Central valley or bay area members

In Fresno

Modesto home brewer here... anyone still around?

Yes I'm in modesto

Modesto brewer too!

That's awesome... where you you guys get your stuff? How often do you brew?

I buy most of my stuff at barely and wine. I try to brew cpl times a month

rahines08 said:

I buy most of my stuff at barely and wine. I try to brew cpl times a month

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I'm about the same. Haven't brewed since sept or oct though....switching to electric.

That's pretty cool... slowing switching to full all grain... need to upgrade equipment thou

When are you all brewing again?

Valley Springs here......

I'm going to be in the Bay area March 14 - 17, leaving on the 18th. If anyone would like to meet up for a pint, shoot me a PM.

Sonora brewer. We have a homebrew club: High Gravity Homebrewers.

We meet the first Tuesday of the month at 6:30 at the Standard Pour. Come check it out if you're around.

Pappers_ said:

I'm going to be in the Bay area March 14 - 17, leaving on the 18th. If anyone would like to meet up for a pint, shoot me a PM.

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Hey Pappers.... If you end up in Sonoma hit up Sonoma Springs new location. Some good beers and even a couple sours. If you do I'd be up for a pint that Monday for sure! I check this site everyday...hit me up!

Gotta hit Russian River if you ate that close and I'd try heretic brewing... not to far away and great beers in my opinion

Pappers_ said:

I'm going to be in the Bay area March 14 - 17, leaving on the 18th. If anyone would like to meet up for a pint, shoot me a PM.

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What part of the Bay Area ? I live about 5 minutes from heretic. Good stuff. As you surely know lots of good beer choices around the bay. Let me know if you want any suggestions.

wallybangbang said:

What part of the Bay Area ? I live about 5 minutes from heretic. Good stuff. As you surely know lots of good beer choices around the bay. Let me know if you want any suggestions.

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I'll be staying north bay, near San Rafael, but driving all over the place. Has St. Jamil put in a taproom for Heretic?

Pappers_ said:

I'll be staying north bay, near San Rafael, but driving all over the place. Has St. Jamil put in a taproom for Heretic?

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Yes they have a full taproom. I don't go there as much as I should, having a 2y/o and a newborn has cut into my going out time. plus I mostly drink Homebrew anyways. I get off work at 5 everyday, would love to meet up for a pint with a HBT Mod. Let me know if you are in the Fairfield area.

Pappers_ said:

I'm going to be in the Bay area March 14 - 17, leaving on the 18th. If anyone would like to meet up for a pint, shoot me a PM.

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You need to hit up Lagunitas... If not for the beer then just the general ambiance. Check their website, they offer tasting yours during the week (hey, free beer right)? Russian River brewing is also well worth a visit. I also like Sonoma Springs... As others have said lots of choices! Closer to you are Marin Brew Co and Moylans (sister breweries). Honestly not my favorite BUT very close drive.

Enjoy your trip to the bay!

Went to Moylands the other day and they do have good food for sure. Tried a tripe IPA there and it was great.

normonster said:

Went to Moylands the other day and they do have good food for sure. Tried a tripe IPA there and it was great.

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I went and did lagunitas, rr, bear, and moylans a few years ago and moylans was my favorite of the bunch. On of there triple iPas is hopsickle and when I went they had that on cask and it was fantastic! They also make an ipa called hop craic and that's really good.

lupulinaddict said:

I went and did lagunitas, rr, bear, and moylans a few years ago and moylans was my favorite of the bunch. On of there triple iPas is hopsickle and when I went they had that on cask and it was fantastic! They also make an ipa called hop craic and that's really good.

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Hopsickle...that was the one. Not bad at all.

lupulinaddict said:

I went and did lagunitas, rr, bear, and moylans a few years ago and moylans was my favorite of the bunch. On of there triple iPas is hopsickle and when I went they had that on cask and it was fantastic! They also make an ipa called hop craic and that's really good.

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Wow, I honestly haven't been there in probably a decade. It sounds like maybe I need to return! It's only 5 min from my office.

I'm moving to Visalia in July. I have a feeling I'll need to homebrew just to have good beer!

bierdeblanche said:

I'm moving to Visalia in July. I have a feeling I'll need to homebrew just to have good beer!

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I'm in a brewery black hole just a few hours north of Visalia but the distributors are pretty good at bringing great beer up. I think you'll have a great selection off the shelf or on tap in restaurants and bars. And if your willing to drive you're pretty close (closer than Kansas) to some world class breweries.

Pappers_ said:

I'll be staying north bay, near San Rafael, but driving all over the place. Has St. Jamil put in a taproom for Heretic?

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Pappers,

Where did you end up making it to on your trip? Ive been pretty busy, sorry I didn't PM you.

Oakdale here, just joined a few weeks ago

TheBigDebowski said:

Oakdale here, just joined a few weeks ago

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Welcome!

Hey yall. Fresno here!!

