I am planning on going to the conference this year, which is being held in next door, in Grand Rapids, MI. Wondering if anyone else was planning on attending? I also thought this would be a good opportunity for CHAOS to get seen on a Regional and National Level.
They are looking for speakers and/or posters on different topic areas, they are listed below. Specifically I thought someone might like to speak about forming and maintaining a club, but there are various other topic areas too. Deadline is this week for submissions. Here are the links to the site for more details.
http://www.ahaconference.org/conference/call-for-presentations/
http://www.ahaconference.org/conference/call-for-presentations/guidelines/
2014 Call for Presentations
The 2014 AHA National Homebrewers Conference is June 12-14 in Grand Rapids, MI.
The deadline The American Homebrewers Association welcomes presentation submissions for educational seminars and poster presentations at the conference.
The deadline for proposal submissions is December 13, 2013.
This year’s conference, Mashing in Michigan, is meant to present ideas to keep the modern brewer at the forefront of homebrewing, mead-making, and cider-making.
Presentations are expected to be 45 minutes with an additional 15 minutes for Q & A. Topics of interest include, but aren’t limited to:
- Homebrewing, cidermaking or meadmaking processes
- Homebrewing equipment
- Ingredients (such as: malted barley, hops, water, yeast, honey, apples, alternative ingredients, spices, etc.)
- Going-Pro (professional brewers, brewery owners, homebrew shop owners, etc.)
- Beer styles
- Homebrew retail
- Tasting and judging beer
- Forming and maintaining a club
I had talked with a couple people a few weeks ago about trying to give a talk on running a communal brewhouse, the trials and tribulations that we've had, as well as successes. I've toyed with a high level outline but I'd be interested in using this thread to flesh that out. Anyone have any thoughts?
Oh... my... god. Why haven't we done this? http://thechive.com/2013/09/17/guys-rig-up-buddies-plumbing-with-beer-wh...
I know Dave was at the conference this year and has talked about presenting in 2014.
Here was my thoughts on a high level outline. Sorry, meant to include this before. I'n happy to own submitting this on behalf of CHAOS and organizing the pieces we might need from others. Let me know thoughts!
If others have thoughts, I'll keep this list updated.
Oh... my... god. Why haven't we done this? http://thechive.com/2013/09/17/guys-rig-up-buddies-plumbing-with-beer-wh...
That looks pretty comprehensive! I like the idea of doing a presentation... How many people would be presenting?
I also plan on attending.
Nice job Lucas. That's a good base to build on.
Here's my thoughts on a submission. Submissions close on Sunday so I'd like to get this in by Friday. Please let me know if you have any comments or thoughts, thanks!
Type of Presentation: Seminar
Proposed Seminar Title: Taking your club to the next level, the community brewhouse.
Brief Description:
CHAOS Brew Club of Chicago has done something that few other clubs have done, create a dedicated community space for us to brew, socialize, and share. This talk will focus on both the ups and downs of our journey so that other clubs and brewers can learn and, hopefully, start their own brewhouse. We will share our club's experiences in developing our physical space, the organizational and legal hurdle's we've encountered, and how our community has grown beyond just our lease.
Detailed Description or an outline:
A little over two years ago a group of homebrewers in Chicago, IL got together to remedy a very serious situation, their apartments weren't large enough to be able to brew easily and effectively. We had the idea that if enough people got together then not only could we split the cost of the space itself, but we could share equipment and skills. Today the Chicago Homebrew Alchemists of Sud (CHAOS) has become a place for over 100 people (we've had to grow into bigger spaces twice!) from all over Chicago to get together and share equipment, recipes, techniques, as well as brew and ferment their beers. The purpose of this talk is to give others as much information as possible to help as many other clubs start this journey themselves as well as, hopefully, create a dialog with others that have done something similar!
Target Audience: Homebrewers
Oh... my... god. Why haven't we done this? http://thechive.com/2013/09/17/guys-rig-up-buddies-plumbing-with-beer-wh...
Are we planning on having our club present at the conference? I would love to have a CHAOS booth and particpate in Club Night. How do we go about setting that up?
A couple small edits. It looks great Lucas.
Type of Presentation: Seminar
Proposed Seminar Title: Taking your club to the next level, the community brewhouse.
Brief Description:
CHAOS Brew Club of Chicago has done something that few other clubs have done, create a dedicated community space for us to brew, socialize, and share. We believe ourselves to be the largest community brewhouse in the nation. This talk will focus on both the ups and downs of our journey so that other clubs and brewers can learn and, hopefully, start their own brewhouse. We will share our club's experiences in developing our physical space, the organizational and legal hurdle's we've encountered, and how our community has grown beyond just our lease.
