Hello there friends, fellow fermenters and homebrewers. In August, the AHA proudly announced a major milestone in our new chapter as an independent nonprofit: the selection of Strategic Association Management (SAM) as its Association Management Company (AMC). SAM, an accredited AMC based in Austin, Texas, officially began overseeing AHA’s day-to-day operations in July.
We also tapped some MAJOR new talent devoted to Zymurgy with Amahl Turczyn continuing as Zymurgy editor-in-chief, Adriana Torres staying with us as copyeditor, and bringing back Dave Harford as art director.
Overseen by the AHA’s founding board the above group, with me as your fearless, fermenting executive director, we are actively making moves to guide your newly independent organization to a better, member-driven future. These include:
- The return of Homebrew Con in 2026;
- Expanding educational programs and resources—Stay tuned!
- Growing volunteer leadership and committees; and
- Planning for the AHA’s 50th Anniversary in 2028.
What is an AMC, you might ask, and why do we need one? AMCs provide professional, best-practice, accredited support for thousands of associations. Simply put, SAM will help serve you as one of our 20,000 members more efficiently than we could achieve on our own, plus give us room to pursue the big, lofty, hell-yeah kinda goals on behalf of homebrewing.
Background: In 2024, we underwent a deliberate and thorough transition process to become independent of the Brewers Association (BA), after considered all options for a brighter and impact-driven AHA future. After all, the AHA has been in existence since 1978 but has only, in one form or another, been affiliated with the BA since 1982. With independence, I’ll say it again and again, we have BIG work ahead to evolve and be successful as a stand-alone nonprofit. The hobby of homebrewing also faces real challenges. But with your help, we can and will address them.
Julia Herz is executive director of the American Homebrewers Association. You can follow Julia’s homebrew talks and travels on Instagram @ImmaculateFermentation.
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