[narcout]

Not only that, but no elections speaks to me of not caring what the membership thinks. 

It isn't surprising to me that the concerns of those who depend on the craft beer industry for their livelihood would be prioritized over the concerns of hobbyists.

Do the BA and the AHA even share the same goals?  Every batch of beer I brew at home is 2 cases of (mostly SNPA) that I'm not purchasing.

[dbeechum]

That being said, is there enough left in this hobby to support a full-time standalone organization that could stand on its own two feet without the BA supporting it?

I think there is, but the "aims" need to change I think. Back when I first joined, I worked on the 2001 AHA NHC here in Los Angeles. We were thrilled that we had 500 people attend the conference! We were hot s***. The conference and its expenditures were scaled appropriately to that level of participation. And then of course, over time, it grew and grew and grew. In part due to efforts of the AHA and in part due to the natural evolution in the hobby.

The conference went from being put together by a local committee with guidance from the AHA staff, to being run by the AHA staff, to being absorbed into the BA Event Planning staff (i.e. the same folks who run GABF and CBC). I think that worked well when the conference was banging out attendance in the multi-thousands, but now that conference participation is waning (and it's not just a beer thing - it's down across many hobbies/industries - I haven't gone to a professional conference in years), I don't think the BA staff is the right choice for running it. They aren't setup to do "small".

Ironically, it's the same problem that big brewers faced around craft beer - they have the technical expertise to pull it off. ABI could make a dynamite {whatever style you could dream of}, but the people running the company would consider any beer brand that isn't selling 100K+ barrels/year a failure.

I feel like the org needs to be allowed to pull back and get more loose and hippy dippy grass rootsy like it started. I don't think these changes make moves in that direction.

[Skeeter686]

I'm not in touch with the politics of the organization, but I would be very disappointed to see the AHA diminished.  It was one of the sources I used when I first joined the hobby a few years ago.  Supposedly, they've also been pushing for a lot of reforms and I'd really love to see shipping of beer open up from the current, ridiculous restrictions.

I also believe that brewing and purchasing of craft beer are not exclusive of each other.  For example, a local brewery is very supportive of growing the hobby and is certainly taking a loss with the wort they're "selling" in support of National Homebrew Day this year.  (Last year's was actually free, but he's certainly not recouping his costs this year.)

BA and AHA should not be competitive with each other.

[Drewch]

I have no idea of how the AHA and the Brewers Association interact and whether the proposed changes are good or bad. I do think that a board size of 18 is unwieldy.

I agree with Richard.

[reverseapachemaster]

I understand the concept. The BA is an industry group that promotes the craft beer industry. For a while it made sense to have this small hobby as part of the fold expanding the scope of craft beer as a whole. There was alignment between expanding legal homebrewing, homebrewing as a pipeline into the industry and a built in consumer base for breweries. Now the industry is mature and well known. Homebrewing is legal everywhere (except certain parts of Alaska) and there isn't all that much that aligns a hobby association to the industry group. It doesn't entirely make sense to have hobbyists weighing into decisions that affect a $25 billion industry.

That said, this is a poor way to redefine the relationship. The AHA membership now has no real voice in the membership. The executive director is an employee of BA who is not subject to decision-making of the membership. The governing committee doesn't govern and has no authority. The membership has no meaningful voice. The BA has been diminishing the organization as a whole for several years and now seems like an afterthought to the BA. HomebrewCon is now literally a slapped on sideshow to GABF. This was an opportunity to let the AHA stand with some independence as an organization that supports homebrewers, clubs and homebrew shops. Now it just seems like a marketing wing of BA to sell BP books and figure out how to make HombrewCon/NHC a profit center for BA.

[tommymorris]

What are the value propositions for the AHA?

1. This forum
2. NHC (competition and conference)
3. Legal advocacy
4. Zymurgy
5. The website and recipe database

I like this forum.

I stopped competing years ago and for some reason I have never wanted to go to the conference (nothing against it).

What is left to do in advocacy? Most of the advocacy is related to craft beer causes not homebrew. Most of the advocacy needs to be done at the state level not by AHA.

I don’t read Zymurgy or any magazines actually.

I like the website. The recipe database is good.  I read some of the magazine articles when they are recycled onto the website front page.

I am not sure what my point is.

One of the main reasons I have stayed a member is when I lived in Mississippi Gary Glass flew there and helped us get the homebrew laws changed. I always appreciated that. But, that was 11 years ago now.

[dbeechum]

What is left to do in advocacy? Most of the advocacy is related to craft beer causes not homebrew. Most of the advocacy needs to be done at the state level not by AHA.

There is a lot of advocacy work left around "fair usage" - e.g. making sure it's legal to run a competition, festival, beer club meeting, etc. There was work being done on shipping homebrew via USPS, etc.

[Richard]

I am not sure what my point is.

I agree!!

[Andy Farke]

What is left to do in advocacy? Most of the advocacy is related to craft beer causes not homebrew. Most of the advocacy needs to be done at the state level not by AHA.

There is a lot of advocacy work left around "fair usage" - e.g. making sure it's legal to run a competition, festival, beer club meeting, etc. There was work being done on shipping homebrew via USPS, etc.

Given the trends, I don't see how any of this advocacy for homebrewers will be a priority for BA in the future. That's unfortunate, because I absolutely believe the larger BA resources will be necessary for any major changes in the stated issues (especially something like shipping via USPS).


I don't want to be pessimistic, but given the downturn in attendance at HomebrewCon, merger of the Con with GABF, moderate contraction of the hobby, and the niche nature of the hobby (especially compared to the economic weight of the large craft brewers), I am not really feeling great about the long-term or even medium-term prospects for AHA. Business is business, but from an economic standpoint, I am hard-pressed to see why BA would continue homebrewer support. I can only imagine homebrewers are a tiny fraction of the revenue for the organization, and (let's be realistic) a tinier fraction of beer drinkers.


I would be happy to be proven wrong, though!

[tommymorris]

I am not sure what my point is.

I agree!!

Thanks

[reverseapachemaster]

There is a lot of advocacy work left around "fair usage" - e.g. making sure it's legal to run a competition, festival, beer club meeting, etc. There was work being done on shipping homebrew via USPS, etc.

Is the AHA actively involved in legal advocacy? What was the last win the AHA secured in this field? My last memory of the AHA touting a win was working to sort out the California issue the legislature accidentally messed up but that was years ago IIRC.

[Drewch]

What is left to do in advocacy? Most of the advocacy is related to craft beer causes not homebrew. Most of the advocacy needs to be done at the state level not by AHA.

There is a lot of advocacy work left around "fair usage" - e.g. making sure it's legal to run a competition, festival, beer club meeting, etc. There was work being done on shipping homebrew via USPS, etc.

+1

[BrewBama]

I never understood the advocacy thing. I read about examples like assisting Mississippi and California listed as examples here, but then a while back I was told the AHA acts federally, that they don’t get involved in state politics.  I recall specifically being told the last thing a state wants is an outside organization coming in ‘helping’. Yet I read otherwise.

[dmtaylor]

I never understood the advocacy thing. I read about examples like assisting Mississippi and California listed as examples here, but then a while back I was told the AHA acts federally, that they don't get involved in state politics.  I recall specifically being told the last thing a state wants is an outside organization coming in 'helping'.

That is not accurate.  Gary Glass (of AHA) was instrumental in getting laws changed in probably a dozen states or more including Wisconsin.  I know this is true because I was involved with Wisconsin law changes, and I know he was a big player in it.

[BrewBama]

Which is exactly why I am confused.  I am glad they help. …but why tell me they can’t help?  Weird.