Category: The Sudzers Blog

Logistical preparations were discussed for the AHA Big Brew Day event on May 4 at the MoreBeer store. Plans to brew 10 gallons of a Pliny the Younger clone recipe came together well, and there was a full lineup of homebrews ready to go on the club jockey box.

Our May 16 Thirsty Third Thursday was set for Trials Pub in San Jose. They typically bring in new British cask ales at the beginning of each week, but don’t tap them until they’ve settled midweek, so there should be fresh cask-conditioned brews on tap.

Club members were reminded about special guest Marin Kasper from Shmaltz Brewing who will speak and bring beers to share at the June meeting.

A San Francisco pub crawl with honorary Sudzer Pete Slosberg was tentatively set for June 8. More details to come.

The July Sudzers meeting will be moved to the 2nd Friday of the month, July 12, in order to avoid meeting on the July 4 weekend.

Co-president Tyler is coordinating an upcoming order of 8 gallon whiskey barrels from Woodinville Whiskey Co. Because of their production schedule, they will likely not have barrels ready to ship until early September. Contact Tyler if you’re interested in being included in a barrel order.

And, of course, plentiful homebrew tasting:

• Tom’s English Mild
• Audrey’s L.L. Apricot Wheat
• Derek’s Go Go Pale Ale
• Mike’s Two to Tango Pale Ale
• Rich’s Columbus IPA
• Rob’s IPA
• Anna and Fuad’s Citra SMASH IPA (in two versions, one with traditional dry hops and one with a vodka hop tincture added in secondary)
• Rob’s Brett IPA
• Joe’s J&J #2 Cider
• Tyler’s Oaked Dark Matter Imperial Stout
• Jim’s Pliny the Younger clone

Enjoy reading about the growth of the homebrewing hobby, the American Homebrewers Association Big Brew day, and the Silicon Valley Sudzers. Cheers!

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/35148-big-brew-for-national-homebrew-day/

Great article from the indomitable Andy Lee, including a shout out for the Sudzers’ participation in the AHA Big brew on Saturday, May 4. Cheers!

http://www.examiner.com/article/south-bay-beer-happenings-for-may-2013-and-beyond

Hello Sudzers!  Just a quick reminder that our next meeting is this Friday, May 3 at 7 pm at Nick’s house.  Need the address or directions?  Email moresimcoe@sudzers.org

Also, our club brew day to make 10 gallons of a Pliny the Younger clone and participate in the AHA Big Brew at MoreBeer in Los Altos is the next day! Big weekend of Sudzers fun!

Agenda for this month’s meeting includes:

7:00 Social Time

7:15 Club Business

• Big Brew Day event May 4
• Thirsty Thursday destination for May 16
• Shmaltz Brewing guest in June
• Slosberg pub crawl
• July meeting date
• Upcoming Woodinville Distillery whiskey barrel order

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, June 7 with our special guest from Shmaltz

Sharing a message from Vanessa at Giant Creative (the organization behind Silicon Valley Beer Week) – kudos to Gordon Biersch for 25 years of craft beer in the South Bay!

Please join us Saturday, May, 18^th 2013 to celebrate the 25^th  Anniversary of local brewing company, Gordon Biersch Brewery. Gordon Biersch Brewery has been a part of the San Jose community since 1990. We will be marking 25 years of brewing business with a fantastic selection of Gordon Biersch Brews, as well as BBQ from local restaurants Vung Tau, the Old Pro, and several fantastic BBQ food trucks: Mobowl, BBQ Kalbi, and The Rib Whip. Gordon Biersch will serve their famous Garlic Fries. We will kick the night off with a performance by the San Jose Jazz All Star Big Band. This performance will be followed by the spicy Latin rhythms of 19-piece Pacific MamboOrchestra, and finally end with Carlos Reyes’ group featuring vocalist Tony Lindsay from Santana.

The event is open to all ages, (so please feel free to bring the kiddos). There will be a craft root beer-tasting booth, as well as plenty of entertainment that the whole family can enjoy.

Admission is $10 and includes 6 tastes of Gordon Biersch beer or craft root beer and a commemorative glass. Advance tickets are available online. Additional Beer and BBQ will be available for purchase inside the event. Children under 5 years old are free.

Doors open at 2 pm, the event will be at Gordon Biersch Brewery at 357 E. Taylor Street, San Jose, CA 95112.

