Silicon Valley Sudzers Homebrew Club

Hello Sudzers!

We met last Sunday (9/14) at the Bare Bottle taproom in Menlo Park and tasted seven great homebrews. Thanks to Bare Bottle and everyone who showed up.

• Annual club brew: There seems to be interest in doing a batch of Dark Matter (imperial stout) this time, especially after this year’s vertical tasting of Dark Matter vintages. There seemed to be agreement that we don’t necessarily need to brew 15 gallons of a beer that big, especially if it makes it easier to make the brew happen. We’ll discuss the logistics further at the October meeting.
• The beers we tasted:

Brewer	Beer Name	Beer Style	IBUs	ABV	Brewer Notes
Derek	Coconut Porter	Porter	30	5%
Derek	Almond Joy	Porter	30	5%	Coconut, Tahitian vanilla beans, Cocoa nibs, Almond emulsion
Derek	Dubai Coconut Porter	Porter	30	5%	Coconut, Tahitian vanilla beans, Cocoa nibs, Pistachio emulsion
Derek	Raspberry Coconut Porter	Porter	30	5%	Coconut and raspberries
Allen	Camping W/ Cascade	Wet Hop Hazy	39	7.9%	1/2 Thiol With 3 Wet Hops
Nate		Helles	24	6%
Stephan	HopGPT	Hazy IPA	40	7.8%	Brewed with feedback from ChatGPT to maximize hop oil expression

• 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/

Sudzers CFO Derek W’s latest beer column for Los Altos Town Crier, “Autumnal ales abound at San Carlos breweries” highlights current selections from Blue Oak, Devil’s Canyon, and Hapa’s. Cheers!

Autumnal ales abound at San Carlos breweries

Hello Sudzers!

This month’s meeting will be held at 4:00pm this Sunday, September 14th at the Barebottle Taproom in Menlo Park.

https://www.barebottle.com/menlo-park-taproom

550 B Oak Grove Ave, Menlo Park, CA, 94025

(It’s across the street from the Caltrain station)

As a reminder, club dues are collected on a calendar year basis.
Becoming a paid member gets you access to the special members-only events we do through the year.

Agenda:

1. 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.
2. Club brew for this year.
3. 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 Barebottle.

We met last Sunday (8/10) at Alpha Acid Brewing and tasted eight great homebrews. Thanks to Alpha Acid Brewing and everyone who showed up.

• Future meeting locations: The saga continues. Steins will be closing at some point, and a franchise Mexican restaurant will be taking over the space. We discussed the pluses and minuses of some of the places we were at over the last several months. The general consensus was that maybe we could alternate between Clandestine Brewing in San Jose and another location further up the Peninsula. To be continued…
• Members discussed the All Club Picnic that DOZE is organizing for Sunday, August 17 (11:00-4:00) at Martinez Waterfront Park. It didn’t sound like anyone was planning on going, since Martinez is quite a drive from the South Bay and the Penninsula.
• NCSH (9/19-9/21). Several members said they will be attending. Those planning on going can coordinate via Discord.
• Santa Clara County Fair Homebrew Competition wrap-up: The competition (sponsored by the Sudzers and Grain Trust) went well with 48 beers judged. A number of Sudzers won medals: Adam C., Stephan and Allen, Kevin S., Stephan, Adam Z., Robert, Allen and Nathan. Congratulations! And a shout out to Derek for his role in organizing the competition.
• The beers we tasted:

Brewer	Beer Name	Beer Style	IBUs	ABV	Brewer Notes
Stephan	Kolsch	Kolsch		5.8
Mikael	Saisonstein farmbeer	Saisonish	36	5.8
Kevin S	Afternoon Delight	session ipa	49	5.2
Adam Z	WC IPA	WC IPA	60	6.8
Stephan and Allen	Cold IPA	singularity		8	Lunar crush
Mikael	Butte porter	Porter	40	4	Older bottle conditioned
Robert		English porter	27	4.7
Kevin S	JAKs Porter	American porter	39	5.9

• 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, August 10th at Alpha Acid Brewing in Belmont. 121 Industrial Road, Unit #11, Belmont, CA 94002

https://www.alphaacidbrewing.com

As a reminder, club dues are collected on a calendar year basis.
Becoming a paid member gets you access to the special members-only events we do through the year.

Agenda:

1. 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.
2. All-Club Picnic on August 17th. 
3. Santa Clara County Fair homebrew competition wrap up.
4. NCHF.
5. Any other announcements or miscellaneous business.
6. 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 Alpha Acid.

Hello Sudzers!

We had a brief meeting this last Sunday (7/13) at Clandestine Brewing, and we tasted three great homebrews. Thanks to Clandestine Brewing and everyone who showed up.

