Silicon Valley Sudzers Homebrew Club

Local homebrewer Al came to share that he would like to donate his homebrew equipment to the Sudzers, including keggles, cooler mash tun, carboys, and corny kegs. Robert C will send out a spreadsheet later this month to allow members to claim one item apiece on a first come, first served basis, and Al will bring the equipment to the April meeting for distribution.

Congratulations to 2022 Sudzers Homebrewer of the year Mikael Hakansson, who gets to be the proud keeper of the very large Sudzers cup trophy, featuring a new engraved nameplate with his name, for the next year (and he got to take it home on Caltrain, which must have been fun!)

Mikael also presented our off-flavor of the month, eugenol, which gives beers a spicy or clove flavor. May be desirable in some styles, but certainly not all.

Derek W shared details about the upcoming Santa Clara County Fair homebrew competition, which will be held in July, and which the Sudzers organize with The Grain Trust. Judging will be conducted on Saturday, July 22 at the Fairgrounds. Mark your calendars now if you might be interested in judging or stewarding (no experience necessary, although it helps), and a formal call for judges will go out in the next few weeks. 

Steins has decided to cancel their homebrew competition for this year, although we may help them organize it for 2024. 

Robert C provided an informative presentation (with tasting samples) of the IPL/Cold IPA/West Coast Pilsner/Hoppy lager styles. Slides will be shared on the Sudzers website when available.  

Allen M and Chris T shared stories of the adventures in brewing and canning this year’s club brew, a Dark Winter Ale/Biere de Noel/Biere de Garde based on Robert R’s recipe. An allocation of three 16 ounce cans was distributed to each 2023 paid Sudzers member at the meeting. For remaining members, allocations will be available for pickup at the April and May meetings, after which you will need to make arrangements to pick your cans up from Derek in Redwood City. If you would prefer to get your cans from Derek rather than waiting for the club meeting, please email him at derek@sudzers.org. 

Homebrew tastings:

1	Derek W	Plan Bee Batch 5	Honey Kolsch
2	Kevin S	JAKs strong bitter	strong bitter
3	Mikael	JB3	Cold IPA
4	Kevin S	Afternoon Delight	Session IPA
5	Adam	Hoppy brown lager	Brown lager?
6	Derek W	Boonoonoonoos Stout	Tropical Stout
7	Derek W	Cherry Apple Cider	Cider
8	Club Brew	Biere de Noel	Dark Winter Ale

Sudzers CFO Derek w’s monthly beer column from Los Altos Town Crier features the Great American Beer Festival 2022 Brewery of the Year (5000-15,000 barrels per year group) Ghost Town Brewing, which took home three medals in highly competitive hoppy beer categories last fall. Cheers!

https://www.losaltosonline.com/food/ghost-town-s-nose-goblin-is-hard-to-find-but-worth-the-search/article_7f22f8dc-bd2c-11ed-abe5-6f37794dc894.html

Hello, Sudzers!

This month’s meeting will be held at 4:00pm this Sunday, March 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.

– Club brew: update and plans for distribution. In addition, eligible members (i.e. you were a member in 2022) will be able to get their beer at this Sunday’s meeting.

– Brewer of the year for 2022. 

– Off-flavor of the month (Mikael).

– Santa Clara County Fair homebrew competition (Derek).

– Discussion of the history and style of hoppy lagers aka IPL or Cold IPA (Robert C.).

– Note: Stein’s homebrew competition has been cancelled.

– Homebrew evaluations. Here’s your chance to bring in your Black IPA if you brewed one. 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!

Hello Sudzers,

For our February 19th meeting, we discussed the club brew. Then we tasted eight great homebrews. Thanks to Stein’s and everyone who showed up.

Business:

– We welcomed new members Chris, Peter, and George. Welcome to the club!

– The club brew was brewed January 29 using the following Bière de Noël recipe: https://sites.google.com/a/cloudyforecast.com/brewme/2021. Chris, Natan, George, Allen, and Robert brewed up 15 gallons at Allen and Ann Marie’s house. Thanks to everyone who has participated! The plan is to cold crash and carbonate the beer next weekend and then package it a week after that. More details will be available on Discord in the Events channel

– The off flavor we tasted and discussed was diacetyl. Thanks to Mikael for putting this together!

– Steins is planning on a homebrew competition and has asked the Sudzers to help with organizing it. The details are still being worked on, but it looks like it will be on the weekend of March 18/19.

– Upcoming competitions: World Cup of Beer organized by the Bay Area Mashers (details at: https://www.worldcupofbeer.com/). Registration for entries and judges/stewards is now open.

