BrewDog
01-09-2008, 01:18 AM
From the WAHA (Washington Homebrewer's Association):
Fellow Washington Homebrewers,
We are writing you today in the spirit of elevating
the Washington homebrewing community to a new level.
We are privileged to live and brew in an area with
great locally grown ingredients, nestled where the
craft brewing movement took roots. We have a wide
variety of clubs and a respectable selection of
homebrew stores. As individuals and local
organizations, we have made some great beer and put on
some exciting events and competitions.
However, in the overall national scene, Washington
homebrew has been poorly represented. We have not had
a beer place in the second round of the National
Homebrew Competition for two years. Our laws
technically prohibit us from organizing any sort of
homebrewing event where people meet to share great
homebrewed beer. We have many clubs operating a few
miles apart from each other putting on lectures,
classes, and events, yet they don't have any idea of
what great things the others are doing.
Over the past year, the level of inter-club
communication has risen dramatically. Clubs have
begun to organize joint meetings to bring in higher
profile guests and promote healthy and vigorous
competition, all in the spirit of brewing better and
happier. These interactions promote the flow of
information, make better use of resources, and allow
us to take a better look at where the hobby is, where
it can go, and what we can do to get it there. With
improved communication and coordination, we can raise
the bar on homebrewing in Washington.
It is with these thoughts in mind that a cadre of
homebrewers representing a group of clubs have come
together to begin the organization of the Washington
Homebrewers Association (WAHA). The mission of this
organization is to:
* Promote Washington Homebrewing
* Foster Communication and Participation in
Washington's
Homebrewing Culture
* Recognize Excellence in Washington's Homebrewing
Skills and
Contributions to the Homebrewing Society
* Promote Washington's Image as a Homebrewing state
In order to pursue this mission, the WAHA has set some
initial goals for
programs:
* Centralized Washington Homebrewing Website
* One step access to find your local resources and
information on
how to get brewing and in touch with Washington's
homebrewing community
1 Club Locator and Profile Program
* Information on all of the different clubs in the
state and a
characterization of their activities (to be updated by
clubs)
* State-Wide Homebrewing / Club Event Calendar
* A central calendar where homebrewers and clubs from
around the
state can post homebrewing events, including regularly
scheduled club meetings, in order to identify
activities to participate in and prevent conflicts
* A forum for promoting dialogue amongst Washington
homebrewers
* Washington Homebrewing Mentoring Program
* Homebrewers around the state can volunteer to teach
beginning or
intermediate brewers in their area
* Educational Speaker Program
* Organized multi-club events aiming to bring a large
crowd to
hear an expert or guest speaker
* Washington Awards Program
* Bert Grant Award
* Recognition of the homebrewer who scores the most
points in
sanctioned WAHA competitions
* Washington Homebrew Club of the Year
* Recognition of the brewing skills and contributions
of
Washington clubs
* Washington Homebrewer of the Year
* Recognition of homebrewers who efforts help progress
the
Washington Homebrewing scene
* Legislative Action Coordination Program
* Coordination of the effort to reform our homebrewing
laws to
promote and nurture our hobby
* Judging Support Program
* Identification of BJCP judges willing to taste and
evaluate
local homebrewers' beer
1 Coordination of BJCP study group
scheduling
2 Representation of Washington
judges and support for judging education classes
* National Homebrewing Conference Preparation
* Organization for the effort to bring the National
Homebrewing
Conference to Washington
1 Event orchestration after
landing the conference
To that end, it has been recommended that the
following committees be
formed: Website Development, Awards, Legal, Publicity,
Competition, Education, Judging, and the National
Homebrewing Conference. For each of these efforts and
committees, we will need supporters from around the
state.
The ability to accomplish these goals will hinge on
the support of the homebrewers who want to see these
things happen. This is where the WAHA needs you. In
this initial effort, we need capable people to help
form and operate these beginning functions. Every
club has members with a wide variety of skills. Some
people may be great directors, some may have a lot of
great contacts, some may have legal and political
ties.
Some may be great webmasters and software engineers.
By pooling our resources and each identifying
candidates to help move these initiatives forward, we
can bring the best people together to promote
homebrewing in Washington.
A major area of concern which has already been
discussed is representation of Eastern Washington
clubs. The initial formative effort has been
comprised of Puget Sound area clubs; however, we have
spent much time discussing how to draw in the entire
Washington homebrewing community. We feel that with
ample e-communications and distribution of
responsibility to clubs outside the Puget Sound
region, everyone will have a great opportunity to
contribute.
