Our monthly Club Shop Brew is set for this Sunday, April 14th at 8:00 a.m. Mr. Ex-President and Mayfaire Best of Show Winner Steve Cook will take over leading the crew this month. He will lead a brewing of his famous Best of Show winning Hefeweizen!

The Joy of Mead

By Bruce L. Brode

I decided that it makes sense to cache these articles here on the website. 2013 up next!

Chasing Winter with Mead

By Bruce L. Brode

The occasion of our annual mead tasting came up on Sunday, March 19, just two days before the beginning of Spring. Yet it seems Winter was not quite done with us, due to a cold and wet storm moving through on Saturday which left us with cold blustery winds for Sunday. Some 48 of us managed to warm up with a plethora of interesting meads. Note that 2012 marks the 20th year of this tasting, which began in 1992.

Join us along with Sam Adams Boston Brewery

on April 27, 2013 for the
Sam Adams Tap Takeover @ 11:00 AM

We will bring you multiple Sam Adams beers on Draught some of which have never been served on draught before.

- Boston Lager
- Seasonal Ale
- Angry Orchard Crisp Apple
- Grumpy Monk
- Cherry Wheat
- Whitewater IPA
- Double Agent IPL
- New World Trippel
- Dark Depths
- Griffin's Bow
- Third Voyage
- Cherry Chocolate Bock

Buy a Pint, Keep the Glass!
Limited Supplies - come early to not miss on the glass ware!

It's time for the monthly club meeting! Remember we have no meeting in May, so this is your last chance to hang out with all of your friends at the Shop until June!

We welcome everyone with an interesting in beer and brewing.

This month's Grand Hydro topic will be: The Evolution of the IPA.

The tech demonstration will be: Dry Hop Sampling (trying out the new dry hopping experiment that's being promoted online)

Lunch will be Peter Sheppard's "Stuff Yourself" extravaganza with Stuffed Peppers and more! (for $6)

Come at noon! Have a beer and enjoy the show!

From Baylen Linnekin at Reason.com:

Craft Brewers Face Regulatory Challenges
As the annual Craft Beer Conference converged this year in Washington, DC, changing regulations are both helping and hampering the growing industry.

Golden Road is hosting Deschutes for a "Hats off to Homebrewers" event. From the website:

The Beer Hotel Rolls On

By Bruce L. Brode

On February 8, 2013, the Sheraton Four Points Hotel at Los Angeles International Airport demonstrated once again why it acquired the reputation of the “beer hotel” a number of years ago, and it has again risen to the occasion to burnish its image in the beer department.

Hey guys and gals, here is the April newsletter.

Crazy Harry's is hosting a Hangar 24 Tap Takeover on Wednesday March 27. We'll be pouring 7 Hangar 24 Taps:

Orange Wheat
Amarillo Pale Ale
Alt Beer
Double IPA
Nitrogen Chocolate Porter
Vinaceous - Made with Mouvedre Grapes and aged in Wine Barrels
Pugachev's Cobra - Imperial Stout brewed with Maple Syrup and aged in Whiskey Barrels. 15.8% ABV!

Come on out and Get Crazy!

http://www.justice.gov/usao/iln/pr/chicago/2013/pr0220_02.html

The US Attorneys office in Northern Illinois have charged two of America's largest honey providers and 5 individuals with illegally importing Chinese honey and selling it as honey from other sources.

The basis for the prosecution is on avoiding the tariff to prevent dumping of cheap Chinese honey. The tariff is based both on protection of domestic honey producers and the consumer, since Chinese honey has contained banned antibiotics and toxic metals.

If you’ve ever owned a growler, you know that its one downfall is that the beer immediately starts to degrade once you open it. So, if you’re a craft drinker who likes to get the most out of your brew (so, everyone), check out The TapIt Cap. This ingenious accessory easily transforms your growler into a mini keg by making sure it stays fresh and carbonated. Because there is nothing worse than flat beer, nothing.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1732077870/the-tapit-cap-the-beer-gr...

Our monthly Club Shop Brew is set for Sunday, March 17th ( yes, St. Patrick's day) at 8:00 a.m. Madam Ex-President Nancy Gold will take over leading the crew this month. She will probably bless us with another one of her fine IPAs.

Come Join us for the release of Firestone Sucaba on Draught!!

Meet David Walker from Firestone Brewing

Taste Some Award winning beers on Draught!!

We will be featuring the follwing beers:

Firestone Wookey Jack

Firestone Sucaba

Firestone DBA Unfiltered

Firestone Double DBA

Firestone PIVO Pils

More...

Draughts Restaurant and Bar

398 N. Moorpark Rd.

Crazy Harry's Bar will be tapping a cask of Hangar 24 Columbus IPA, dry hopped with Warrior hops and conditioned with Honey.  

20112 Saticoy St.,

Winnetka, CA

Here is the March Newsletter. 

Crazy Harry's is having a Ballast Point Tap Takeover Event on Wednesday, February 27th.  We'll be pouring six fantastic Ballast Point Beers including:

Yellowtail Pale Ale

Old Barmey Fruit Ale 

Fathom India Pale Lager

Big Eye IPA

Sculpin IPA

Sea Monster Imperial Stout

Please come join us!

Crazy Harry's Bar

20112 Saticoy St.,

Winnetka, CA  91306

At the corner of Winnetka and Saticoy

Just a heads up, it looks like UC San Diego Extension is going to offer a course in brewing.  I thought there may be some Falcons out there who are interested...

Visit extension.ucsd.edu/brewing

1 to 4 PM, Woodland Hills shop.  Lots of home-made meads, also a potluck buffet table.  Contact Bruce Brode for more information.  Email: hordeum_vulgare [at] yahoo [dot] com.  Phone:  (310) 558-8458.

This is my Chili that took 3rd place at the chili-cookoff on Sunday.  I won't share the Bigfoot that I won, but I will share the recipe for the chili.  Enjoy!

The Spices:

4 Big Pinches Kosher Salt

1/2 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes

1 Teaspoon Oregano

1/2 Tablespoon Chili Powder

2 Teaspoons Smoked Paprika

3 Tablespoons Cumin

The Rest:

1 Onion Diced Chopped

Everyone always want you to boil your hops in plain water in order to get a sense for what they taste and smell like, but there's a problem with that - you never experience your hops in just plain water. Malt imbues the wort with a number of different chemical processes that can affect the flavor and aroma contributions from a hop variety.

Here's my simple way of checking out what our hops are going to do. Now I make no bones about this - this won't quite be the same, but.. it's better than the old fashioned way of doing it.

My wholesale distributor, near Van Nuys Airport, has fresh berries in stock.

Raspberry $42.95 per case

BlueBerry $29.95 per case

Boysenberry $24.95 per case

Photo here:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/101431009392326407412

If you want some, let me know and I can bring them to the meeting on Sunday.

Some folks on the Yahoo list asked that I post some comments about my experience with creating a temperature controlled environment for fermenting a brew.

I have heard some great suggestions like put it in a closet and turn a little space heater up a little each day, and rotate a frozen milk bottle into the water bath each day for cooling, and these all sound good and not too time consuming, but I am more lazy than that.

I want to set a temperature profile, put my carboy in the tub, and come back in a week or two and keg it.

And so begins my journey...

Our monthly Club Shop Brew is set for Sunday, February 17th at 8:00 a.m. I will take over leading the crew myself this month. We'll brew a barleywine to help us compete against the Santa Barbeerians in the Surfliner Challenge.