Brewing in Los Angeles

Hey,

Any fellow homebrewers in or around the Culver City area?

Santa Monica here

brewing has been severely limited by my daughter's birth in Oct

terrapinj said:

Santa Monica here

brewing has been severely limited by my daughter's birth in Oct

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Hey! Good to meet you and congrats on the baby!

I'm curious to hear some tips that another west sider might offer. I just got into brewing recently and have a couple batches already in the works. Figure we can compare notes.

I'm betting your neighborhood gets about the same kind of weather as I do in Culver City. It gets into the 50's during the "winter" at night, and probably about as hot as 85 in the dead of summer.

What do you use for temperature control during fermentation?

i started with a water bath and frozen water bottles but it was too hard to maintain temps in the middle of summer

i bought a used minifridge off craigslist and made some conversions to fit a ale pale in there so I use that with a a419 temp controller

never had issues brewing in winter, the house usually doesn't get cold enough inside to impact the ferm temps

I buy most of my grain, yeast and misc supplies at Culver City HB but for big purchases and hops I shop online for much better pricing and selection

terrapinj said:

i bought a used minifridge off craigslist and made some conversions to fit a ale pale in there so I use that with a a419 temp controller

never had issues brewing in winter, the house usually doesn't get cold enough inside to impact the ferm temps

I buy most of my grain, yeast and misc supplies at Culver City HB but for big purchases and hops I shop online for much better pricing and selection

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Nice, I will have to keep an eye out for a fridge. Seems like this forum has a good pool of info on hacking them to work, at least enough to take away most of the worry factor.

CCBS is a great spot and (for the most part) those guys are all good to deal with. I like going in there to pick my own recipe. If you don't know already, they man that store randomly regardless of their posted hours. Superbowl Sunday they were staffed until 4!

How about your favorite craft beer spots? My local go-to is Waterloo & City restaurant. Good selection of beers and one hell of a menu if you're into charcuterie and cheeses.

The staff at CCHB is very hit or miss for me, a few love to help, one hates to be bothered and another always insists you are wrong and he knows best. I tend to go in prepared with my own answers

I don't go out drinking too much but these are my go to spots locally:

Daily Pint

Library Ale House

Steingarten LA

I haven't been to Waterloo and City yet but someone was just telling me to check it out

Ha! You nailed the assessment of CCBS and I think I know exactly who you are talking about. Seems that I get better service in there when it's 1:1. The more staff on site, the more awkward it gets.

I've done the Daily Pint but not the others - Will have to try em out.

If you do head over to Waterloo, let me recommend the beef Wellington. It's kickass with a glass of La Fin du Monde on the side. They make a lot of good "fancy" stuff too -- Never thought I'd say it, but I do look forward to their whipped chicken liver.

Good stuff. When you get brewing again let me know, I'd love to trade product!

Hey guys, fellow homebrewer here from the south bay area! Inglewood to be exact. Just started home brewing about a month ago and have two brews under my belt.

Seeing if anyone is up for a beer swap some time?

Im in! When and where?

i could be down

I shop at CCHB's store in Eagle Rock from time to time since it's close to where I live but I prefer the Home Beer, Wine and Cheesemaking Shop in Woodland Hills, which is very close to where I work. The entire staff at HBWCS is great, they have an awesome bulk grain card ($1.00/lb for 2-row, $1.40/lb for everything else), and they have a lot of nice gear in stock. To compare, I'd say CCHB has a better selection domestic malts while HBWCS has a better selection of imported malts. It's great to have both as local options.

jwalker1140 said:

The entire staff at HBWCS is great, they have an awesome bulk grain card ($1.00/lb for 2-row, $1.40/lb for everything else), and they have a lot of nice gear in stock.

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Didn't realize HBWCS had a bulk grain card. How does that work?

Culver City offers a card as well (idk about eagle rock) - you pay for 50lbs in advance to get the discount and they just check it off each time - but the prices are higher - i think it's $/lb 2row, $1.50/lb domestic and 1.6 /lb imported - can't recall what the specialty malts are maybe 1.75/lb but that one is sold in 15lb increments i think

i'd like to make it to the shop in Woodland hills - heard nothing but good things

B2Barleywine said:

Didn't realize HBWCS had a bulk grain card. How does that work?

