By Julia Herz, AHA Executive Director
How cool is it that when we brew and ferment, we make a beverage that is living, liquid history, that both documents a sensory snapshot of your brew day and creates a beverage that lives, breathes, and evolves? Ingredient choice, brewing process and equipment, fermentation and cellaring conditions, and the brewers involved each contribute to a beer’s story…a story that changes each passing week. Our bottled, canned, or kegged liquid is lore, a realization of history and terroir, and an expression of time that continues until the last drop is enjoyed. As brewers, we humans are absolutely part of beer’s terroir. #DeepThoughts.
Speaking of time, evolution, and people’s influence, the AHA has an incredible story as the world’s leading homebrewing organization whose members changed the beverage of beer as we know it…and we celebrated 46 years on December 7, 2024. Traditions built over the past four decades reflect an evolving history and a multi-generational membership community that continues on amidst possibilities, successes, and challenges. Sounds a bit like some of my brew days.
While typing this column, I am struck and inspired by the fact that in the year ahead, new AHA members will join and start to homebrew, others will mentor and monitor their progress, and many will up their equipment game (here is to shiny bright holiday presents, wink, wink) to dive deeper into the hobby we each love.
Bootcamp for Club Officers
For the second year in a row, the AHA hosted a workshop for club officer leaders from around the U.S. Thank you to the officers who attended, and to our 2024 sponsor, GrogTag. The group worked through problems, possibilities, and parking lot items, with officers documenting a list (see screenshots of our whiteboard bullets) of top-of-mind items.
By the way, the HomebrewersAssociation.org Club Directory has over 1,700 AHA-sanctioned homebrew clubs, with an estimated 35 members per club, or almost 60,000 potential members. That is a lot of homebrewers worthy of support.
A valuable bootcamp takeaway is the reminder that homebrew clubs, as nonprofits (with the majority being 501(c)3 or (c)7), have a lot in common with the AHA. We each orbit decisions and diligence around governance, executive leadership, strategy, operations, business development, membership and stakeholder engagement and management, advocacy, marketing, and communications. Baked into these domains are complex concepts, including membership service and value, diversity, equity and inclusion, officer succession planning, event management, compliance and reporting, fundraising, financial forecasting, fiduciary responsibility, foresight, yearly planning, budgeting, event management, and much more.
Clubs, the AHA, and multiple companion organizations are stewards of members and missions, with volunteer leaders getting incredible opportunities to learn more about homebrewing, plus the advantages and problems common to nonprofits. This is a powerful recipe for development and growth.
Considering why anyone signs up to be a club officer, competition organizer, beer judge, or AHA committee member, a vast benefit is personal and professional development that can be leveraged to further homebrewing, or a number of other worthy causes, over one’s lifetime. For each of us, the year ahead will bring new discoveries, recipes, gatherings, and beers. It could also include new learnings for those interested in getting a first-hand chance to contribute to the story and history of homebrewing, one volunteer, committee or board meeting, event, or competition at a time.
If you’re equal to that challenge, please monitor the AHA Committee volunteer page (HomebrewersAssociation.org/membership/aha-committee) for evolving opportunities. And if you are an AHA member with association management or volunteer experience, I’d love to hear from you—what you’ve learned, and your tips and tricks for the AHA, clubs, competitions, and other volunteer homebrewing efforts. Cheers.
Julia Herz is the executive director of the American Homebrewers Association. You can follow Julia’s homebrew talks and travels on Instragram @ImmaculateFermentation or contact her by email.
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