Brewing Master

Question:

I thought I should interject a note as a representative for the AHA. In the 1995 AHA Membership Survey (mailed with the 1995 Winter Issue of Zymurgy), question number 43 asked "would you like the opportunity to vote for the AHA board of advisers" and the overwhelming response was "no" (68% of respondents did not want to vote for the board). The response for the survey was more than 10% of the AHA membership (which is above the standard response rate for surveys). We believe that we provided our entire membership base the opportunity to respond and we took into consideration your/their responses. Eight new board members will be announced in the Summer Issue of Zymurgy. I hope I have been clear that we listened to the majority of our members when deciding to ask members of the homebrewing community to serve on the Board of Advisors instead of holding elections.

This response seems to presume that the Board of Advisors has any real power over the AHA bureaucracy, or even that the AHA bureaucracy seriously listens to the Board of Advisors.  According to longtime AHA Board members I have spoken to, and my experience in dealing with the AHA, it does neither: it is simply window dressing.   If you disagree with my assessment, perhaps you can explain, for instance, why the AHA’s "Board of Advisors" was not consulted before the AHA bureaucracy decided to cancel its long-standing partnership with the HBWTA and attempted to take over the BJCP.  [As a point of disclosure, I did some pro bono work for the HBWTA in this dispute; specifically, I had to remind the AHA that while it was free to cancel its deal, it could not simply appropriate the BJCP name and other assets, as those were the property of the BJCP joint venture between the AHA and the HBWTA.] While you are speaking for the AHA, how about filling us in on a few other matters: 1. Who actually is empowered to hire / fire the AHA President?  [I believe it's the AOB President, right?] 2. Will you post the AHA/AOB financial disclosure information requested (and if not, why not). 3. Since the AHA is a subset of the AOB, tell us how the AOB’s officers and board of directors are selected.     The bottom line is this: who controls the AHA?  It appears that, from a corporate governance standpoint, it is controlled by the AOB, its parent organization.  Thus the next question: who controls the AOB, and how are these people selected?

Response:

: Look at the competition: : * Brewing Techniques – Great magazine, but mostly for those of us who :    have more than a few batches under our belts. Doesn’t pander to :    newbies, doesn’t get into goofy pictures of bearded guys, and :    doesn’t do extract recipes. These are all pluses for me (and probably :    you too) but let’s face it, at least 80-90% of the folks getting :    into the hobby aren’t in it for the long haul and they don’t care :    whether or not their knowledge grows–they want laughs too… Again, as Mark points out, we sometimes forget what it was like when we started brewing.  I have to admit that, when I started brewing, Zymurgy was, to me, an unimpeachable source of information.  My problem is that I outgrew the whole "Don’t Worry, Be Happy!" brewing mindset. I’m still not sure that’s a good thing. . . : On balance, I think the best magazine for most of the community is Zymurgy. : I think too that many of the complaints about Zymurgy’s editing is a lot : of hot air. Editing is an art that can always stand improvement, but the : frequent complaints are generally unwarranted and made by people who have : evidently never themselves edited anything. The editing at Zymurgy seems : to me to be up to professional standards. I haven’t complained about their editing; just have some concerns about the info they’ve passed over the last few years.  I can’t elucidate without grabbing all my back issues (Yes, I keep them as reference material), but much of the info, even recent, I consider bogus.  Considered against what I’ve gleaned from the local pros, Zymurgy’s info is found wanting.  However, it’s still plenty usable for beginning brewing. . . : Me too, but BURP is an exceptional club and most people in the country : do not have access to a club with anything close to that level of depth : and breadth. Tapping into BURP’s knowledge base is pretty impractical : for a guy in Wyoming…. I have to say that BURP is the *only* reason (okay, maybe Old Dominion, Victory Brewing, and Baltimore Brewing might play a small part) I miss NoVA/DC.  I’m currently a member in BURP and Sonoma Beerocrats and find several similarities, but one big difference.  Both clubs have a "core" group who’re really freaked on brewing, yet the Beerocrats don’t brew together very often.  I miss the comraderie of charging the tun with fellow brewers like I did with BURP, but there’s still a sense of "family" in both clubs.  I really am one of the luckiest people around. . .  I’ve been taught to brew by the likes of Tim Artz, Phil Seitz, Norm Dickenson, Rick Garvin, and too many others to list. . .   So, while I’m not enamored of AHA, they have supported homebrew clubs. And, without those clubs, I’d still be making Papazian beer in my kitchen. For that, I tip my hat to CP and the AHA crew.  Other than than, I remain skeptical. Charlie

Response:

<masssive mega-snip A couple of questions… Is there another organization ready to take over ’sanctioning’ of the beer competitions?  I guess the BJCP could handle that?  Are competitions even important to 90% of the brewers?  Is AHA really all this bad or did they just majorly screw up with a bad attitude.  Sounds like a bunch of smart young people, with degrees but little experience and less understanding of customer service.  Is this so???   What needs to be fixed?  Anything woth saving???  guys, a little help…I am sooooo confused.