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The card is $50 and they just mark it down every time you make a purchase. The great thing about this card compared to the CCHS card, aside from the price, is that you can use it for all grains. You just weigh out your grains, tell them how many pounds of domestic 2-row and how many pounds of everything else and they subtract it from the balance on your card. Super easy and convenient. I seem to recall at CCHS you have to buy separate cards for base malts and specialty malts, but I could be wrong about that.

jwalker1140 said:

The card is $50 and they just mark it down every time you make a purchase. The great thing about this card compared to the CCHS card, aside from the price, is that you can use it for all grains. You just weigh out your grains and tell them how many pounds of domestic 2-row and how many pounds of everything else. Super easy and convenient. I seem to recall at CCHS you have to buy separate cards for base malts and specialty malts, but I could be wrong about that.

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correct - different cards for each type of grain at CCHS

so they just mark more off dep on the type of grain?


speaking of CCHS - anyone have any idea when they will open up again?

terrapinj said:

so they just mark more off dep on the type of grain?

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Right. If you buy 10 lbs of 2-row and 1 lb of Munich, they would subtract $11.40 from your card. It's nice not having to manage separate cards.

Excellent, thanks for the info.

I love the HWBCS in Woodland Hills! I'll probably be heading up to that store in the next few weeks to pick up some ingredients so if anyone wants to meet there I'd love to bring along some homebrews. Didn't realize they have a bulk grain card, but I'll have to check that out. And no word on CCHS opening back up, but I don't' mind trekking up to HWBCS from Santa Monica.

@terrapinj - i'll pm you if you want to meet somewhere closer to swap any brews

Pacific Palisades here. I'm 20 and have been brewing for a few years for my parents and their friends.

Looks like CC is still closed. I think I'll be heading up to Home Wine Beer and Cheese later after work. I'll bring a few homebrews along, but figured I'd see if anyone had any plans of going there.

Hey I'm over here in Culver City!

Checking in from West LA.. Homebrewing career started right when CCHB closed for renovations, and don't wanna make a trek up to Eagle Rock or over to the valley, so I've been buying only online.

I'm in on a brew swap once I get my first batch conditioned.. which should be in ~3 weeks

North Hollywood here,

I have some questions for ya'll...

1. What's the best water in LA?

2. I'm buying my first keg. Probably 2.5-3 gal, but may go 5 gal depending on price. Should I go to CCHB or online?

3. Anyone know any cheap kitchen supply stores? I'm looking for spoons and strainers.

Thanks!
SBD

i'd guess that most of the tap water is somewhat similar in LA - i usually mostly Reverse Osmosis water mixed with tap

you'll def do better online or craigslist for kegs than you will at CCHB - 5gal will be much easier to find used and much cheaper

i grabbed my colander at TJ maxx but i rarely use it for homebrewing as it just clogs up too quickly with hops post boil or grain from steeping

Just my opinions...

1. Looking for the best water in LA is kinda like looking for the best smelling fart. Our tap water is pretty hard so I almost always cut it with some RO water from a dispenser and add lactic acid and CaSO4 and/or CaCl2. And the tap water in Glendale is treated with chloramines so I also hit it with some potassium metabisulfite (which I always have around for wine making). For something like a pale ale, I might use 50% RO. I might use more for a lighter style and less for a darker style.

2. I'd probably try the shop in Woodland Hills for keg stuff, or make a road trip to MoreBeer in Riverside.

3. On your way there, stop at Star Restaurant Equipment on Sepulveda in Van Nuys for spoons and strainers.

Brewing a Christmas Ale this weekend.. thinking 100% RO water from a store machine since I have no idea on what my West LA water does to beer (still fermenting first batch). Thoughts?

Haha! I used entirely unfiltered LA tap on my first brew about a year ago. Came out tasting like toxic farts! Since then, I've bought bottled spring water. Which gets pricey. I'll look into RO water...

Thanks for the tips, guys!

Dave, what city was that water out of? And was that extract or AG?

Worts -- I used LA city water (in Eagle Rock) and extract. It was an Allagash-style belgian white, which was way too complicated for a first brew. The reason it tasted so bad may have been because it fermented at too high a temperature, or because of poor cleaning on my part. Either way, I've stopped using tap water since then.

I've only used my filtered water from my sink and they've turn out great for both extract and all-grain.

