel		~9
TimT	Fail	Cold IPA	70	7	Many failures in the brewing process
Stephan	Mowgli’s Black Cat IPA	Black IPA	45	6.3	Chinook, amarillo, citra
Kevin S	Common Ground	DIPA	95	8.1	Azacca, columbus & southern cross hops

– Remember, membership dues need to be made every calendar year. If you haven’t paid yet, then you can make a payment of $25 to Derek via paypal at derek@sudzers.org

– If you haven’t already, please join our Discord server at https://discord.gg/mBQ7smguu7. All official communication (meeting information, event information, etc.) will continue to go through the mailing list, but Discord provides us a convenient way to have smaller, quicker conversations, so we encourage you to join.

– All shared recipes can be found at https://sites.google.com/a/cloudyforecast.com/brewme/home. If you’d like to have your recipe shared on the site, then please email it in any format to recipe-share@sudzers.org. Full info can be found at http://www.sudzers.org/?page_id=2910

– For a list of all upcoming competitions, check out the Worts of Wisdoms’ calendar: http://www.wortsofwisdom.org/calendar/upcoming-homebrewers-competitions/

Hello, Sudzers!

This month’s meeting will be held at 4:00pm this Sunday, September 10th
at Steins Beer Garden in Mountain View.

http://steinsbeergarden.com/
895 Villa Street
Mountain View, CA 94041

As a reminder, club dues are collected on a calendar year basis.
Becoming a paid member gets you a discount at MoreBeer in Los Altos,
as well as access to the special members-only events we do through the
year.

Agenda:

– Northern California Homebrewers Festival (NCHF) which will be held Sept. 15-16, 2022.

– Collection of dues. Derek won’t be at this meeting, but you can still pay dues by sending $25 via Paypal to derek@sudzers.org.

– Homebrew evaluations. Don’t forget to bring your recipe as club members will have lots of questions. Sign in your beer along with your name and statistics (IBU, ABV, etc.). The info is optional, but helpful in determining tasting order.

Hope to see you all at Steins!

(Note: The Mountain View Art and Wine Festival is being held the weekend of the 9th and 10th. You might need more time than usual to find parking.)

Hello Sudzers,

For our August meeting, we discussed this year’s NCHF and had a presentation on kettle sours. Then we tasted 14 (yes, 14) homebrews. Thanks to Stein’s and everyone who showed up.

– Sebastian Brisbois gave a presentation on brewing kettle sour beers. The slides are available at: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1jEiUue8btDCZPi8fGxeCx8A57WA6t-eb-N7RniFBCRg/edit#slide=id.p

– The Northern California Homebrewers Conference (NCHF) will be on September 15 and 16. The Sudzers usually have 2 booths at the festival. A signup sheet will go out to members who are attending to find out what beer, food, and equipment they will be bringing.There will also be a club brew competition. The styles for this year’s competition are hazy IPA and fruit beer. For more info on the festival: https://nchfinfo.org/

– The beers we tasted:

Brewer	Beer Name	Beer Style	IBUs	ABV	Brewer Notes
Sebastian B	Apricot and Passionfruit Kettle Sour Berliner Weisse	Fruit Beer	5	3.30%
Chris L	Roggenbier
Derek W	Purple Waves of Grain	Egyptian Purple Barley Beer	15	4.9
Nathan		Kolsch	21	5.1
Derek W	Citra Shine	Mexican Lager	25	6.4	Attempted Citraveza clone
Kevin S	Austriken!	german pilsner	40	5.2
Kevin S	Brilliant Bitter	strong bitter	48	6.1
Sebastian B	Saison	Saison	30	5.40%
Chris	Kitchen Sink IPA	IPA	67	6.20%
Stephan	All Eyes on Thighs	Thiolized Beer		6.80%
Stephan	Red Ryeder	American Amber		6.2%	Encore tasting after Santa Clara comp judging
Adam C		Baltic Porter		8.9
Robert R	Old and Bitter	Imperial stout	80	8.8
Peter Pray		Brett oatmeal stout	28	5.1

– Remember, membership dues need to be made every calendar year. If you haven’t paid yet, then you can make a payment of $25 to Derek via paypal at derek@sudzers.org

– If you haven’t already, please join our Discord server at https://discord.gg/mBQ7smguu7. All official communication (meeting information, event information, etc.) will continue to go through the mailing list, but Discord provides us a convenient way to have smaller, quicker conversations, so we encourage you to join.

– All shared recipes can be found at https://sites.google.com/a/cloudyforecast.com/brewme/home. If you’d like to have your recipe shared on the site, then please email it in any format to recipe-share@sudzers.org. Full info can be found at http://www.sudzers.org/?page_id=2910

– For a list of all upcoming competitions, check out the Worts of Wisdoms’ calendar: http://www.wortsofwisdom.org/calendar/upcoming-homebrewers-competitions/