A small but enthusiastic crew turned out in Pleasant Hill for the Sudzers/Slow Hand BBQ Beer Competition today – 10 attendees had the opportunity to enjoy delicious bbq meats, and sides while judging the six beers brewed with malt co-smoked with BBQ meats back in January. Many thanks to Dan Frengs and the Slow Hand crew for their hospitality, event logistics, and great food!

Nine judges ranked the brews in seven categories, including appearance, aroma, flavor, mouthfeel, smokiness, degree to which beer pairs well with BBQ, and overall impression. In addition, one well-known judge by the name of “Tasty” did not complete the full scoring, but did offer his 1-2-3 rankings of the brews served.

In the “Smokiness” category, the top three scorers were:
1. Tyler’s Smoke and Mirrors Porter
2. Marcus’s Lunch Meat Altbier
3. Chris’s Angry Leprechaun Irish Red Ale

In the “BBQ Pairing” category, the top three scorers were:
1. Chris’s Angry Leprechaun Irish Red Ale
2. Tyler’s Smoke and Mirrors Porter
3. Derek’s McSwinerson’s Scotch Ale

In the overall score, the top three were:
1. Tyler’s Smoke and Mirrors Porter
2. Chris’s Angry Leprechaun Irish Red Ale
3. Derek’s McSwinerson’s Scotch Ale

And in the “Tasty” rankings, the top three were:
1. Santiago’s Smokin’ Wheat American Wheat
2. Chris’s Angry Leprechaun Irish Red Ale
3. Tyler’s Smoke and Mirrors Porter

Cheers to all for a successful and delicious event!

J&J Russian Imperial Stout, the first beer we tasted at the March Sudzers meeting, took 1st place among imperial stouts, and 2nd place in the Best of Show round out of 159 total entries in the Bridging the Gap competition sponsored by Greenbelt Brewers Association.

MoreBeer in Los Altos and the Silicon Valley Sudzers will host a brewing demonstration on May 4, 2013, as part of the 16th Annual AHA Big Brew celebration of National Homebrew Day.

Organized by the American Homebrewers Association (AHA), AHA Big Brew celebrates National Homebrew Day, honored on the first Saturday of May each year. AHA Big Brew brings together thousands of homebrewers from around the world, all brewing the same beers simultaneously. More than 5,000 homebrewers from North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, South America and Australia are expected to participate this year.  

On May 4, friends and family gather to brew – the AHA provides three AHA Big Brew recipes, but the Sudzers will be brewing a clone of the world-renowned Pliny the Younger triple IPA. At noon Central time, homebrewers raise their glasses of homebrewed ales and lagers for a simultaneous toast to homebrewing, a hobby that hundreds of thousands of people around the world enjoy.

“AHA Big Brew isn’t just about beer—it’s about companionship, friendship and the shared love of flavorful beer. This is a special day for those homebrewers who have been crafting their brews for those whose company they enjoy and cherish,” said Gary Glass, AHA Director.

We are delighted to announce that Marin Kasper, Western Regional Sales Manager for Shmaltz Brewing, will be a guest speaker for the June 7 Sudzers meeting. We do not know as of yet which Shmaltz brews she will be sharing with us, but stay tuned for updates as the meeting date gets closer.

Established in San Francisco in 1996 with the first batch of 100 cases of HE’BREW Beer® bottled, labeled, and delivered by hand, Shmaltz has sold more than ten million bottles of beer to date. Along with their acclaimed line of HE’BREW Beers®, Shmaltz introduced its new line of sideshow-inspired Coney Island Craft Lagers®.

From the outstanding Bittersweet Lenny’s RIPA (98 on ratebeer.com) to their newest release, the Rejewvenator Dubbel Doppel brewed with dates and figs, Shmaltz Brewing Company is dedicated to crafting delicious beer and delicious shtick… L’Chaim!

The third in a series of homebrewing workshops at local libraries will be presented by Derek Wolfgram of Sudzers and Andy Carroll of The Headquarters homebrew club at 7:00 pm on April 7 at the Gilroy Library, 350 W. Sixth Street in Gilroy. For the kids, there will be a soda-making program presented simultaneously by children’s librarians from Gilroy Library.

A download of the powerpoint presentation from the workshop is available: Backyard Brewing