Tasted the uncarbed APA after taking a hydrometer reading at 11 days into fermentation. Tasted far from toxic farts, so that's good. Unfortunately it's sitting at 1.019FG where the beer math puts it closer to 1.012, which means about 66% attenuation. Planning to bottle this weekend if it's still sitting at 1.019.. I'll chalk up the poor attentuation to poor oxygenation at pitching (didn't shake it violently enough).

jwalker1140 said:

Just my opinions... 1. Looking for the best water in LA is kinda like looking for the best smelling fart. Our tap water is pretty hard so I almost always cut it with some RO water from a dispenser and add lactic acid and CaSO4 and/or CaCl2. And the tap water in Glendale is treated with chloramines so I also hit it with some potassium metabisulfite (which I always have around for wine making). For something like a pale ale, I might use 50% RO. I might use more for a lighter style and less for a darker style. 2. I'd probably try the shop in Woodland Hills for keg stuff, or make a road trip to MoreBeer in Riverside. 3. On your way there, stop at Star Restaurant Equipment on Sepulveda in Van Nuys for spoons and strainers.

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Hey jealker1140. How many grams of which water softener do you use per mash? I want to try softening my water (west LA tap). I want to see what it does to my beers since right now im just using straight from the tap with some campden tablets. Also what happens it i tun my water through a carbon filter?

zero_gabe said:

Hey jealker1140. How many grams of which water softener do you use per mash? I want to try softening my water (west LA tap). I want to see what it does to my beers since right now im just using straight from the tap with some campden tablets. Also what happens it i tun my water through a carbon filter?

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It depends on the recipe, but for my last American pale ale I used 3 gal RO, 4 gal tap, 2 grams calcium chloride and 2 ml lactic acid. That gave me an estimated pH of 5.5, calcium of 57 ppm, chloride of 95 ppm and sulfate of 100 ppm. I use the EZ water calculator to dial it in. I heard on some podcast that Firestone-Walker shoots for 100 ppm chloride and sulfate, and this seems to work well for most of the styles I make.

Can't answer your question re: filters. I should probably take another look at them, but for whatever reason I decided some time ago that buying RO water from a dispenser at $0.25/gal made more sense for me. YMMV. Separately, you may want to consider buying a small jar of potassium metabisulfite when you use up your campden tablets. Same thing, but cheaper and easier to work with, IMO, especially if you can weigh out grams.

zero_gabe said:

Hey jealker1140. How many grams of which water softener do you use per mash? I want to try softening my water (west LA tap). I want to see what it does to my beers since right now im just using straight from the tap with some campden tablets. Also what happens it i tun my water through a carbon filter?

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Cutting with RO water can help deal with our water hardness-alkalinity issues we have here in l.a. A carbon filter won't do much for either of these issues. It is however handy to remove chlorine. If you're doing extract, that's all you really have to worry about. If you're doing all grain, you may want to look into RO.

B2Barleywine said:

It is however handy to remove chlorine.

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But unfortunately most tap water in the LA area contains chloramine rather than chlorine, and run-of-the-mill filters won't get rid of it. Odds are you'll still need to dose your filtered tap water with potassium metabisulfite.

APA has bottle conditioned for a week, so I put a bottle in the fridge for 4 hours to carbonate and cracked it yesterday.. Little sweet for an APA (didn't aerate enough and the yeast attenuated a little poorly), but I'm looking forward to sharing it in a swap!

You should be able to find your water report online. I am in Claremont and Golden State Water is my provider. They keep the data online. Google "ez water", there is a free spreadsheet that will do the calcs for you.

I put a Pur charcoal water filter on my faucet and that helps. Campden tablets take care of the chloramine. The water is about ph 8, so darker ales and stouts which use some roasted barley generally perform a little better. A few ounces of acidulated malt will lower the ph. Boil your strike water first will also soften it. Palmers "How to Brew" has a good chapter on it.

Another way to get rid of chloramine is to fill you carboy and set it in a sunny area for a few days. Its a photosensitive chemical.

michael_mus said:

Hey,

Any fellow homebrewers in or around the Culver City area?

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Make MONEY selling me your finished grains after brewing INSTEAD of throwing them away. I need them for my chickens. contact me at calenet@yahoo .com. Thanks! Jeff