Howdy central valley. Manteca here. Brewing a honey double 9/22

Y’all working on any brews at the moment? My mocktoberfest ale has about a week left priming, and I have a tangerine blonde recipe on the way from northern brewer.

Bakersfield here.

I have a Pivo Grodziskie that's crashing. Next on deck will be a Kentucky Common.

bierdeblanche said:

I'm moving to Visalia in July. I have a feeling I'll need to homebrew just to have good beer!

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There is a ton of good beer to be had around Visalia and TCHOPS is an outstanding homebrew club!

Rozis on Lovers Lane and EZMart Liquor are the best bottle shops. I only go to BevMo if I am looking for imports.

For microbrews, you can hit Brewbakers, Sequoia Brewing and Barrelhouse in Visalia, Kaweah Brewing in Tulare, Rocky Hill Brewing in Exeter, or Three Rivers Brewing in... Three Rivers.

They also have great taps at The Planning Mill, Howies Pizza, Pita Kabob Gastropub, and PhD. Fatte Albert's Pizza in Hanford is worth the drive.

Has anyone been to Admiral Maltings in Alameda, CA? I like the idea of using locally grown and malted grain. I sent a message to them via their web page query form asking if they could sell in single sack quantities direct from the malthouse door, but never got a reply. I can well understand if they don't want to mess around with such small quantities but was wondering if anyone had done the maltings tour and if they said anything then about small quantity (50lb) retail?

Monterey Bay here

rjs3273 said:

Has anyone been to Admiral Maltings in Alameda, CA? I like the idea of using locally grown and malted grain. I sent a message to them via their web page query form asking if they could sell in single sack quantities direct from the malthouse door, but never got a reply. I can well understand if they don't want to mess around with such small quantities but was wondering if anyone had done the maltings tour and if they said anything then about small quantity (50lb) retail?

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Funny you ask because I called them today and spoke with Dave.

Short answer yes, they do he told me.

Would recommend callling them
In advance to check how much they have in stock.

Was told they are currently out of feldblume until 2nd week of October.

Sounds like they offer tours on weekends.

Only malthouse I know of in California.

I will make the drive in a few weeks
From the Sacramento area to check it out and buy some sacks
Of malt.

Looking forward to it.

6Tap said:

Funny you ask because I called them today and spoke with Dave.

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Thanks, 6tap. That's good news. At the moment I have grain left for one batch and then I'll be giving them a call.

6Tap said:

Funny you ask because I called them today and spoke with Dave.

Short answer yes, they do he told me.

Would recommend callling them
In advance to check how much they have in stock.

Was told they are currently out of feldblume until 2nd week of October.

Sounds like they offer tours on weekends.

Only malthouse I know of in California.

I will make the drive in a few weeks
From the Sacramento area to check it out and buy some sacks
Of malt.

Looking forward to it.

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I’m curious what the price is buying direct. Last time I was at morebeer they had bulk sacks for sale. Price I was around 70, I think.

Its not cheap. I am of the opinion you are likely to get similar quality going with the uk malsters, but at better price. But if your goal is to be local, then they're the only game in town(state).

Speaking as a Brit myself I will happily accept your suggestion that we produce great malt. I certainly do not, but it is nice to imagine my compatriots know what they are doing. I doubt it often enough.

I agree on the price. I don't expect buying direct will be any cheaper than retail at all. I just fancy the idea of going to do their malthouse tour, having a beer in their tap room and then bringing my grain home with me. I do think it is good to try and support local industry where I can though I doubt my principles are strong enough that I would ever get to the point of using them exclusively.

rjs3273 said:

Thanks, 6tap. That's good news. At the moment I have grain left for one batch and then I'll be giving them a call.

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Closing the loop on this, I finally made it to Admiral Malting. I definitely recommend it if you are in the area. There is not much to the free tour, but what can you expect; a steeping tank, a floor and a kiln. I have seen "floors" before! As brief as the tour may be, I am certainly glad I went and it was well worth the admission price (free). It's nice to see it all in person. The tap room has large windows overlooking the malting floor and you can sit and drink your beer while watching the barley do its thing. (It doesn't actually do much except sit there on the floor.) I couldn't say that I learnt anything at all new from the tour, but I enjoyed it and the staff in the taproom were well versed in their beers and keen to talk about the different malts.

I had not been to Alameda before either, which was an interesting town and worth a little walk around. The maltings is on the decommissioned naval air base where many of the hangars have been repurposed to civilian use, mostly distilleries and wineries it seems. Good views across the bay too.

If your main goal is to buy malt, I'd suggest trying to go in week-day working hours. We were there over a weekend and despite having called in advance to make sure they had the malt, when I got there none of the staff knew where to get it or what was available. (That's not meant as a criticism. They are really there to run the taproom and they did that well.) I did eventually get my sack after the fourth person I spoke to. I just kept asking different people until I got the answer I wanted. As SanPancho says above, it is not cheap. Talking to their sales office, they say they deliberately do not want to undercut the local homebrew shops that retail their malt, which seems perfectly fair to me.


Me looking decidedly shifty... 'The Rake'