Detailed Description or an outline:
A little over two years ago a group of homebrewers in Chicago, IL got together to remedy a very serious situation, their apartments weren't large enough to be able to brew easily and effectively. We had the idea that if enough people got together then not only could we split the cost of the space itself, but we could share equipment and skills. We have grown exponentially and today the Chicago Homebrew Alchemists of Sud (CHAOS) has over 100 active members (we've had to grow into bigger spaces twice!) and an operating budget of about $25,000/year. CHAOS draws members from all over Chicago to get together and share equipment, recipes, techniques, as well as brew and ferment their beers. The purpose of this talk is to give others as much information as possible to help other clubs start this journey themselves and hope to create a dialog with others that have done something similar!
Target Audience: Homebrewers
I am definitely going. Its my hometown.
With Lucas's outline I bet we have a good shot at being a presenter.
Wee cannot register our club yet for club night, but we definitely will. If people want to make something special (and high gravity) to serve they should start brewing it now.
Looks great guys! Can't wait for this years AHA Conference. This will be my 3rd one I have gone to! If you are on the fence on going just go. The AHA is a blast!
I am definately interested in attending and manning a CHAOS booth if we have one.
The emperor is not as forgiving as i am
We will definitely have a booth for club night. We just need to watch the AHA website to see when to register.
Last year the booths were pretty impressive. I think we should definitely have some of our barrel aged beers on tap to showcase that part of the club.
We should start another thread for planning our booth at club nite.
Just a reminder that I'm going to submit this tomorrow, if you have any additional thoughts please let us know by then!
Oh... my... god. Why haven't we done this? http://thechive.com/2013/09/17/guys-rig-up-buddies-plumbing-with-beer-wh...
Submitted, we'll hear back in a month or so.
Oh... my... god. Why haven't we done this? http://thechive.com/2013/09/17/guys-rig-up-buddies-plumbing-with-beer-wh...
Club Night Info: http://www.ahaconference.org/events/club-night/registration/
Ill submit this tomorrow after I have had the chace to talk to a few other clubs on what an appropriate ammount of kegs would be to bring to the event. It asks this in the regestration.
Also, do you guys think we would need power?
I feel like they have power available. My agency had a conference here once and didn't need additional power sources. Of course, we weren't brewing anything. Maybe we would need extension cords.
They are offering the option of power. I am wondering if we think we would need it. Not sure if not requiring it would help us secure a spot
They have this awesome award called The Golden Urinel. It goes to the club that brings the most beer... And yeah let's request power...
We have land about 30 to 40 minutes north of the conference. We were thinking on having a kick-off party or inviting a bunch of people to camp a night or two before.
On a side note hotel rooms for event have rates and you can book them now.
Camping would be awesome! Maybe we should rent a van for the weekend?
Club night beers. I spoke to my friend who has helped organize the beer barros club stuff for AHA in the past. He said that the Golden Urnial has gone to clubs that have brough 100+ in the past few years. So I dont think that is something we want to go after. He said their stratagey is to bring 20-30 kegs of high quality stuff. How does that sound to everyone?
I'm in, I love camping. A shared van sounds great too.
Does anyone have feeling about number of Kegs? I would like to register us but have not gotten any feedback on this yet?
You suggested 20-30, so how about 25kegs? I'm in, for contributing too.
I can certainly give a try to contribute as well. I heard somewhere online that the golden urinal may have gone away, FYI. Certainly not a reliable source, but another good reason for us to work on quality over quantity.
Also, haven't heard anything back about our talk submission. The email I got upon submission said they'd get back to us by Wed.
Oh... my... god. Why haven't we done this? http://thechive.com/2013/09/17/guys-rig-up-buddies-plumbing-with-beer-wh...
I think we might want to reconsider changing the Summer quarterly event to this and try to find another fund raising tool for the quarter.
I would agree with not having a summer party and focusing on the AHA weekend.
Let's shoot for 30 kegs. I would be up for brewing our Punk Rauch, Marshall Plan and my milder smoked jalapeño beer. I might even have my Occupied Berlin series ready as well...
Are we also registering for Social Club? From what I can gather that is the main sessions during the weekend where clubs will be serving as well. Also do we need ot be individual AHA members to register to attend the NHC?
We did not register for social club. It has not really been discussed, but my opinion is we do that only if we dont get the presentation part.
Everyone will have to be AHA to attend this year.
Club night is the big event. Social club is just a conference room that runs all days...lots of staffing and beer. I'd say concentrate on club night.
I got this earlier today, they've extended their deadline for getting back to us on our submission:
Hello-
Thank you very much for submitting a proposal for this year’s National Homebrewers Conference in Grand Rapids, MI.
We have received a much larger pool of submissions than was previously expected. The AHA Governing Committee Conference Subcommittee and AHA Staff is hard at work examining the proposals to ensure that all submissions are thoroughly reviewed.
Approved seminars were originally to be announced to the confirmed speakers today. However, given the extensive material to review- we have extended this announcement. Confirmed speakers will be notified by no later than February 7th. Those seminars that were not approved will also be notified.
If your seminar is not approved, but you still wish to present to fellow homebrewers; please consider reviewing the 2014 AHA Rally schedule for an event in your area. Your presentation may be a valuable opportunity to educate homebrewers across the country with these regional AHA events.
Additional AHA Rallies will be added to the calendar as they are confirmed. Please let me know if you are interested.
Thank you so much for your patience. We are working diligently to ensure that Mashing in Michigan is the most memorable conference yet- and we could not do so without your help!
Cheers,
Matt Bolling
Events & Membership Coordinator
American Homebrewers Association
736 Pearl St |Boulder, CO, 80302
303.447.0816 ext 184
matt@brewersassociation.org
Help us keep our numbers straight! Fill our annual Brewing Industry Production Survey here: www.brewersassociation.org/BIPS
Oh... my... god. Why haven't we done this? http://thechive.com/2013/09/17/guys-rig-up-buddies-plumbing-with-beer-wh...
Thanks Lucas. Fingers crossed!
We are registered for club night. 30 kegs, power requested.
It is Friday, June 13
7:30 pm – 11:00 pm
Great! Now, I just need to learn how to Keg :) I'm planning on making my Oh So Hossa, Marionberry Belgian Tripel... Something tells me the Mitten folk may get the hockey reference, and it's a tasty strong beer. Can't wait!
I dont see why we cant bring bottles too
If we are only allowed to bring 30 kegs, maybe we should have a pre-NHC gathering where all possible entries are tasted and the top 30 are voted to be brought. Would ensure only our best efforts make the trip and are served.
Excellent idea Kyle. I was thinking the same thing. Focus on quality over quantity.
OK, when should we schedule the tasteoff? Would that be close to the date or in the Spring? I also still want to learn how to keg, it's next on my list.
We should start another thread to plan our booth. I guess knowing the layout and size of the area would be good. But we can brainstorm ways of doing the booth. Then lay it all out.
Lets table this until after stout night and the next meeting. We probably need to form a comittee of some sort for this.
Dave,
Here is the info about booths listed on the NHC site.
Sorry all, but looks like a talk isn't happening:
Dear Lucas,
Thank you for the offer to participate as a speaker at the AHA National Homebrewers Conference in June this summer.
After an extensive review and voting process by the AHA Governing Committee Conference Subcommittee, the Grand Rapids Local Committee, and selected AHA Staff, your proposed seminar, Taking Your Club To The Next Level, A Community Brewhouse, has not been selected for the 2014 AHA Conference in Grand Rapids.
We truly appreciate the time and effort you made to create and submit a proposal for the upcoming conference. Thank you very much! If you would still like to present your seminar, you can check out our schedule of AHA Rallies. Rallies are great venues to present educational seminars, as well as meet homebrewers interested in your research and knowledge!
There is still a chance that some of the confirmed speakers will not be able to present at the conference. If that happens, we will review submissions that were not confirmed and offer a seminar slot on a case-by-case basis.
Cheers,
Matt Bolling
Events & Membership Coordinator
American Homebrewers Association
736 Pearl St |Boulder, CO, 80302
303.447.0816 ext 184
matt@brewersassociation.org
Oh... my... god. Why haven't we done this? http://thechive.com/2013/09/17/guys-rig-up-buddies-plumbing-with-beer-wh...
What?!? ...I am stunned at this.
That is way too bad. Thanks for your effort on this Lucas. I was really hoping it would work out.
I'm so surprised too. They're missing out, it would have been a great seminar, very disappointing.
I blame those snoby old boy clubs who are afraid of the future...
BS, lets just rock everyone at Club Night and bring some kickass beers to get the word about CHAOS out there.
I also saw registration for individuals opens later this month and will be a lottery system. Since our club is already registered to be at NHC do we get a certain number of "passes" or do all CHAOS members have to register and get tickets on their own?
I can't believe we didn't get a seminar slot. Their loss...
That's freaking unbelievable. Fuck it let's just do the seminar at our booth.