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04/25/2008 | Monks Kettle in SF
Author: Pete Czerpak

Last November, two new Belgian style bars opened in San Francisco. Monks Kettle is located in the Mission area on 16th Street. I've been meaning to get there for the last few months but haven't found the time. That and the reported difficulty in finding a stool or table didn't help with enthusia....

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Welcome

We are the home brew club of Silicon Valley and the South Bay Area. The club promotes the home brewing hobby and appreciation of beer with various events held in the San Jose and surrounding area. If you would like to join the club, or just learn more about home brewing, please come to one of the events below.

Next Sudzer's Meeting

05/17/2008 - May-Day May Day! Brew-In
[ Doug's House [ Downtown San Jose] ]

May's Sudzer meeting/event will be our Fourth Annual Club Brew-In at Doug's house on Saturday, May 17th, beginning at 10am. We'll be brewing 10 gallons of luscious barleywine!

This is an all-day event, so feel free to drop by whenever you can even if you aren't planning on brewing with us. We'll have the BBQ going, so bring something to grill and a dish to share. As always, bring your homebrews for evaluation and/or your favorite commercial beer to share
and enjoy.

Come hang out and enjoy the camaraderie of your fellow club members as we create a truly classic beer style! If you're new to brewing, this is a great opportunity to watch and participate in an all-grain brew session.

Here are the details:

When: Saturday, May 17th at 10am
Where: Doug's house (email for directions)
What to bring: Your brewing equipment, ingredients, some food and drink to share

If you are interested in brewing the barleywine email us for the recipe!

Click on the links below for pictures of previous year's brew-ins:

http://gallery.sudzers.org/v/Silicon+Valley+Sudzers/DougBrew2007/

http://gallery.sudzers.org/v/Silicon+Valley+Sudzers/May2006_Brew-In/

http://gallery.sudzers.org/v/Silicon+Valley+Sudzers/BrewIn/

Next Event

View our calendar for more events!

News

04/16/2008 | Dan takes first place at the Mayfaire Competition!

Congratulations to Dan for taking first place at the Mayfaire competition for his "Not So Old Ale" in the Old Ale category!

http://www.maltosefalcons.com/comps/2008Mayfaire/

Please join me in giving him a round of applause!

12/14/2007 | 2008 Sudzer election results

The Sudzers held elections and have chosen officers for 2008. Please welcome Scott Haen as the new Sudzer's Vice President.

12/13/2007 | BJCP Class starting in Pleasanton

Mad Zymurgists homebrew club plans to hold a BJCP Study Group in early 2008. The organizational meeting will take place on Thursday, January 10th, at 6:30pm at the HopYard Alehouse in Pleasanton. Anyone interested in beer judging should plan to attend this meeting, especially those in or near the Tri-Valley area (Dublin / Pleasanton / Livermore / San Ramon / Danville).

Our guest speaker at the meeting will be David Teckam, who has done extensive work documenting and conducting preparatory classes for beer judging. As a primer we're also planning to present a few samples of doctored vs. clean beers, so people can try their luck at isolating specific defects by taste. We'll have a signup sheet available at the meeting. The study sessions will begin in late Winter / early Spring -- actual dates TBA.

I am asking that anyone who will be attending please RSVP to let us know you'll be there. You may email Brian Cooper at brewerbrian@sbcglobal.net or phone: 925-469-0477 if interested. However you need not be present to sign up -- if you can't make it to the meeting, please contact Mad Zymurgists for more info. We are not only looking for judging candidates, but also for experienced judges who would be willing to help out with the study group -- for example, presenting on a BJCP style group at one or more of the sessions.

Anyone who wants to be a part of this BJCP Study Group or to help out in any way, we look forward to hearing from you!

Cheers, Brian Cooper Mad Zymurgists www.madzymurgists.org

10/13/2007 | Fellow Sudzer turned Pro Receives Bronze at GABF!

A HUGE Congratulations to the brewing team at Rock Bottom in Campbell for placing Bronze at GABF for their English Styled Brown Ale! The brewing team is Guy Cameron and Laki Gletsos!

09/16/2007 | 1st Annual Sudzers Bus Trip a success!

A BIG Thank you goes out to Scott for all of his amazing efforts on the bus trip! It was a smashing success!

I have uploaded my photos to our gallery and they can be found here:

http://gallery.sudzers.org/v/Silicon+Valley+Sudzers/BusTrip2007/

If you have photos to add, please contact me and I will provide you with a login so you can upload them. Great turnout to a great day! Cheers, Matthew

06/21/2007 | Guy Cameron Launches the Summer Solstice IPA

02/13/2007 | 2007 Tentative Schedule of Club Events

09/11/2006 | Congratulations to Chris Miller for his 3rd Place and Honorable Mention!

Some of you may remember Dan and Kathy Stark who owned the Big Basin Bistro in Saratoga. Dan and Kathy live in Aptos and have a small private vineyard planted with ~80% Syrah, and 20% Mourvedre. Mourvedre is the French name for a grape called Mataro that has roots in Spain. It's a light varietal that is very difficult to grow. Dan and Kathy hire a local winery each year to make wine with their Syrah grapes, and at the time sold the wine under their own label at the Bistro. In 2001 and 2002, I was invited to pick and take the Mourvedre grapes in exchange for giving them half the packaged wine in return. I had never made wine before, so I thought it was worth a try. We filled the back of a pickup truck with the grapes, and took them the house of Marty Harrison, a friend of mine that has been making wine for a number of years. He is a former grape broker and a former member of the home brew club that became the Sudzers in 1997. Because of his grape business, Marty had all the equipment and storage we needed, as well as the expertise to guide us through the process. So we made 100% Mourvedre in 2001, and due to a low yield, we made a 50/50 Mourvedre/Syrah in 2002. Marty, my old brewing partner Joe, and I split our half of the wine. I've been sitting on the bulk of mine since, opening a bottle on occasion and monitoring the progress. My wife has been participating in the Santa Cruz County Fair for the last two years, entering and placing with a number of baked good, jams, and candy. So this year, with my wife's encouragement, I entered the wine into the fair. It kinda hurt because they wanted not one, but two 750ml bottles of each. The 2001 took 3rd place, and the 2002 got Honorable Mention, both in the "Other Red Varietals" category. It's not beer, but it's gratifying that something we did on a whim actually came out OK. Special thanks to Roger St Denis for encouraging me to try wine making and for helping us pick those grapes :-). I'll bring some of this to the next meeting. Chris

06/27/2006 | Matthew Shoup places 3rd in the B3 Competition

Congratulations to Matthew Shoup for taking 3rd place in the Pale Lager category with his Premium American Lager and Honorable Mention in the American Pub Ale category with his American Pale.

You can view all the B3 comp. results here:

http://clubdoze.com/?p=61

06/26/2006 | Russian River Beatification

Just a heads up on the Russian River Beatification. There are two different batches listed on the RR website. One is Batch 001 and the other is Batch 001- PH1. I'm hearing the PH1 barrel is more tart and maybe a little more complex. I only got the regular 001 bottles brought back for me yesterday. If you have a chance, I'd say go for both or at least get some PH1. I can bring the regular 001 to a tasting sometime, but I want to get/try the PH1 also.

http://www.russianriverbrewing.com/pages/bottles.html

Oh, and the 001 is quite tasty. Matthew and I tried one yesterday when he came to pick up his stuff from the meeting. Huge pop from the cork. High pressure. Not mouth-puckering ala La Folie, but very pleasant, somewhat soft malt and Brett. character. It has some tartness and nice Brett. character, but no real mouthpuckering La Folie-like acidity. Very smooth and pleasant to drink. Dry. Very nice overall.

And the GABF Judges agree. Congrats to RR for taking silver with this in the Belgian-style sour ale category right behind NB La Folie. Must be something in the barrels. : )