What do to about The Brewing Network Club for the future

[bufordsbest]

i love the idea to stop entering nhc and create a BN sponsored comp. you could even hold the it during the bna party during nhc week.

it allows the douches to complain about other things and we still get to have fun and drink beers. (although i've never been to nhc or bna party)

[brewinhard]

I never enter under the BN because I have my local club which I co-founded. I still consider myself part of the BN Army regardless. My club does not have officers, does not have dues, does not have any structure whatsoever. We basically are a bunch of guys who homebrew, (often together) and meet every month to share beers and techniques, learn from each other, and just basically hang out and have a good time. We don't give a fuck who wins club of the year. We only have about 25 members. If they were to somehow change the rules to prevent the BN from winning again, then some other mega-club like QUAFF or DOZE would take its place. What exactly would be different? Not much, unless by some miracle it was some club from the middle of nowhere with a dozen members that somehow beat the mega clubs. We know that will never happen, so people who get all wrapped up in this really need to step back, look in the mirror, and reconsider what they are bitching about.

+1.

[Ozwald]

I never enter under the BN because I have my local club which I co-founded. I still consider myself part of the BN Army regardless. My club does not have officers, does not have dues, does not have any structure whatsoever. We basically are a bunch of guys who homebrew, (often together) and meet every month to share beers and techniques, learn from each other, and just basically hang out and have a good time. We don't give a fuck who wins club of the year. We only have about 25 members. If they were to somehow change the rules to prevent the BN from winning again, then some other mega-club like QUAFF or DOZE would take its place. What exactly would be different? Not much, unless by some miracle it was some club from the middle of nowhere with a dozen members that somehow beat the mega clubs. We know that will never happen, so people who get all wrapped up in this really need to step back, look in the mirror, and reconsider what they are bitching about.

I'm with ya. I think it's completely ridiculous, but at the same time I can see a need for an obviously visible separation between the company and the club. Not for us, for them.

I'm just spitballing suggestions that might help with that particular problem. I don't compete. I've got a good enough palate to find the flaws in my own beers & I'm quite happy with them where they're at. I also know (thanks to 10 years of the BN (plus some other sources)) how to fix what I don't find acceptable. What would they score? Who knows. I could really care less beyond feeling great for my medalling club members.

[Skipp]

My feeling towards this is if someone has a problem with this then they should write to the AHA and push to split the award, (Large Clubs - over 100 members, Medium Clubs -50 to 100 members, and then Small Clubs - under 50 members).

I don't think the BN needs to change as long as the BN is playing within the rules.

[brewinhard]

My feeling towards this is if someone has a problem with this then they should write to the AHA and push to split the award, (Large Clubs - over 100 members, Medium Clubs -50 to 100 members, and then Small Clubs - under 50 members).

I like that idea too..

[numsquat]

Not a member of the BN (similar to Bdawg's situation) but a long, long time BN supporter. Just another view point though it agrees with several points already presented in this thread.

1) The BN club needs to split from the BN Network. Not necessarily change the name but have a formal club not associated with J or any of the brewcaster's. The club needs to have formal elections for club positions (non-BN company employees), have a due's system separate from the BN Network ($1/year??), those type of "club" things. While this will not stop the boo's at NHC (what really will though, there were boo's for other consecutive winners) but J needs that separation for his company. The club could use a forum to communicate and no one is stopping anyone from listening to shows/podcast. J nor any brewcastor should ever be representing (like on stage) the club again.

2) I'm not in favor of "breaking up" the club. As long as a club meets the requirements of a club based on AHA rules, they should be a club. The AHA decides the qualifications. If the AHA changes the rules, then the club needs to adapt.

3) Haters hate. This reflects on the haters, not those that they hate.

4) I did like the idea brought up of having different levels of clubs based on membership I saw in this thread. Similar to the GABF rules for breweries/brewpubs. Again this is an AHA decision, something I personally will be sending to the AHA as a suggestion. (I was taught long ago not to be a bitcher unless I had positive ideas to present for change after bitching.)

Even if there is a "clean" split of the club from the company, there will be plenty of people that will continue to associate the two together, nothing will change those people, but this is the one positive thing the club/network can do compared to not competing or splitting up in regions. Neither option is fair to the club and the club follows the AHA rules as they currently are.

I have nothing vested in the final decision. Our small, rural club has never entered anything in a comp outside of the state and that was only by a couple of members, so COTY is nothing close to our radar. Not a BN Army member (though love the kicking ass the last 5 years). The fact is successful clubs in the COTY are not local clubs, they have members across the the U.S. and enter many, if not all the regions. The way the rules are set up, to have a chance at COTY you have to be that way. So very few clubs have a chance at COTY the way the rules are currently. Not the BN (club) Army's problem.

Anywho, still behind on podcast though started the podcast with the 2nd discussion of this issue today, so I thought to chime in. Again, the BN is not my club but I love the BN, I keep recommending it as the best information for homebrewers to learn, and I actually love the fact it's been COTY the last five years.

[bloberglawp]

No.

[Klickitat Jim]

No offense, but hopefully the BN Army club members will decide what the BN Army club does.