We would like your club to designate a contact to act
as a liaison to the WAHA. The liaisons will represent
your club's ideas and link contributing members of
your club with the WAHA, while helping to steer the
WAHA in a direction that suits the entire WA
homebrewing community..
In addition, we would like to know what homebrew
stores you interact with so we may contact them for
participation in our effort. Networking of the entire
Washington brewing community will greatly enhance our
communication abilities and our ability to achieve our
goals.
The current contributors of WAHA have identified the
following core personnel needs for the organization in
addition to the club
representatives:
* Website / software designers
* Lawyers / legal advisors
* Political activists
* Publicity representatives
* Brewery liaisons
* Competition coordinators
* Brewing educators / skilled brewers
* Anyone else willing to help as needed
If you can find anyone in your club who can help with
these functions, we need them. We want to point out
that the WAHA is not intended to be a club, but a
coordinated effort working on behalf of the clubs and
Washington homebrewers. We want to help support the
best efforts of all of our homebrewers to improve
everyone's brewing and promote our hobby.
In conclusion, we ask the following things of you in
response:
* A sign of your support by designation of a club
contact (name,
phone number, e-mail address). Please send this to
waha@yahoogroups.com
* Suggestions for our path forward and organizational
goals
* Recommendations for individuals who can support the
aforementioned programs and identified needs of the
WAHA
* Any other comments or links which can help the WAHA
best serve
Washington's Homebrewing community
* Register with our Yahoo Group at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WAHA/ which will serve
as our initial discussion forum
* Consider attending our next meeting in mid-January
(will be
scheduled on the Yahoo Group calendar)
Please take the time to discuss this organization with
your clubs and talk about what you would like to see
and contribute. By using our best resources, we can
take Washington homebrewing to a higher level and
establish Washington as a homebrewing force. If you
have any questions, you can contact any of us for more
information.
Mark Emiley
On Behalf of the Washington Homebrewers
Association
206-251-1344
Steve Antoch - Mount Si Brewing Society
Jim Brischke - Greater Everett Brewers League
Mark Emiley - Boeing Employees Beer and Wine Club
Tim Hayner - Impaling Alers
Tom Schmidlin - Cascade Brewers Guild
Jerome Seipp - Seattle Homebrewers
Fellow Washington Homebrewers,
We are writing you today in the spirit of elevating
the Washington homebrewing community to a new level.
We are privileged to live and brew in an area with
great locally grown ingredients, nestled where the
craft brewing movement took roots. We have a wide
variety of clubs and a respectable selection of
homebrew stores. As individuals and local
organizations, we have made some great beer and put on
some exciting events and competitions.
However, in the overall national scene, Washington
homebrew has been poorly represented. We have not had
a beer place in the second round of the National
Homebrew Competition for two years. Our laws
technically prohibit us from organizing any sort of
homebrewing event where people meet to share great
homebrewed beer. We have many clubs operating a few
miles apart from each other putting on lectures,
classes, and events, yet they don't have any idea of
what great things the others are doing.
Over the past year, the level of inter-club
communication has risen dramatically. Clubs have
begun to organize joint meetings to bring in higher
profile guests and promote healthy and vigorous
competition, all in the spirit of brewing better and
happier. These interactions promote the flow of
information, make better use of resources, and allow
us to take a better look at where the hobby is, where
it can go, and what we can do to get it there. With
improved communication and coordination, we can raise
the bar on homebrewing in Washington.