– The beers we tasted:

Brewer	Beer Name	Beer Style	IBUs	ABV	Brewer Notes
Nathan		ESB	39	5.5
Peter	Blackberry Wheat		25	6
Sebastian		saison	30	6.3
Chris		Scotch Ale		7	Malty, a little sweet. Wee heavy but a little lighter alcohol
Kevin S	hoppy pils	IPL?	50	5.5
Kevin S	hoppy pils- DH	IPL?	50	5.5	same, but one has dry hop addition
Allen M	Manny Lager	Imperial IPL	63	8.6	Essentially brewed an Imperial IPA with Lager Yeast
Kevin s	Hazy IPA V2	Hazy IPA	57	6.8	2nd batch with Helio Glazer yeast

– 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, February 19th
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:

– 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 

– Update on the club brew and plans for packaging and distribution

–Upcoming homebrew competition at Steins in March

–Off flavor of the month

– Off flavor of the month

– 2022 Homebrewer of the Year.

– Homebrew evaluations. Here’s your chance to bring in your Black IPA
if you brewed one. 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!

Robert Rohrbacher

Hello Sudzers,

For our January 8th meeting, we discussed the club brew and Derek gave his treasurer’s report for 2022. Then we tasted eight great homebrews. Thanks to Stein’s and everyone who showed up.

Business:

– We welcomed new member Chris. Welcome to the club!

– Derek reported on the club’s finances for 2022.

– The club brew will be the following Bière de Noël recipe: https://sites.google.com/a/cloudyforecast.com/brewme/2021. Chris, Allen, and Robert R. will get together to brew it this January.

– The off flavor we tasted and discussed was oxidation. Thanks to Mikael for putting this together!

– Upcoming competitions: World Cup of Beer organized by the Bay Area Mashers (details at: https://www.worldcupofbeer.com/). Registration for the National Homebrew Competition will open January 24th. See https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/national-homebrew-competition/ for more details.

– An email will go out for members to vote for the 2022 Homebrewer of the Year.

– The next style for the club to try brewing will be hoppy lagers. If you would like to take a shot at brewing one, aim for having it ready for the March meeting,

– The beers we tasted:

Brewer	Beer Name	Beer Style	IBUs	ABV	Brewer Notes
Derek W	Plan Bee Honey Kolsch #4	Kolsch	20	5.9	Changed water profile from batch 3 to decrease sulfate/chloride ratio
Charles S	Taras Boulba (clone)	Saison	45	7
Robert R		Black IPA	67	7
Kevin S	Black Hole Sun	Cascadia Dark Ale	82	7.5
Mikael	Black IPA	Well, black IPA	100	7
Derek W	Biere de Noel	Biere de Garde	30	10	Robert R’s recipe
Allen	Mogarambo 2021	Russian Imperial Stout	95	9.8	Kona Coffee and THCO Cacao nibs 2yr aged
Tim Topole	Smoke	Smoked Porter	60	11

Extras:

– 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, January 8th
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.

– Annual financial report (Derek).

– Date and other logistics for the club brew

– Off flavor of the month

– The next beer style to cover and who would like to present on it.– 2022 Homebrewer of the Year.

– Homebrew evaluations. Here’s your chance to bring in your Black IPA if you brewed one. 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!

Hello Sudzers,

For our November 13th meeting, we discussed the annual end of the year party and the club brew. Then we tasted twelve great homebrews. Thanks to Stein’s and everyone who showed up.

Business:

– We welcomed new members Allen and Ann Marie. Welcome to the club!

– The club brew will be the following Bière de Noël recipe: https://sites.google.com/a/cloudyforecast.com/brewme/2021. We’re planning on brewing it in mid January 2023.

– We will have our end of the year party either on the weekend of December 10/11 or December 17/18. An email will go out to find out what day works best for people.

– The beers we tasted:

Brewer	Beer Name	Beer Style	IBUs	ABV
Sebastian B		American Wheat Ale	30	4.7%
Kevin S	24k Gold	blonde ale	27	6
Derek W	Plan Bee Honey Kolsch #3	Kolsch	30	5.6
Sebastian B		American Pale Ale	40	5.5
Derek W	Ya Heard	Amber	35	4.7
Nathan		lambic
Nathan		biere de garde		6.3%
Robert R	Biere de Noel	biere de garde	24	7.7
Adam		Scotch Ale		9.0%
Kevin S	Thiol Hazy exp	NEIPA	54	7
Stephan	Mowgli’s Black Cat IPA	Black IPA	45	7.5%
Allen	Happy Cascade	West Coast DIPA	89	8.4%

Extras:

– 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, November 13th
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:

–- Discussion: Will we have a club brew this year?

— Discussion: Will we be voting for homebrewer of the year?

–- Planning and location of our end of year party.

— Tasting any Black IPAs members brewed after the last meeting’s presentation on the style.

–- 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.

–- Derek will be collecting dues. If you’d like to pay club dues, please send $25 via Paypal to derek@sudzers.org

Hope to see you all at Steins!

Sudzers CFO Derek W’s monthly beer column from the Los Altos Town Crier, singing the praises of Narrative Fermentations and providing a primer on slushy/slushie/smoothie beers for your enjoyment. Cheers!

The slightly slushie story of San Jose’s Narrative Fermentations