An American Homebrewers Association Membership Rally is Coming to a Brewery Near You
I’ve been a member of the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) for several years, but for fewer years than I have been brewing beer. Not long after I started homebrewing beer, my wife and I joined a local homebrew club. Our membership in the local club was disconnected from membership in the AHA. The local club was affiliated with the AHA, but individual membership in the AHA was something separate and extra. I don’t remember exactly why we eventually joined the AHA. There are two possible reasons: (1) my sense of completeness and a general desire to do things right, and (2) we saw Paul Gatza, (then) the director of the AHA (Gary Glass is the current director of the AHA), speak at one of the beer competitions we attended in Florida, and possibly it was something he said that made us want to join. What would have convinced me was realizing how much political lobbying the AHA does on behalf of homebrewers to help craft laws favorable to homebrewing.
Here’s how the AHA describes it’s mission:
The AHA is the national organization for homebrewers and beer enthusiasts! We’re about promoting the community of homebrewers and empowering them to make the best beer in the world. We are deeply passionate about all aspects of homebrewing and beer culture: technical, artistic, sensory and social.
The biggest incentive for me to join my local homebrew club was the social aspect. At the first club meeting I attended I met some really nice people who made me feel welcome and, best of all, we had something to talk about that we were all excited about—beer. As a result of hanging out with a bunch of friendly brewers I learned a lot about brewing beer at home and had a huge incentive to keep brewing.
When I saw the announcement for the recent AHA Membership Rally at the Brooklyn Brewery (held on April 22nd), I was primarily lured there by the prospect of getting to see the Brooklyn Brewery and getting to sample some of their beers at the source. I was not disappointed. I’ll tell you all about the experience in a future post, but I wanted to give you a heads up about the upcoming AHA Membership Rally to be held at Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon on April 29th. If you live any where near Bend, Oregon and think you might be interested in brewing beer or just talking to some professional brewers and getting to taste their works of liquid art, find a way to get there. If you’re not already an AHA member, it will cost you $33, but you get a subscription to Zymurgy an excellent magazine about brewing beer at home, a membership card that you can flash at select beer establishments to get some insider discounts, and more.
Hey Donovan:
What memories! I was a member of the AHA during the last ’80’s-early 90’s. It was during the period after I returned from living in England. At that point, there were hardly any (if any) microbrews available in the midwest and I was desperate to continue indulging my newly-found passion for British-style ales. In the end, I had no choice but to make them myself.
“The Complete Joy of Homebrewing” was a fascinating book and homebrewing become an all-consuming passion.
Eventually, however, microbrews started flooding the midwest market and they were better (and cheaper) than anything I could make at home. So I stopped.
But I think that any serious beer connoisseur needs to try homebrewing at least once. His outlook on beer will be forever changed.
All hail Charlie Papazian!
Sal