It is with these thoughts in mind that a cadre of
homebrewers representing a group of clubs have come
together to begin the organization of the Washington
Homebrewers Association (WAHA). The mission of this
organization is to:
* Promote Washington Homebrewing
* Foster Communication and Participation in
Washington's
Homebrewing Culture
* Recognize Excellence in Washington's Homebrewing
Skills and
Contributions to the Homebrewing Society
* Promote Washington's Image as a Homebrewing state
In order to pursue this mission, the WAHA has set some
initial goals for
programs:
* Centralized Washington Homebrewing Website
* One step access to find your local resources and
information on
how to get brewing and in touch with Washington's
homebrewing community
1 Club Locator and Profile Program
* Information on all of the different clubs in the
state and a
characterization of their activities (to be updated by
clubs)
* State-Wide Homebrewing / Club Event Calendar
* A central calendar where homebrewers and clubs from
around the
state can post homebrewing events, including regularly
scheduled club meetings, in order to identify
activities to participate in and prevent conflicts
* A forum for promoting dialogue amongst Washington
homebrewers
* Washington Homebrewing Mentoring Program
* Homebrewers around the state can volunteer to teach
beginning or
intermediate brewers in their area
* Educational Speaker Program
* Organized multi-club events aiming to bring a large
crowd to
hear an expert or guest speaker
* Washington Awards Program
* Bert Grant Award
* Recognition of the homebrewer who scores the most
points in
sanctioned WAHA competitions
* Washington Homebrew Club of the Year
* Recognition of the brewing skills and contributions
of
Washington clubs
* Washington Homebrewer of the Year
* Recognition of homebrewers who efforts help progress
the
Washington Homebrewing scene
* Legislative Action Coordination Program
* Coordination of the effort to reform our homebrewing
laws to
promote and nurture our hobby
* Judging Support Program
* Identification of BJCP judges willing to taste and
evaluate
local homebrewers' beer
1 Coordination of BJCP study group
scheduling
2 Representation of Washington
judges and support for judging education classes
* National Homebrewing Conference Preparation
* Organization for the effort to bring the National
Homebrewing
Conference to Washington
1 Event orchestration after
landing the conference
To that end, it has been recommended that the
following committees be
formed: Website Development, Awards, Legal, Publicity,
Competition, Education, Judging, and the National
Homebrewing Conference. For each of these efforts and
committees, we will need supporters from around the
state.
The ability to accomplish these goals will hinge on
the support of the homebrewers who want to see these
things happen. This is where the WAHA needs you. In
this initial effort, we need capable people to help
form and operate these beginning functions. Every
club has members with a wide variety of skills. Some
people may be great directors, some may have a lot of
great contacts, some may have legal and political
ties.
Some may be great webmasters and software engineers.
By pooling our resources and each identifying
candidates to help move these initiatives forward, we
can bring the best people together to promote
homebrewing in Washington.
A major area of concern which has already been
discussed is representation of Eastern Washington
clubs. The initial formative effort has been
comprised of Puget Sound area clubs; however, we have
spent much time discussing how to draw in the entire
Washington homebrewing community. We feel that with
ample e-communications and distribution of
responsibility to clubs outside the Puget Sound
region, everyone will have a great opportunity to
contribute.
We would like your club to designate a contact to act
as a liaison to the WAHA. The liaisons will represent
your club's ideas and link contributing members of
your club with the WAHA, while helping to steer the
WAHA in a direction that suits the entire WA
homebrewing community..
In addition, we would like to know what homebrew
stores you interact with so we may contact them for
participation in our effort. Networking of the entire
Washington brewing community will greatly enhance our
communication abilities and our ability to achieve our
goals.
The current contributors of WAHA have identified the
following core personnel needs for the organization in
addition to the club
representatives:
* Website / software designers
* Lawyers / legal advisors
* Political activists
* Publicity representatives
* Brewery liaisons
* Competition coordinators
* Brewing educators / skilled brewers
* Anyone else willing to help as needed
If you can find anyone in your club who can help with
these functions, we need them. We want to point out
that the WAHA is not intended to be a club, but a
coordinated effort working on behalf of the clubs and
Washington homebrewers. We want to help support the
best efforts of all of our homebrewers to improve
everyone's brewing and promote our hobby.
In conclusion, we ask the following things of you in
response:
* A sign of your support by designation of a club
contact (name,
phone number, e-mail address). Please send this to
waha@yahoogroups.com
* Suggestions for our path forward and organizational
goals
* Recommendations for individuals who can support the
aforementioned programs and identified needs of the
WAHA
* Any other comments or links which can help the WAHA
best serve
Washington's Homebrewing community
* Register with our Yahoo Group at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WAHA/ which will serve
as our initial discussion forum
* Consider attending our next meeting in mid-January
(will be
scheduled on the Yahoo Group calendar)
Please take the time to discuss this organization with
your clubs and talk about what you would like to see
and contribute. By using our best resources, we can
take Washington homebrewing to a higher level and
establish Washington as a homebrewing force. If you
have any questions, you can contact any of us for more
information.
Mark Emiley
On Behalf of the Washington Homebrewers
Association
206-251-1344
Steve Antoch - Mount Si Brewing Society
Jim Brischke - Greater Everett Brewers League
Mark Emiley - Boeing Employees Beer and Wine Club
Tim Hayner - Impaling Alers
Tom Schmidlin - Cascade Brewers Guild
Jerome Seipp - Seattle Homebrewers