Ask not what your club can do for you; ask what you can do for your club.
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Longballa" <jlongb(a)ties2.net>
To: <brewers(a)borealbrewers.org>; "Northern Ale Stars"
<northernalestars(a)hotmail.com>; "Rum River Wort Hogs"
<rrworthogs(a)lycos.com>; <ctblist(a)cloudytownbrewers.org>;
<mba(a)thebarn.com>;
<mnbrewers(a)yahoogroups.com>; "St. Paul Homebrewers Club - Public Mailing
List" <Sphbc(a)sphbc.org>; <phc-club(a)yahoogroups.com>;
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<james_white(a)iname.com>
Sent: Monday, September 13, 2004 05:48 PM
Subject: [SPHBC Public] A Call to Arms (and Kettles) for MN Brewers
"Ask not what your club can do for you--
ask instead what you can brew for your club."
Ladies and Gentlemen--
For far too long (four years running!) the Quality Ale and Fermentation
Fraternity (QUAFF) from San Diego, CA, has had a stranglehold on the Club of
the Year competition at the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) national
convention. For the past four years, they are the only club to hoist the
trophy over their collective heads and receive the accolades that accompany
the honor of being AHA Club of the Year.
This year . . .
that changes.
This year, the brewers of the North Star state are going to take home the
prize. After all--it's much too warm in southern California to properly
ferment most styles; besides, we've got better brewers!
The challenge is this. We need many brewers to commit to brewing and
entering lots of styles. (New style listings attached) I will be in charge
of keeping track of who is brewing what, so that we can have numerous
entries per style. For those who are unfamiliar with the national
competition, each club earns points on a 6-4-2 basis for brewers from that
club who place first, second, or third in a style category at either the
first round (right here in MN in 2005!) or the second round. We would like
to see a few MN beers entered in each sub-category, so that when many of our
beers take places, we are garnering points all across the board.
Why the call to arms now? Certain styles will need to be brewed in the very
near future in order to be ready for the April contest. Additionally, we
need everyone thinking about what they will brew over the next eight months,
so that we can have MN entries in every sub-category. With the first round
being judged in the Twin Cities, MN brewers can save on some shipping, which
should increase the incentive to enter!
Your club can certainly enter beers under your own club's name, but here is
the second part of the request (besides the one that asks you to tell me
which styles you will be brewing so that I can send out requests for people
to brew styles that are not being covered)--
As some members of the MN Homebrewers club (MHBA)and the St. Paul club
(SPHBC) know, there is a friendly agreement between the MHBA and the SPHBC
that the club that has the most competition points heading into the AHA
national competition will be the club that will is listed as each brewers'
club on the entry forms, regardless of which club the brewer usually
associates with. In other words, if the SPHBC has earned some points in the
AHA club-only competitions (COC) during the year, while the MHBA has not,
then both clubs' members will enter the April AHA national contest as SPHBC
members. This way, one club receives many points, rather than two MN clubs
splitting some points and both clubs finishing far down in the Club of the
Year standings.
I am humbly requesting that all MN clubs (and maybe even the Prairie
Homebrewing Companions! :) ) consider entering the national competition
under the name of the MN club that has the most COC points going into the
nationals. There are five more COCs before April, and those points are
awarded on a 12-8-4 basis. If every MN entry had the same club name on the
national entry forms--and if MN was represented numerous times in each
category--well then, we just might have ourselves a trophy!
This is more than do-able; this is imperative! Many MN brewers entered
under the SPHBC banner last year, and the result was an impressive
fourth-place finish! With an even more concerted effort, the trophy comes
to Minnesota.
So--the bottom line is this:
Please look over the attached list of new Beer Judge Certification Program
(BJCP) styles (complete style guidelines at
www.bjcp.org) decide which
styles you can commit to brewing and entering, then let me know which those
are. Barleywines, Russian Imperial Stouts, Meads, sour ales, and other
larger or more need-time-to-mellow beers need to be brewed right quick!
Then, please consider entering into a friendly agreement that all MN brewers
will enter under one club name. At the moment, it would be MHBA or SPHBC,
considering that those two clubs have scored well in previous contests, but
the club name used on entries could be open for discussion.
QUAFF must fall--and we're just the brewers to make it happen. Please send
me the styles you are willing to brew and enter, then think about entering
under one club name when the time comes to register.
Thank you for your support of this concept, and I'll look forward to
tallying the hundreds of entries we'll be flooding the contest with!
Thanks again,
John Longballa
Coordinator, The Campaign to Bring the Club of the Year Title to Minnesota!
(CBCYTMN) ;)
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