Silicon Valley Sudzers Homebrew Club

Hello, Sudzers! In September’s meeting, we met some new members, discussed this year’s club brew, and tasted nine delicious brews. Thanks to everyone who showed up!

Business:
– We welcomed several new members, Alex and Toai. Welcome to the club!
– Robert researched upcoming competitions and will upload the details to the website’s calendar.
– Mikael recapped the recent BJCP exam. Results should be available in a few months.
– We mentioned a few months ago that we’ll be doing something new for this year’s club brew. We traditionally brew Dark Matter, but this year, we’ll be holding a comp, and the winning beer’s recipe will be the club’s brew for this year. The competition will be held in November’s meeting, so if you’re interested, then please bring your beer to that meeting.

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
– 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 WoW’s awesome calendar: http://www.wortsofwisdom.org/calendar/upcoming-homebrewers-competitions/

In all, we had nine homebrews:

BREWER     BEER                                    IBUs   ABV
Derek W.   MEX-KWG Mexican Lager                   20     5.2%
Andrew K.  Cucumber Pilsner                        35     5.1%
Kevin W.   Let us never speak of it again Saison    5     7.74%
Alex       Mosaic Pale Ale                         20     5.6%
Mikael     Garden Fresh APA                        60     5.5%
Chris K.   Lightbringer! Hazy IPA                   -     6.66%
Charles    XX Bitter Some Kinda Belgian            76     6.7%
Robert R.  Bier de Noel                            26     8.2%
Kevin W.   Noche milkshake Pastry Stout            78     10.3%

Hello, Sudzers! In August’s meeting, Kaleb Schwecke of Yakima Valley Hops led a great discussion on hops, we recapped the Santa Clara County Fair Comp, and we tasted nine delicious brews. Thanks to everyone who showed up at Steins and virtually!

Business:
– Kaleb Schwecke, Chief Marketing Officer from Yakima Valley Hops, joined us to talk all about hops and took the time to answer all of our questions. It was extremely informative, and thanks for educating all of us!
– Just a reminder that the BJCP exam is on August 14, at 10am at Steins.
– Derek gave a recap of the Santa Clara County Fair homebrew competition. We had 28 entries and nearly as many judges. Congratulations to all the Sudzers that took home ribbons!
– Just a reminder that some of us will be heading up to Lake Francis for the Non-NCHF in September. Robert set up a Discord Channel for us to coordinate.

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 WoW’s awesome calendar: http://www.wortsofwisdom.org/calendar/upcoming-homebrewers-competitions/

In all, we had nine homebrews:

BREWER     BEER                                 IBUs   ABV
Mike C.    Helles                               17     5.3%
Andrew K.  Slam Dunkel German Dunkel            17.2   5.2%
Robert R.  Hop Particles Pale Ale               40-42  5.4%
Derek W.   No Cocount This Time Robust Porter   30     5.5%
Adam C.    Stout made with barrel-aged malt     -      7.9%
Chet S.    Solera Batch 1 American Sour         ?      6%
Chet S.    Solera Batch 2 American Sour         ?      6%
Noah M.    Meadochloridan - vanilla mead        0      16%
Noah M.    Meadochloridan - raspberry mead      0      16%

Thanks to Steins and everyone who showed up!

Hello, Sudzers! Our next meeting will be held at 4:00pm this Sunday, August 8th through both Zoom (details to come) and back in person at Steins Beer Garden in Mountain View!. Hope to see you all there!

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:
– If you’d like to pay club dues, please send $25 via paypal to derek@sudzers.org.
– Robert has already sent out an email with the details for meeting up in person, but if you’d like to sign up for the meeting, then please do so at the link in the email.
– We’ll have a short reminder that the BJCP exam is on August 14, 10am at Steins.
– Derek will recap the Santa Clara County Fair homebrew competition.
– Kaleb Schwecke, Chief Marketing Officer from Yakima Valley Hops, will be joining us virtually this meeting.
– Homebrew evaluations. Remember, bring your recipe – 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.
– Zoom details will be in a followup meeting when we have them.

Cheers!

Sudzers CFO Derek W’s August beer column for the Los Altos Town Crier features refreshing summery hefeweizens from Silva Brewing, Loma Brewing Company, Pacifica Brewery, and New Bohemia Brewing Co. Prost!

https://www.losaltosonline.com/food/celebrate-the-comeback-of-a-summery-beer/article_51386e6c-f4d7-11eb-a131-77e32492812c.html

Sudzers CFO Derek W’s July beer column for the Los Altos Town Crier highlights the well-crafted, gluten-removed beers of San Francisco’s Black Hammer Brewing. Cheers!

https://www.losaltosonline.com/food/european-style-ales-show-potential-of-gluten-removed-beers/article_ff3ef9f0-df55-11eb-a132-6f56dfc69f22.html

The Silicon Valley Sudzers and The Grain Trust invite your participation in the 5^th Annual Santa Clara County Fair Homebrew Competition. (The competition went on hiatus for 2019 and 2020, but it’s back!)