Response:

: What are the reasons for staying in AHA?  To help promote the "hobby"? – : Don’t think that’s necessary, as there are plenty of brewers with more : joining the ranks every day.  To preserve our right to brew? – Nope, that’s : pretty much taken care of.  To receive Zymurgy?  Maybe, but it’s a pretty : sad excuse for a brewing magazing.  Lots of slick, glossy advertising, but : doesn’t approach BT for content.   Well, I think it’s not too hard to get 30 bucks worth of information out of Zymurgy over the course of a year. There are some things that, despite the griping I read here, I think they do quite well. Everyone knows about the AHA screwing homebrewers with their attempt to nuke the BJCP, and that’s not a sin to be forgiven quickly. Also, the Zymurgy special issue this year was unquestionably lame. But still, they do good things. Look at the most recent issue….great article, IMHO, by Ray Daniels about old ales. Looks like Ray really did some work on that and the info is easily worth a few bucks to me. Most issues have something like that. A few issues times a few bucks… Also, no other publication provides a sense of community at all, but Zymurgy has info bits on various club happenings, they list clubs, plus they have the only good competition calendar around—-I *like* entering and judging in competitions, so this last bit of info alone is worth at least a few bucks to me…easily worth at least the price of entering one beer in a competition. Look at the competition: * Brewing Techniques – Great magazine, but mostly for those of us who    have more than a few batches under our belts. Doesn’t pander to    newbies, doesn’t get into goofy pictures of bearded guys, and    doesn’t do extract recipes. These are all pluses for me (and probably    you too) but let’s face it, at least 80-90% of the folks getting    into the hobby aren’t in it for the long haul and they don’t care    whether or not their knowledge grows–they want laughs too… * Brew Your Own – Does pander to newbies, but has *no* sense of community.    No club list, no competition calendar, very poor supplier list (obviously    only those who have bought ads). Ignores BJCP. Also, very poor at keeping    brewers abreast of developments: no product or book reviews, and not even    the shorty "newly released" items that both Zymurgy and Brewing Techniques    do. BYO does seem to be getting an occasional solid article these days,    but I still feel that it trails distantly both BT and Zymurgy in terms    of quality articles and quality editing. I do hope they continue to    improve though… On balance, I think the best magazine for most of the community is Zymurgy. I think too that many of the complaints about Zymurgy’s editing is a lot of hot air. Editing is an art that can always stand improvement, but the frequent complaints are generally unwarranted and made by people who have evidently never themselves edited anything. The editing at Zymurgy seems to me to be up to professional standards. : Again, I think the best course of action is to bail AHA.  I got fed up : with watching membership dues go up with no increase in benefits to members : (who knows about CP and the ‘Inner Circle’?).  However, I did notice that : AHA officers were doing a lot of "educational" travelling to beer events, : conferences, etc. on our money.  This is all well and good, as they are : supposed to represent the membership at these functions.  Howsoever, how : many of them actually know/knew anything about brewing?  I suspect they : were travelling, eating, and drinking on member dues money with no : appreciable ROI.  In my line of work, we call this a boondoggle.   A lot of people feel the way you do, but I think Kinney Baughman’s post brings up some good points, especially that AHA has a good track record of supporting the growth of the homebrewing community (without them there would not be the breadth of information that we now know). I think Kinney’s right, and I think it is easy to justify the fairly small dues. : I learned more about brewing in one week with some of the BURP brewers : back East than I ever did from AHA.   Me too, but BURP is an exceptional club and most people in the country do not have access to a club with anything close to that level of depth and breadth. Tapping into BURP’s knowledge base is pretty impractical for a guy in Wyoming…. Cheers! —Mark

Response:

: I 2nd the request for this information. : I am an AHA member, and, in fact, demand it. I think the best thing to do is vote with your feet.  If you’re that unimpressed by AHA (as am I and a growing number of my associates), let your membership lapse and be done with it.  However, as a member you do have the right to demand disclosure of AHA/AOB governing documents. What are the reasons for staying in AHA?  To help promote the "hobby"? – Don’t think that’s necessary, as there are plenty of brewers with more joining the ranks every day.  To preserve our right to brew? – Nope, that’s pretty much taken care of.  To receive Zymurgy?  Maybe, but it’s a pretty sad excuse for a brewing magazing.  Lots of slick, glossy advertising, but doesn’t approach BT for content.   Again, I think the best course of action is to bail AHA.  I got fed up with watching membership dues go up with no increase in benefits to members (who knows about CP and the ‘Inner Circle’?).  However, I did notice that AHA officers were doing a lot of "educational" travelling to beer events, conferences, etc. on our money.  This is all well and good, as they are supposed to represent the membership at these functions.  Howsoever, how many of them actually know/knew anything about brewing?  I suspect they were travelling, eating, and drinking on member dues money with no appreciable ROI.  In my line of work, we call this a boondoggle.   I learned more about brewing in one week with some of the BURP brewers back East than I ever did from AHA.   Charlie Gow

