Silicon Valley Sudzers Homebrew Club

For our April meeting, Derek distributed several pounds of 2020 Mosaic and 2020 NZ Nelson Sauvin hop pellets from Half Moon Bay Brewing and we discussed an off flavor. Then we tasted ten great homebrews and one cider. Thanks to Stein’s and everyone who showed up.

– Congratulations to Sebastian for winning first place in Belgian Ales (with a Single) and in Historical Beers (with a Piwo Grodzskie) at the World Cup of Beer last month. And congratulations to Peter for winning first place in the Saison category at the World Cup of Beer. The same beer won Best of Show at the Steins Homebrew Competition last month as well.

– Off flavor of the month was isovaleric acid which gives beer a cheesy or sweatsock aroma. Thanks to Mikael for putting this together.

– Dan demonstrated his DIY sparge head.

– Alan, Sebastian, Stephan, and Nathan brought bottles of an American pale that they brewed and split into four batches to see what differences different fermentation systems and dry hopping schedules make. The differences between the beers were quite noticeable and prompted much discussion.

– The beers we tasted:

Brewer	Beer Name	Beer Style	IBUs	ABV	Brewer Notes
Peter	Mostly Ryeght	Saison	26	4.80%	brewed with rye
Mikael	Slaughterbranch Spelt	Saison	31	5.20%	30% spelt malt
Derek	Mr. Redwood City	Honey Kolsch	25	5.90%
Charlie	Playhouse Fog Nozzle	Hazy IPA	21	5.90%
Nathan	Quad Squad Collab	APA	50	6.00%	Brewed Together, Fermented and Dry Hopped Separately
Sebastian	Quad Squad Collab	APA	50	6.00%	Brewed Together, Fermented and Dry Hopped Separately
Allen	Quad Squad Collab	APA	50	6.00%	Brewed Together, Fermented and Dry Hopped Separately
Stephan	Quad Squad Collab	APA	50	6.00%	Brewed Together, Fermented and Dry Hopped Separately
Charlie	Star of Citria	American IPA	65	7.00%	With anise and orange zest
Tim	Smoke	Imperial Smoked Porter	60	11.00%	Smoked Grains Cherrywood & Beechwood
Dan	Commercial Bend cider Co	Apricot Cider		6.70%

– 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, April 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.

–  Hops to give away. Half Moon Bay Brewing recently gave local homebrew clubs several pounds each of vacuum sealed 2020 Mosaic and 2020 NZ Nelson Sauvin hop pellets (Derek)

–  Off flavor of the month (Mikael)

–  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!

In our March meeting, we discussed the upcoming Steins and Santa Clara County Fair homebrew competitions. Then we tasted five great homebrews. Thanks to Stein’s and everyone who showed up.

– The Steins homebrew competition will be held Sunday, 3/24/2024. Registration for entries is available at this URL: https://www.steinsbeergarden.com/event/Homebrew2024/. The beer drop-off period is 3/16-3/23. So far we have four judges, but we still need a few more. If you’re interested in serving as a judge or steward, contact Robert or Derek. The plan is to have the judging in the morning, break for lunch, and have the best of show in the afternoon.

– Alan, Sebastian, Stephan, and Nathan brewed an American pale this past Saturday. They split the batch to see what difference different fermentation systems will make.

– The Santa Clara County Fair homebrew competition will be held in July. Currently, the plan is to have the beer drop off July 13th and 14th and the judging on the weekend of July 27/28. The organizers are looking for volunteers willing to help with organizing the competition.

– The beers we tasted:

Brewer	Beer Name	Beer Style	IBUs	ABV	Brewer Notes
Peter P	She Likes Meyer… Wit!	witbier	20	5	made with Meyer lemon
Stephan	Rye of the Kaiser	Rye Kolsch	27	5	Kolsch with 20% rye
Stephan	Experimental Weather Balloon #7	Cold IPA	60	6.4	Dry hopped with HBC 1019 and Idaho 7
Derek W	2011 Cranberry Mead		0	?	recipe is lost to time. brewed in January 2011.
Charles S	Deal with the Devil	English Barleywine BBA	33	14.3	Bourbon soaked French Oak cubes MT for 5 weeks

– 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, March 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:

–  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 on March 24, 2024.

– Saturday group brew (Alan, Sebastian, Stephan, and Nathan) 

– Santa Clara Country homebrew competition.

–  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!

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

– The Steins homebrew competition will be held Sunday, 3/24/2024. It’s no longer limited to 31A (alternative grain). Registration is open (see https://www.steinsbeergarden.com/event/Homebrew2024/). Beer drop-off period is 3/16-3/23. There is an open call for judges or stewards. Let Robert or Derek know if you’re interested in serving. The plan is to have the judging in the morning, break for lunch, and have the best of show in the afternoon.

– For members who use Yahoo email: Yahoo is often sending Sudzers emails into spam. Check your spam folder. Derek has emailed people with yahoo email addresses about this issue.

– The beers we tasted:

Brewer	Beer Name	Beer Style	IBUs	ABV	Brewer Notes
Dan H	Spotted Cow (New Glarus Brewing	Cask conditioned ale	18	5.1	Commercial
Sebastian B		Piwo Grodziskie	30	1.4
Kevin S	Samurai Style	int. pale lager – Japanese rice	30	5.2
Sebastian B		Belgian Single/Blond	27	6.4
Allen	Chuck’s Chillin’	IPL	60	7.80%	Slight Twist on Traditional IPL
Adam		Belgian dubbel		8.7
Kevin s	JAKs Imperial Stout	Imperial Stout	93	9.1
Nathan	Dragon barrel	stout	53	11.00%
Derek	Plum mead	Plum mead	0	18%

– 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, February 18th 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 on March 24, 2024. 

–  Announcement about issues that Yahoo email users may have in receiving listserv messages.

–  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!

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