The competition is seeking judges and stewards to assist with judging at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds in San Jose on Saturday, July 31 (breakfast and lunch will be provided), as well as preliminary judging to be conducted in the South Bay & Peninsula on weekends and weekday evenings beginning July 25. If you are interested in judging or stewarding, please fill out the brief questionnaire at https://forms.gle/L63vR4Qgo4UG4wAy6 no later than July 12, 2021.

For anyone interested in entering, details about the competition and the registration link are available at https://thefair.org/exhibitors/guides-and-forms/homebrew-book/. Entries must be registered online by July 12, 2021. Entries can be dropped off at Beer and Wine Makers of America in San Jose no later than 4 pm on Friday, July 23. Entries will also be accepted at the Fiesta Hall at Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, but only from 9 am to noon on Saturday, July 24. Best of show entry will receive a rosette, a $50 gift card, and the opportunity to guest brew your beer with Clandestine Brewing. Rosettes will also be awarded per category (organizers may combine categories for judging depending on the number of entries).

If you have any questions, please feel free to let derek@sudzers.org know. I look forward to seeing you and/or tasting your brews at the Fair next month.

Hello, Sudzers! Our next meeting will be held at 4:00pm this Sunday, June 13th through Zoom (details below). Hope to see you all there!

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:
– If you’d like to pay club dues, please send $25 via paypal to derek@sudzers.org.
– The competition calendar is now being managed at the web site http://www.sudzers.org/competition-calendar/.
– Derek will discuss the Santa Clara County Fair and how to successfully revive that comp for this year!
– In-person club meetings to start in July at Steins and will continue to include a virtual component with virtual guest speakers.
– Several members are going to Lake Francis for the informal non-NCHF gathering September 17-19. Join the Silicon Valley Sudzers Discord Server to continue the discussion https://discord.gg/yXYVRXpF.
– Guest speaker Dave McLean co-owner of Admiral Maltings will have an open discussion about craft malting at Admiral.
– Several of our members will have gotten together to share beers with each other. During the meeting, each brewer will talk about their beer and get feedback from the people they shared it with.

Zoom details were sent to the mailing list.

Hello, Sudzers! In May’s meeting, Seth Klann of Mecca Grade Estate Malt led a great discussion on malting, we discussed ideas for meeting in person again, and we tasted six delicious brews. Thanks to everyone who showed up!

Business:
– A huge thank you to Seth Klann of Mecca Grade Estate Malt for teaching us about malting and answering all of our questions. Make sure to check them out at https://www.meccagrade.com/
– We recapped this year’s AHA Big Brew day. Thanks to everyone who participated!
– Robert discussed how we’ll do the selection for the next club brew. Depending on how things go, we might try to do this at the next in-person meeting. Details will be sent to the mailing list.
– We’re looking in to how we can safely meet in person again. Feel free to share any ideas on the mailing list about where and how we can meet.
– Homebrew Comps are coming back. Robert will send out a summary of upcoming events.
– NCHF is cancelled this year, but people may get together for an informal NCHF get together. We’ll most likely set up a Discord channel to discuss this.
– Several of our members got together to share beers with each other. During the meeting, each brewer talked about their beer and got feedback from the people they shared it with. Thanks to everyone who participated!

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 WoW’s awesome calendar: http://www.wortsofwisdom.org/calendar/upcoming-homebrewers-competitions/

In all, we had six homebrews:

BREWER     BEER                                      IBUs  ABV
Derek W.   Burgeoning Tasty Pale Ale                 30    5.2%
Tim T.     Hoppy Slam West Coast IPA                 103   7.2%
Tim K.     Pineapple Rain Double IPA                 49    8.0%
Adam C.    Stout w/ Barrel-Aged Malt                 -     7.9%
Robert C.  Profiterale Cherry Tiramisu Pastry Stout  36    8.8%
Robert C.  " Rasp Choc Toasted M.mallow Pastry Stout 36    8.8%

Sudzers CFO Derek W’s monthly beer column for the Los Altos Town Crier features California medalists from the Great American Beer Festival, including brews from Clandestine Brewing, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., GameCraft Brewing, Hop Dogma Brewing Company, and Alvarado Street Brewery & Grill. Cheers!

Review: Medal-winning selections help California stand out at annual Great American Beer Festival

Hello, Sudzers! Our next meeting will be held at 4:00pm this Sunday, May 16th through Zoom (details below). Hope to see you all there!

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:
– If you’d like to pay club dues, please send $25 via paypal to derek@sudzers.org.
– Adam will give a summary of the virtual Big Brew Day we hosted a few weeks ago.
– Robert will talk about next steps for tasting and selecting the annual club brew, i.e. the new Dark Matter.
– Robert will give an update on upcoming Homebrew Competitions.
– We will discuss whether we want to go as a club to the non-NCHF.
– Robert will talk about plans to return to in-person meetings at Steins in Mountain View or some other interim outdoor location.
– Guest speaker Seth Klann, owner of Mecca Grade Estate Malt will join us to talk about craft malting
– Several of our members will have gotten together to share beers with each other. During the meeting, each brewer will talk about their beer and get feedback from the people they shared it with.

Zoom details were sent to the mailing list.