Change of Venue for Monthly Meetings
We sent everyone a survey after our December meeting, which was held at the Boatyard Brewing Company, to rate everyone's experience and to see if BBC might be a viable location to hold our monthly meetings. The votes are in and there was a resounding YES. Starting with the January 20th meeting, we will be meeting at Boatyard for all our normal monthly meetings for 2014. We will still be holding meetings on the third Monday of every month and begin our formal announcements and presentation at 7pm. And you will still be welcome to bring in homebrew to share as long as we stick to our 3 oz. samples.
Our plan is to make full use of their space. If you attended the December meeting or have been to BBC before, their location is broken into two areas: the front which will be their future taproom and the rear which holds their beer production. We will hold our formal announcements and presentation in the front space and allow members socialize in the rear space with the door between closed. This should allow for everyone to get the most of our time each month and give our officers and monthly presenters the attention they need and deserve. And so we don't overstay our welcome, we want to wrap up and have everyone out the door by 9pm.
There were several recurring comments from our survey. Many members mentioned they took advantage of Old Dog Tavern's food offerings when we held our meetings there. We have spoken with Boatyard and they open to letting members bring in their own food. We are not looking to hold a full out potluck every meeting but if you want to bring snacks for yourself or to share, you are welcome to do so.
While Boatyard is still putting together their taproom, seating will be limited in the front space. If you know you would prefer to sit during our presentations, feel free to bring a folding chair. Once their taproom is fully operational, there should be plenty of seating moving forward.
Now we will admit that there were several members who were not fully sold on Boatyard. We hope that you will keep an open mind and give our new location a fair chance. If over time you still believe that this location isn't meeting the needs of our club, please let us know. The officers believe this is the best option for our club to grow and thrive. We also look forward to collaborating with another local partner in the craft beer industry that shares our values and interests.
January Meeting Presenter
We are still in need of a presenter for the January topic on lagering. You don't have to be an expert and it can be an educational experience to immerse yourself in a topic. If you are interested, please let us know.
More Information on the National Homebrew Conference
As we mentioned in a previous email, there have been a few updates from the AHA regarding the conference in June. And like with most things, more information can lead to more questions. We reached out to our local AHA representatives in order to get some straight answers.
The registration process will be open for a week in late February (official date still TBD) exclusively to AHA members. There will be no advantage to being first on the site. This is to avoid further system crashes as in recent years. During that process, you will be given the option to include a guest. That guest must also be an AHA member and would be fellow attendee. They are doing away with the special "social pass" tickets.
After the initial registration period, the AHA will take a look at the total number of registrants. The capacity for the event is 4000 so if the number is higher, they will conduct a lottery. Regardless of the outcome, everyone will be notified on March 12th and billed accordingly at that time. With all of this in mind, the AHA and KLOB are recommending that everyone register in pairs. Again, both attendees need to be AHA members prior to registration. If for any reason one or both people cannot attend, their tickets can be transferred to another AHA member.
Another aspect of the NHC is the annual homebrew competition. Registration for the competition will open January 27th and will remain open for a week, just like the conference. They are allowing for a total of 9,000 entries with a maximum of 6 per person. You can read all about the details of the competition on the AHA's site:
http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/news/2014-national-homebrew-compet...
Kalamazoo Beer Week
KBW 2014 is already well underway and there are plenty of fantastic events planned. You can see the full list of the KBW website:
http://www.kalamazoobeerweek.com/events-9/
Just a reminder that there will be a special KLOB Happy Hour discount at Bell's on Thursday, January 16th from 5 to 9pm. Make sure to have either your 2013 or 2014 membership card.