• Since Stein’s is currently renovating its meeting room, we discussed other possible meeting locations. Members present thought it would be good to give Laughing Monk in Sunnyvale a try. Derek said he would contact them.
• All Club Picnic organized by DOZE will be held August 17 (11:00-4:00) at Martinez Waterfront Park. Anyone interested in going can discuss this on Discord. It sounds like it’ll be a great event. Maybe people can arrange a carpool.
• Allen announced that Omega Yeast has discontinued selling its 400 series yeasts to homebrewers. He’s frozen small amounts of a couple of the strains that can be used to propagate new batches. He is willing to share these with club members. The club agreed to reimburse him for the cost of the original yeast.
• The beers we tasted:

Brewer	Beer Name	Beer Style	IBUs	ABV	Brewer Notes
Allen	Queen Anne’s Revenge	Hazy IPA	58	7.6	Styled after Tree House w/ Thiolize Spin
Adam		Imperial milk stout w/ vanilla and cocoa beans		7.9	Brewed in 2015
Allen/Nate		Barely wine		~12.8

• 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, June 13th at Clandestine Brewing in San Jose.

https://www.clandestinebrewing.com

980 S. 1st St. Ste. B, San Jose, CA

As a reminder, club dues are collected on a calendar year basis.
Becoming a paid member gets you access to the special members-only events we do through the year.

Agenda:

1. 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.
2. All-Club Picnic on August 17th. 
3. Future meeting locations.
4. Any other announcements or miscellaneous business.
5. 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 Clandestine.

Hello Sudzers!

We had a brief meeting last Sunday, June 8th, and we tasted seven great homebrews. Thanks to Ghostwood Kitchen and everyone who showed up.

• Regarding future meeting locations: Since Steins is still in business (with new ownership), Stepan will reach out to them to see if they are willing to host our meetings.
• Homebrew competition at Santa Clara County Fair: judging will be on July 26. Registration deadline for entries and judges/stewards is June 26. For potential judges/stewards: https://forms.gle/sV5B8YAs8cjdcJr28. For entries see: https://thefair.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Home-Brew-Competition-2025.pdf.
  • There was some discussion about doing a homebrewing demo at the fair. Members present thought it would a good idea to plan one for next year’s fair
• The beers we tasted:

Brewer	Beer Name	Beer Style	IBUs	ABV	Brewer Notes
Kevin S		American lager	17	4.7
Robert R		Hoppy Weissbier	22	5.1	34B, base style 10A; Mosaic and Mandarina Bavaria hops
Kevin S		Australian Sparkling Ale	36	5.8
Stephan	Red Ryeder	American Amber	54	8	Lost my chinook in the freezer so this is 100% Cascade
Allen M	Rocket Red	Red IPA	78	7.6	Half w/ IRC7 Thiolized Yeast
Sebastian B		Wild Specialty Beer		5.9	Mixed fermentation red ale with cherry puree and oak tincture
Nathan et al.	Club Brew	Biere de Garde

• 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, June 8th at Ghostwood Kitchen in Downtown Redwood City.

https://www.ghostwood.com

911 Main St, Redwood City, CA

As a reminder, club dues are collected on a calendar year basis.
Becoming a paid member gets you access to the special members-only events we do through the year.

Agenda:

1. 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.
2. Distribution of the club brew to anyone who hasn’t gotten theirs yet (Derek)
3. Quick update on Santa Clara County Fair Homebrew Competition (Derek)
4. Meeting locations for July and beyond.
5. Any other announcements or miscellaneous business.
6. 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 Ghostwood.

Hello Sudzers!

For our May 18th meeting, there was a presentation on thiols, and we tasted six great homebrews. Thanks to Clandestine Brewing and everyone who showed up.

• DOZE is organizing a homebrew picnic for all homebrew clubs in the Bay Area to be held in mid-August. Members present at the meeting expressed interest in participating.
• Allen Moore gave a presentation on thiols. The presentation prompted a lot of discussion. The slides are available on the Sudzers web site: http://www.sudzers.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Thiols.pdf:This was a follow-up to his presentation on hop oils that he gave last month: https://www.sudzers.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Hop-Oils.pdf. Note: other presentations can be found at: https://www.sudzers.org/presentations/
• The beers we tasted:

Brewer	Beer Name	Beer Style	IBUs	ABV	Brewer Notes
Kevin S	Easy Bitter	ordinary bitter	35	3.6
Nathan	Sneaky Strong	Helles	23	8.1
Derek	GBW (vintage 2016)	German Barleywine	75	10%
Harry		Wheat Wine	30	13.5
Kevin S	baby got back	Triple IPA	100	10.6
Allen Moore	Texas Tea	Imperial Stout (ADIS)	62	13.8	w/ Roasted Hazelnuts and Vanilla Beans

• 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/