Home of the BrewNosers

http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/p ... es-in-2013" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Crap.

"This change is being made in part due to requests from Canadian entrants who would prefer to enter at U.S. judging centers that in many cases are closer than the Canadian qualifying competition."

I dunno.. really? I don't imagine most people were driving out to Saskatchewan to enter the ALES competition. It's always going to be easier to ship beer within Canada than to the U.S.

Well that sucks. It's def easier to send within Canada.

It's probably more likely that they didn't want to waste a qualifying event in Canada, which never filled up to the maximum entries.

I just can't see many Canadian homebrewers requesting to be able to enter a U.S. event instead!

The change also reflects the fact that currently there are vastly more AHA members in the U.S. than in Canada.

D'uh. Why the fuck am I going to pay to join the AHA when they don't do anything for us (relative to the US that is).

Self fulfilling prophecy.....

mr x wrote:

The change also reflects the fact that currently there are vastly more AHA members in the U.S. than in Canada.

D'uh. Why the fuck am I going to pay to join the AHA when they don't do anything for us (relative to the US that is).

Self fulfilling prophecy.....

Yeah, dumb. Although I would wager that the AHA does more for us then the CABA...

Graham.C wrote: Yeah, dumb. Although I would wager that the AHA does more for us then the CABA...

Well they DO send you Zymergy......

That news just sucks the big one. Fucking assholes.

Some more discussion on it here.
http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/f ... ic=14545.0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Interesting discussion. I see their point. It sucks, but it sucks most because our CABA doesn't really encourage us to come together in the same way AHA does. If we had a national voice, we probably wouldn't have lost our qualifier, because there would have been a voice to discuss and find solutions to this problem. I would be happy to join AHA if that's all it took, maybe fold the dues into CABA like many professional organizations do in Canada with their American counterparts.

Graham.C wrote:I If we had a national voice, we probably wouldn't have lost our qualifier, because there would have been a voice to discuss and find solutions to this problem. .

I don't think it would have mattered. The ALES club had a strong voice in matters and couldn't stop them from stripping the qualifier from us.
They have a problem with the amount of entries due to the explosion in home brewing in the states and we were an easy fix for the time being to
stop some of the grumbling in the ranks.

Short sighted considering the growth in ALES comp, but that's the way it goes. Nobody should be renewing their membership though.

Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2

mr x wrote:Short sighted considering the growth in ALES comp, but that's the way it goes. Nobody should be renewing their membership though.

Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2

Short sighted it is for sure and if I had a membership, I certainly wouldn't renew it.

A little more discussion here http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/discus/discus.cgi" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That link isn't doing much for me Tony.

Some of the responsibility for this may also rest with ALES, and the culture of modern internet communications in this country. Basically, as the hobby has exploded in the USA, we've lagged behind. It's no co-incidence that the high web visibility in the form of online forums has contributed to this. Until the brewers of this country come out of the stones ages, our clubs will be hidden in the dark like silverfish, scared of the light. Maybe 750 entries would not have saved this anyway, but it might have - better communication would definitely have helped.

mr x wrote:That link isn't doing much for me Tony.

Some of the responsibility for this may also rest with ALES, and the culture of modern internet communications in this country. Basically, as the hobby has exploded in the USA, we've lagged behind. It's no co-incidence that the high web visibility in the form of online forums has contributed to this. Until the brewers of this country come out of the stones ages, our clubs will be hidden in the dark like silverfish, scared of the light. Maybe 750 entries would not have saved this anyway, but it might have - better communication would definitely have helped.

I don't go to other club forums, but I know some others here do. How do our numbers compare with other clubs online? I get a sense we have a rather large online presence, but that might be because we serve a larger spatial area.

mr x wrote:That link isn't doing much for me Tony.

You have to click on The Brewery's Brews & Views to go to the posts.

Graham.C wrote:I don't go to other club forums, but I know some others here do.

How dare they

I kid I kid. I'd actually be interested to know how we compare to other clubs as well.

We're far fucking superior in every significant way.

mr x wrote:We're far fucking superior in every significant way.

This forum kicks ass!! I moved out here in Fall 2009 and was just getting back into the hobby after about a 10 year break... what a lifeline this has been. Thanks.

Been reading the Brews and Views comments. It has become clear that the head of the AHA does not want to admit/understand that removing this site was driven almost exclusively by the low numbers of AHA members in Canada. The arguments about it being more fair to border brewers is a really bad smokescreen.

mr x wrote:. The arguments about it being more fair to border brewers is a really bad smokescreen.

The thing is that I was told by an insider that it was only ONE person of note who complained to someone in the upper
AHA committee and that was what nailed us. I won't mention his name, but he is very vocal against the move now.

Anyway, it looks like we have lost it for at least this year and perhaps for many years to come. But at the moment at least we
have the MCAB with the Aurora Brewing Challenge from the Edmonton Homebrewers' Guild http://www.ehg.ca/abc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

No Canadian winners in Philadelphia this year for the NCH

http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/p ... hc-winners" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

We had 2 different people from Canada enter and win in the first round, Curtis Bentley from Kleinburg, On, with a second place win , and Jared Carlburg from Winnipeg, MB, with a 1st and a second place win. Too bad they didn't place in the final. Good luck next year guys.

Hmmm... They advise that Canadians are to enter one of the US qualifying rounds, but we can't legally send beer there, right? http://www.canadapost.ca/tools/pg/manua ... sp#1382933" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

jason.loxton wrote:Hmmm... They advise that Canadians are to enter one of the US qualifying rounds, but we can't legally send beer there, right? http://www.canadapost.ca/tools/pg/manua ... sp#1382933" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Through the mail, no, not legally. But we can't legally enter the second round of the NHC (which is always in the U.S., of course) through the mail, either... but it still happens!