Silicon Valley Sudzers Homebrew Club

On August 17th, 2013, the Sudzers did a public transit pub crawl in San Francisco with guidance of Beer Sherpa, Vern. Here are some photos that Nicole captured around stops 3 and 4, of 6 total. A good time was had by all. Cheers!

Miz Nicole’s Photos

Sudzers member Mike C recently visited Sante Adairus Rustic Ales in Capitola, and wrote the following to share his enthusiasm for the 1.5 year-new, 7 bbl brewery down the street from his home:

My visit was inspired from my fellow home brewer Mike at Aptos St. BBQ while I was grabbing a sandwich there (the place has an awesome lineup of 40+ taps).

Just 2 miles away from my home in Aptos, I followed my friend’s directions to a small industrial warehouse at the end of a road.  Signage was minimal, but the crowd gave away their location at the back of the lot.  The purpose of my visit was made quite clear once I stepped inside.

 

I sampled 5 different beers – here are my notes:

Anaïs – my first pour… a pale amber, dry, fruity, very drinkable saison.  The nose carried a bit of apricot, clove and banana; there was a bit of spiciness that I first picked out as clove but now I’d say is from the spelt used.  I could have more, but only ordered a 6 oz pour in order to try the next…

Little Quibble – this was the best lower alcohol beer I’ve had in a long time.  With 4 grains – barley, rye, wheat and oats, the cereal character of this farmhouse ale is pronounced, giving it a very satisfying finish. 4.8% ABV, this is a perfect afternoon-in –the-sun type of beer.

Chavez – on to their robust porter, this beer has an awesome chocolate flavor that dominates without overwhelming, balanced with the crystal malt for body and sweetness.   My favorite pour of the visit.

West Coast IPA – A purist’s commitment to a Columbus IPA as a dank hop beverage, with Citra in the dry hop to add some floral character to the nose.

Fumare – A smoked saison – had to try it because the guy behind the bar designed the recipe (the rest were Tim’s, the head brewmaster) – the smoke was distinct but still let the farmhouse aroma and spiciness come through.  Dangerously drinkable at 7% ABV

OK, I’m hooked.  I now have a 7 barrel brewery down the street from me.

Life is good!  The place was busy but not overcrowded.  I felt a bit bad for the small winery next door – but all good, something for my wife to taste (she likes wine but not beer) right next door!

 

At the San Jose Cooperative Brewpub‘s homebrew competition at KraftBrew Fest, it was announced that the club’s 2012 Dark Matter Imperial Stout, brewed by Keith, Steve, and Derek W on Thanksgiving weekend, won the award for best dark beer, but another brewer’s mead won the overall competition.

We just heard from the competition organizer that in fact there was an error and the Dark Matter was the grand prize winner of the competition! This means that the brewers will have the opportunity to brew it along with the Co-Op’s brewer, and the resulting beer will be on tap for the grand opening of the brewpub, anticipated to be in 2015. It should be fun to brew an even bigger batch, since our 20 gallon batch contained 90 pounds of fermentables, including an unholy 6 pounds of roasted barley, 4 pounds of black patent, and 4 pounds of chocolate malt (among other goodies).

Congratulations to the Sudzers, and thanks to all of the brewers of Dark Matters past in 2007, 2009, and 2011.

About a dozen Sudzers participated in the brewing demonstration in the middle of the KraftBrew Fest at the end of Silicon Valley Beer Week, and Ron did a fantastic job of capturing the day in photos and video, as well as writing up the events of the day. Following is Ron’s account and documentation of the fun!

To wrap up the first Silicon Valley Beer Week, the Sudzers provided a homebrew demo, as part of the 45+ breweries pouring an amazing collection of beer on Saturday August 3 in San Jose. After setting up the equipment, Derek brewed a Granola Stout (oatmeal honey milk stout with cinnamon and toasted coconut), showing visitors how it’s done. There was also a display of several samples of malt, hops, and yeast, showing people the ingredients we use to make beer. Only one other person was brewing at the Festival, Keegan, the Beer Buyer/Manager from Whole Foods/Cupertino, which had two booths there. This week Whole Foods announced a new store they will build on the Alameda, near the Shark Tank, which will include a 5,000 sq. ft. brewery.

I think the consensus among the Sudzers anyway, the best beer of the show was the Clown Shoes Galactica Double IPA, where we met the Marketing Manager, Matt Smith. The brewery is located in Ipswich, MA, and just started shipping to California. It’s been on tap at Rootstock, a great wine bar in Los Gatos, where there was a tapping event during Silicon Valley Beer Week. Rootstock has a free wine tasting every Wednesday, 5:30-6:30pm, after which you can order one of the three or four good beers on tap, plus an impressive little collection of bottled beer you can inspect in their glass door refrigeration at the end of the bar.

Other than that, we all drank a lot of the Islander IPA from Coronado Brewing (San Diego), which was conveniently located right across from the Sudzers booth.

But the highlight of the day for us was to receive an award for the best homebrew in the “Dark” category, our Dark Matter club brew. Derek was called to the stage to accept the award on behalf of the Sudzers, and was well received by the not-too-drunk audience remaining at the end of the day.

Ribbons from the San Mateo County Fair were presented to Chris R (first place for Het Goede Belgian Blond and Angry Leprechaun Irish Red), Santiago (second place for Abbey Wit’ Smoke Witbier), and Derek W. (second place for McSwinerson’s Scotch Ale.)

The August 3 demonstration brew at the KraftBrew fest was discussed. Derek W. will be brewing granola stout (oatmeal honey milk stout with cinnamon and toasted coconut) in the middle of the festival, Keith will create a brewing ingredients display, and several other members will be available to talk with festival attendees about beer and brewing.

The location for August 15 Thirsty Third Thursday meetup was set for the new 45+ tap establishment Farmers Union in downtown San Jose.

Vern will be hosting a San Francisco pub crawl on August 17 which will involve multiple modes of public transit to visit bars and breweries throughout the city. More details to come by email.

A google docs spreadsheet has been created for all 24 Sudzers members attending the Northern California Homebrewers Festival to share which beers, food, and equipment they plan to bring.

We had relatively light attendance (about 25) as a result of conflicts with some Silicon Valley Beer Week activities and summer vacations, so we only had seven homebrews to sample (the lowest number in at least a year). However, we made up for the low quantity of brews with some exceptional quality. And several new first time attendees paid dues!

Marc & Jen’s English Brown Ale
Keith’s Roggenbier
Rich’s Irish Red Ale
Adam’s Saison, featuring GY018 yeast from Gigayeast, a Belmont-based yeast producer
Adam’s Chocolate Stout with Valrhona cocoa nibs
Patrick’s Gluten Free Beer #2 Imperial Belgian Pale Ale with sorghum & brown rice extracts
2012 Club Brew Dark Matter Imperial Stout, brewed by Keith, Steve C, and Derek W

 

 

Derek H. participated in Beer Camp #94, and his group’s beer was selected as one of the “Best of Beer Camp” brews that has been commercially released by Sierra Nevada as Belgian Black IPA. Derek shares his experience:

In December 2012 I was lucky enough to be chosen to participate in Sierra Nevada’s Beer Camp. Sierra Nevada invites about 10 people at a time to formulate a new recipe, enjoy a VIP tour of the brewery, and then finally brew your own beer on Sierra Nevada’s pilot brew system. During the two and half day trip we meet Sierra Nevada’s founder Ken Grossman and his brother Steve who personally led us on much of the tour. We worked with pilot brew masters Scott, now brew master at the North Carolina Brewery, and new pilot brew master Abe. The group I was with were all experienced homebrewers so the level of conversation was very sophisticated and highly educational.

When deciding on a beer to make we wanted something different. Not just another hopped up IPA, but something unique and that would normally be difficult to brew at home. We decided to make a Belgian style Black IPA. The grain bill consisted of mostly 2 row with some pilsner and Maris Otter. 5% of the grain bill was Carafa III and 4% chocolate. When drinking the beer it first appears very dark but held to a light will appear dark ruby red. We bittered with Simcoe then flavored with New Zealand grown Sorachi Ace and Nelson Sauvin. Since Sierra Nevada was paying for it we decided to use as many exotic ingredients as possible and create a beer we have never seen commercially before. After brewing the beer we all got to have a beer release party at a bar of our choice. My beer happened to be chosen by the brewery as one of the Best of Beer Camp and is being released in the annual variety pack and put on tap for a limited time under the Beer Camp #94 Belgian-style Black IPA label.

The entire experience was nothing short of incredible. I learnt a lot, made great friends from across the country, and oh yea… got to brew my own beer at Sierra Nevada. If you are interested in trying to make it into this year’s Beer Camp check out www.SierraBeerCamp.com.  The contest opens Aug.1 and runs through labor day. You need to make the most creative video possible showing your love for craft beer. I encourage anyone to enter and I’d be happy to help you make your video. To view my video, visit http://www.sierrabeercamp.com/Experience, then scroll down to Class of 2012, #94 Sleight of Hand.

We will be brewing a delicious breakfast beer this afternoon – “Granola Stout” – an oatmeal honey milk stout with cinnamon and toasted coconut. We will also have experienced brewers available to answer your questions and allow you to experience different ingredients of beer with several malts and hops available for your tasting and sniffing pleasure. Our demonstration is just one part of the festivities, with a homebrew competition, 70+ craft beers on tap, delicious food, and live music. For more information on KraftBrew Fest, visit https://www.facebook.com/pages/KraftBrew-Fest/188260571219991. The Sudzers will be brewing at the west end of the festival, near Post and San Pedro.

Please come by and say hello. Here is the recipe we’re brewing:

 

 

Cheers!

Hello Sudzers! Despite the fact that there are many delightful SV Beer
Week events on tap for Friday, August 2 we will hold our regular
meeting that night at 7 pm at Nick’s house. Need the address or
directions? Email moresimcoe@sudzers.org

7:00 Social Time

7:15 Club Business

Presentation of San Mateo County Fair ribbons

Upcoming events:
KraftBrew Fest demo August 3
August 15 Thirsty Third Thursday destination
August 17 SF Pub Crawl
Northern California Homebrewers Festival

7:30 Homebrew evaluations. Reminder: Bring your recipe – club members
will have lots of questions!

Sign your beer in on the whiteboard along with your name and
statistics (IBU, ABV, etc. – optional, but helpful in determining
tasting order)

After homebrew evaluations: more social time/informal commercial brew sharing

Always welcome: homebrews from any style to share.  Don’t have any
homebrew on hand right now? Feel free to bring other interesting brews
you’ve picked up. Don’t have a beer to bring? Please bring some snacks
to share.

See you Friday! Next upcoming club meeting – Friday, September 6

Sudzers are doing a brewing demonstration and providing refreshments again for the MoreBeer Los Altos summer sale on July 13. (Since the event occurred before the notes were finished, you can see an event recap with photos at http://www.sudzers.org/?p=846.)

This week’s Thirsty Third Thursday meetup will be held at Harry’s Hofbrau San Jose and will feature several Goose Island brews, July 18, 6:30 pm onward.

Northern California Homebrewers Festival registration opened Sunday, July 14. (The festival sold out in 95 minutes, a new record by far. At last count, over 20 Sudzers registered for the event, so we should be well represented!) The club is still looking for someone to take the lead on organizing booth decorations, food, and, most importantly, beer! We also need to identify an area to camp together in the upper campground for those not staying in cabins.

Silicon Valley Beer Week July 28-August 3 has over 100 events scheduled. The closing event for the week will be the KraftBrew Fest in San Jose from 1-7 pm on August 3. As part of this event, Sudzers will be doing a brewing demonstration on the grounds of the fest. Derek will bring his gear and brew a granola stout for NCHF – a honey oatmeal milk stout with cinnamon and toasted coconut. If you are interested in assisting with the club booth and attending the fest, please email Derek.

Chris Ringer will bring ribbons from the San Mateo County Fair to the next meeting for distribution. He entered several BBQ beers on behalf of the club, and his Angry Leprechaun Irish Red took first place in its category (along with his non-BBQ beers: Belgian Blond which also took a first, and his barrel aged barleywine which got an honorable mention). In addition, Santiago’s Abbey Wit’ Smoke Witbier took second place in its category, and Derek’s McSwinerson’s Scotch Ale took a 2nd as well.

Jim W. presented a dry hopping experiment conducting by adding a couple grams of six different hops to bottles of Corona Light for five days in order to explore the characteristics that each hop contributes in dry hopping: Northern Brewer, Columbus, Centennial, Simcoe, Citra, and Cascade. Of particular note was the intensity of flavor and aroma that Columbus contributed when added in the same quantities as the other hops. Thanks to Jim for all of his preparations in sharing this useful tasting experiment with the club!

A Sudzers San Francisco public transit pub crawl, led by Vern, has been scheduled for August 17. More details will be forthcoming. Two years ago, we did a similar event, travelling from Toronado to Magnolia to Rogue & La Trappe to the Public House to 21^st Amendment to Mad Dog in the Fog, and a good time was had by all.

After homebrew tasting was completed, Nick shared some eggs that he pickled in the famous Flanders Red Ale of “To the barrel” fame. Delicious – it works quite well as a pickling solution.

Homebrews sampled at the meeting included:

Anna and Fuad’s Honing Witbier with honey
Linda R’s Bitter Brit ESB
Nathan’s single hop Saaz Pale Ale
Nathan’s single hop Glacier Pale Ale
Justin’s Dubbel Step Belgian Dubbel
Joe’s J&J #3 Cider with strawberry
Joe’s J&J #5 Cider with blackberry
Rich’s Janet’s Brown Ale clone
Derek’s Rubicund Projectile Red Rye Ale
Tyler’s Tasting Challenge Porter (nobody guessed the secret ingredient – butternut squash!)
Paul S’s American IPA
Linda R’s Blind Curve American IPA

 

Congrats to the Sudzers for several ribbons in the Amador County Fair this weekend, including several of the beers brewed for the Sudzers BBQ Beer Competition.

Award	Brewer	Beer	Style
1st	Marcus Catano	Lunch Meat	7A – Northern German Altbier
3rd	Santiago Basso	Abbey Wit’ Smoke	16A – Witbier
2nd	Derek Wolfgram	McSwinerson’s	9E – Strong Scotch Ale
3rd	Chris Ringer	Angry Leprechaun	9D – Irish Red Ale
2nd	Jamie Beard and Adam Powell	Hadrian’s Ale	11C – Northern English Brown Ale

Nicely done, Marcus, Santiago, Derek, Chiris, and Jamie and Adam! Cheers!