Response:

: While you are speaking for the AHA, how about filling us in on a few other : matters: : 1. Who actually is empowered to hire / fire the AHA President?  [I believe it's : the AOB President, right?] : 2. Will you post the AHA/AOB financial disclosure information requested (and if : not, why not). : 3. Since the AHA is a subset of the AOB, tell us how the AOB’s officers and : board of directors are selected.     : The bottom line is this: who controls the AHA?  It appears that, from a : corporate governance standpoint, it is controlled by the AOB, its parent rganization.  Thus the next question: who controls the AOB, and how are these : people selected? I 2nd the request for this information. I am an AHA member, and, in fact, demand it. -Alan — as this email account will not be valid as of Dec 20th, 1996 http://alpha.rollanet.org/~mckay/brew/tips/

Response:

After a bit of additional investigation, I’ll add one more question for Ms. Bywaters: According to Scott Birdwell — a member of the AHA Board of Advisors since, I believe, its inception — the AHA BoA has been treated as a joke by its members since the 1991 AHA convention/national competition.

  The thing I’m very curious about is why the AHA Board of Advisors members agree to stay on the board if it is such a joke.  I would think that they would all resign in disgust.    Id love to hear some comments here from on-line board members.  Jeff? -Paul

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I thought I should interject a note as a representative for the AHA. In the 1995 AHA Membership Survey (mailed with the 1995 Winter Issue of Zymurgy), question number 43 asked "would you like the opportunity to vote for the AHA board of advisers" and the overwhelming response was "no" (68% of respondents did not want to vote for the board). The response for the survey was more than 10% of the AHA membership (which is above the standard response rate for surveys). We believe that we provided our entire membership base the opportunity to respond and we took into consideration your/their responses. Eight new board members will be announced in the Summer Issue of Zymurgy. I hope I have been clear that we listened to the majority of our members when deciding to ask members of the homebrewing community to serve on the Board of Advisors instead of holding elections. This response seems to presume that the Board of Advisors has any real power over the AHA bureaucracy, or even that the AHA bureaucracy seriously listens to the Board of Advisors.  According to longtime AHA Board members I have spoken to, and my experience in dealing with the AHA, it does neither: it is simply window dressing. If you disagree with my assessment, perhaps you can explain, for instance, why the AHA’s "Board of Advisors" was not consulted before the AHA bureaucracy decided to cancel its long-standing partnership with the HBWTA and attempted to take over the BJCP.  [As a point of disclosure, I did some pro bono work for the HBWTA in this dispute; specifically, I had to remind the AHA that while it was free to cancel its deal, it could not simply appropriate the BJCP name and other assets, as those were the property of the BJCP joint venture between the AHA and the HBWTA.] While you are speaking for the AHA, how about filling us in on a few other matters: 1. Who actually is empowered to hire / fire the AHA President?  [I believe it's the AOB President, right?] 2. Will you post the AHA/AOB financial disclosure information requested (and if not, why not). 3. Since the AHA is a subset of the AOB, tell us how the AOB’s officers and board of directors are selected. The bottom line is this: who controls the AHA?  It appears that, from a corporate governance standpoint, it is controlled by the AOB, its parent organization.  Thus the next question: who controls the AOB, and how are these people selected?

After a bit of additional investigation, I’ll add one more question for Ms. Bywaters: According to Scott Birdwell — a member of the AHA Board of Advisors since, I believe, its inception — the AHA BoA has been treated as a joke by its members since the 1991 AHA convention/national competition. At that time, the AHA bureaucracy decreed "bylaws" for the Board of Advisors, which pretty much provided that the BoA had absolutely no power.  According to Scott, since that time "most of the members don’t even bothering coming to the meetings anymore" because it’s a useless exercise. Ergo, how about posting the AHA’s bylaws for the Board of Advisors? Methinks it’ll prove *exactly* what I and others have been saying — the AHA BoA is a sham that has no power whatsoever in that organization, and control of that organization (read: who decides how the money of this tax-exempt, supposedly charitable, member-supported organization is spent) remains with the AHA bureaucracy (i.e., CP and those he has selected).

Response: