12/3/2015
Dear CHAOS Brew Club Member,
CHAOS Brew Club is committed to being the best homebrew club in America and providing our members an exceptional value for access to our communal brewing facility, quality of equipment, educational event/workshops, etc. The Board of Directors and Executive Officers are dedicated to continually improving our members experience in all matters as it relates to CHAOS, whether it’s brewing, educational, or social event.
During 2015 significant improvements were made throughout the brew house. We recently upgraded our lagering chamber (greatly expanding the number of carboys), purchased a new heater to replace our broken unit, upgraded our internet router (expanded the number of connections & coverage area), installed a rear facing camera to ensure safety of members and equipment, built a custom fabricated stainless steel sink, and purchased a waterproof instant read digital thermometer w/12 inch probe (ensuring the most accurate mash temps). All of improvements in 2015 came in addition to the operational and general maintenance expenses that compose the vast majority of the club’s spending.
This coming year will be CHAOS’s third year in our Hubbard Ave space (our longest serving brew space!) and the final year of our initial lease covenant, which included a fixed rent amount and several rent abatements (i.e. our rent will be increasing and we no longer get a free month of rent in November). Mark Walters deserves all the credit for negotiating a forward-looking and favorable lease agreement in a time that we had very little leverage and an extremely short timetable.
In order to continue reinvesting in our space while providing a clean and professional brewing space, member dues will be automatically adjusted as follows effective January 1, 2016:
- A Brewer Level Monthly Membership will increase $3.00 ($29 per month)
- An Apprentice Level Monthly Membership will increase $4.00 ($19 per month)
- A Friend Level Monthly Membership will increase $2.00 per month ($9 per month)
- A Trial Membership will increase $5.00 ($35 per 45 days)
With the new membership due structure the Board of Directors and Executive Team have solicited the services of a monthly pest/insect control company and janitorial service to help provide a consistently clean brewing and learning environment.
I look forward to another amazing year and I hope to celebrate this year’s successes with you at the CHAOS Holiday Party & Toy Drive this Saturday, December 5th at 6pm (2417 W. Hubbard Street, 60612)!
Cheers!
Ken Getty
President & Board of Directors Member
I want to add that the pest service is for rodents as well as gnats/flies. The cleaning service won't replace brewers cleaning the space, but will supplement it.
All: If you've been paying close attention, you may have noticed that the dues for existing members have not increased since the first of the year. As it turns out, our membership system doesn't update existing memberships when we update the price on the different levels, nor does it give us an easy way to change them (anyone who has started a membership since the first of the year has done so at the new rates). We've finally had some time to figure out what needs to be done to make that change, but it's a fairly manual process, so the udpates will be happening over the course of the next week or two.
In any case, you have been warned: dues increases will actually go into effect for existing members pretty soon here.
Thank you Brock for figuring this out on the back end, I know it is not an easy task and time consuming! It is not taken for granted!!
Update: the price updates were applied to existing members this evening. Keep an eye out for the corrected amount on your next credit card charge. If anyone notices anything wonky on your membership or your credit card, please let us know ASAP so we can get you sorted.