Homebrew clubs

[micsager]

I know, weird topic for the growing pro board, but bare with me a second.........

In 2008, me and a fellow homebrewer started our local club.  The closest previously was over an hours drive away.  Since then, he has stopped coming to meetings, so I'm the only "founding member" left.  A little over a year ago, a LHBS opened in our town, and we are having meetings there, and we've grown from 5-6 guys, to 20-30 folks. 

But then last July, I got a Brewer's Notice, and am selling my beer.  Obvisiously, can't enter a BJCP sanctioned homebrew comp. 

Last month, I was elected President of our club, and I've been one of the officers since this clubs inception.

I think next January I will decline any of the officer positions, and just be a member. 

How many of you have remained part of the leadership of your clubs, once you went pro?  Does it really matter?  Am I being silly by even asking the question?

[tschmidlin]

I've been taking a step back from all of the leadership positions in my clubs, but that was more because it was time to after the Seattle conference rather than because of my new job.  I don't think any of us can decide for you, it's a case by case thing.  I don't see any harm in continuing if you want to, but if you want to share the load then you should do so.  I think letting other people fill the roles helps the club, getting more people involved, as long as there are people who want to do the work rather than just wanting the title.

[denny]

Mic, AFAIK, you can still enter comps if you want to as long as you brew at home rather than on a commercial system.  Granetd that in your case that might be a bit difficult to define.

[micsager]

interesting Denny.  I thought I read somewhere htat the line was drawn at "equipment used to brew commercially."  And whil I use my same equipment for commercial as I did before, i think it's technically commercial equipment now. 

Tom, do you have a clue on this?  I think you're still chair of the Competition comittee, right?

[tschmidlin]

I don't think this falls within the scope of the competition committee.  I could be wrong, but here is my take on it:

Your homebrew equipment is now commercial equipment.  Any beer brewed with it would be ineligible to enter competitions.  Further, IANAL, but I don't think you can brew on it for personal consumption any more - everything brewed on that system has to be reported to the appropriate regulatory agencies, whether it is sold or dumped.

If you have another setup that is not your commercial setup, then you could brew on that and still enter competitions.  I've got 10 gallons of IPA dry hopping in my bathroom right now, brewed at home.  And 150 gallons of other beer in the fermenters, brewed at Bluebird.  So I could enter my IPA in a homebrew competition, but not the other beer (unless it was for a commercial competition like the GABF, WBC, WABA, etc).

[micsager]

Thanks Tom. 

The inspector from the TTB told us we could still go with the 200 gallon limit.  But instead of "homebrew" it's called "personal use"  And I've included that in my Operations Report to the feds.  So far, no one has said a word.

[tschmidlin]

Good to know you get the personal use beer (I seem to remember you mentioning that now).

Still, it's not homebrew.  How do you think people would feel if Beaux at Black Raven decided to enter some of his "personal use" beer in a homebrew competition?   Clearly it's a grey area with your equipment, but I think it falls outside the rules, if not explicitly, then implicitly.  So if you still want to enter homebrew competitions I would brew on different equipment, either at your place or at some club member's.

[micsager]

Yep.  That's what I was thinking too.  Maybe the biggest difference is I brew at least twice a week now.  Never did that much consistantly as a classic homebrewer.  And Brewing so often sure helps one get the process down to more of a sceince.  Which I know not everyone thinks is a good thing.   

[denny]

Yep.  That's what I was thinking too.  Maybe the biggest difference is I brew at least twice a week now.  Never did that much consistantly as a classic homebrewer.  And Brewing so often sure helps one get the process down to more of a sceince.  Which I know not everything thinks is a good thing.   

Yeah, that's what I was getting at.  If you had a separate setup for homebewing, I think you'd be OK.  But that would be kinda silly....

[dcbc]

Coulld he throw a cooler with a braid in the middle?  Would that be enough of a change without his having to buy all new equipment?  Just lawyering it a little.  Does it have to be a completely new setup, or just different enough?

[tschmidlin]

Who knows?  It's up to him.  Part of me says if he changes the process that is really new.  Part of me says if he uses the same equipment at all it's not cool.  As was pointed out in another thread, to some extent competitions are based on the honor system.

[nateo]

In collegiate cycling they let professionals compete. Obviously, they were really fast, and obviously, it really sucked to compete against them if you weren't a professional. So, I don't really think it's appropriate for probrewers to enter homebrew comps at all, regardless of what equipment they use.

[Jimmy K]

Coulld he throw a cooler with a braid in the middle?  Would that be enough of a change without his having to buy all new equipment?  Just lawyering it a little.  Does it have to be a completely new setup, or just different enough?

Most competition rules I've seen say that beer made on commercial equipment is disqualified. If it were my competition, I'd say using any of the same setup is not good. This is more about perceived fairness for other brewers who are going to know that swapping out a mash tun doesn't significantly change the setup. It's hard to say what would be enough in this situation, but it would probably be safest to just find a brew buddy, use his/her equipment for competition entries, and enter jointly.

[Jimmy K]

In collegiate cycling they let professionals compete. Obviously, they were really fast, and obviously, it really sucked to compete against them if you weren't a professional. So, I don't really think it's appropriate for probrewers to enter homebrew comps at all, regardless of what equipment they use.

Maybe part of it is what level of pro-brewer they are too. I know a brewer who worked at a commercial brewery and homebrewed every chance he got prepping to open his own brewery. I never gave a second thought to him entering his homebrew (made in his kitchen) in our competitions. But now that his brewery is open, I think it would be different.
By the way, he owns http://www.burlingtonbeercompany.com/

[micsager]

I think the "perceived fairness" doctrine holds the most weight here.  I assumed that when I got a Brewer's Notice, homebrew comps were a thing of the past.  And I'll live by that.  Even though I still use the same exact equipment, and other than normal incremental changes all brewers should experience, we changed nothing the day we started brewing beer for sale. 

My local club did allow me to enter our first club only competition.  And I KNOW there are at least two brewers in my club that are better than I, yet they do not brew for sale.