Homebrew Clubs?

[Marissa]

Do you belong to one? Do you pay dues? What do you look for in a Club?

And, if you do belong to a Club, what kind of fundraising takes place?

Looking for ideas to continue to expand the Club I am part of. Thanks!

P.S. Reposted from "General chit chat"

 

[Monster Mash]

We pay $25 a year which includes a discount on purchases at our LHBS.

We have 4 campouts per year which is catered by our club chef and entertained by our club band, these events bring in money for the club.

We hold 3 beer comps per year but these don't bring in money, entry fees cover judging and awards.

 

[HopSong]

Very similar. I belong to the Sonoma Beerocrats... here in the heart of wine country. I think the dues are either $30-35/yr. We have a number of club brew dates.. which are great for my learning. The club also purchases ingredients for some of the club only competitions. Number of gatherings with good potluck food.. good fellowship and.. best of all.. lots of great suds.

I'm not usually a club kinda guy.. but, this one is great.,, even great support from a couple of wineries where we hold the club brewing sessions and tasting comp's.

 

[grathan]

I don't belong to a club, but as a newer brewer I would be attracted by a chance for feedback for brewing improvements. As a novice I would look to try a lot of different beers to hone in on recipes to try. Also group buys are neat. Sharing is fun whether it be some surplus hops or just some unused equipment. As an advanced brewer it would have to be more of a social thing with beer really being secondary. Meeting some interesting people in the brewing industry would be great.

I would imagine the hardest thing would be to make it fun for every one. It seems there is a lot of work running a club which probably isn't fun. Paying dues isn't much fun unless there was value there. Imho

 

[davekippen]

Yep, Im am member. $25 gets you a yearly. It includes a nice gift (pint glass) and a discount at the LHBS. They also reimburse you up to $15 for entering one beer comp per year. They also run a brewer of the year comp. There are 3 or 4 months of the year where there is a style to brew and it gets judged. Highest total points for the 4 brews wins the honor. Not sure about fundraisers, I have only been a member for a few months. I love the meetings, getting to try everyones beer and talk about it. I like HBT to talk about beer, but being able to taste it and talk about it at the same time is even better.

 

[Marissa]

Thanks to all who have replied so far!

One of the things we are trying to do is find a way to get discounts for the Club, as many of you mentioned is a "perk" of your own club membership. Other than discounts, what other perks do you receive? We are trying to find additional ways to encourage folks to "upgrade" to the paid membership vs a free membership, so we can start offering bus trips, brew days, etc.

 

[cockybitz]

I live in a town of 100K. AFAIK, this is the only "Club" in town. They come from 40 miles out. Everyone brings beer weekly. Homebrew, or anything off the shelf at a store. I love how it has expanded the beers I have tasted. it really opened up my palette to taste the little things that I did not before. We do a couple of events, but with minimal participation. We travel to a local Oktoberfest, and put together a booth at occasional conventions. The chair sends out an email a couple of days before our monthly meeting reminding of the style. He also accepts the fees, but otherwise, I do not believe it is too labor-intensive from an executive standpoint. We host it one day a month at a local restaurant, it lasts 2 hrs, without agenda. The fee is 20/year. I believe we probably have 30-40 members.

 

[Mongrel]

Do you belong to one? Do you pay dues? What do you look for in a Club?

Yes. Yes. There's only one club in Bend, Oregon. Fortunately, it's a lot of fun.

And, if you do belong to a Club, what kind of fundraising takes place?

$35 a year in dues. That includes a club t-shirt, and gets us the AHA discount at many local spots, as well as a discount at the brew shop.

For fundraising, we hold a raffle at the end of each monthly meeting. People donate commercial beer, hops, grain, etc.

 

[TBaGZ]

$35 a year in dues. That includes a club t-shirt, and gets us the AHA discount at many local spots, as well as a discount at the brew shop.
.

How do you get AHA discounts if you do not have an individual AHA membership?

 

[Mongrel]

How do you get AHA discounts if you do not have an individual AHA membership?

Some places in and around Bend, OR give the same discount to people who carry our membership cards.

 

[TBaGZ]

Ah