WAHA News
The Washington Homebrewers Association met again on March 11th. We reviewed the initial Washington Homebrewer of the Year program and approved it for an initial trial. It will award points for placement in the Best of Show Round as well as individual flights (1st, 2nd, and 3rd). It will rely on the competition coordinators submitting results as well as a $20 fee to support the award. Competition must be open competitions, BJCP approved, and registered with the WAHA. We will give the point structure a try for this year and review it at the end of the year. Details on the program will be posted on the website.
Jon Tobey needs some help with getting the word out about the Homebrew Fair. He is looking for a few people who can help with immediate distribution of information. He'd also like to get a few more people to task with planning and preparation efforts. If you would like to be a part of this event (June 21st) please contact Mark Emiley or Jon Tobey directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
We had 20 entries which are going down to Portland for evaluation for the Wild World of Wheats. The winner will be announced on March 28th at Pyramid. Everyone is encouraged to come down at 7:00 to try Dean Priebe's beer that Pyramid brewed from Novembeerfest and hear the winner.
We have some movement towards the transport legalization effort. We contacted Arlen Harris, the lobbyist for the WBC, who will be meeting with us to flesh out a plan and verbiage to get passed in the 2009 legislative session. Our main goals will be to allow more social homebrew functions to be legal (clubs, conferences, fairs, etc.). We will need everyone to help get the word out once this starts getting into place.
From the Homebrewing Awards Committee, further program on refining the awards programs was made. It was decided that the Bert Grant Award would be to recognize the best homebrewer from all of the WAHA Awards Program Qualifying Competitions of the year. The brewers of the top three beers from every WAHA Awards Program Qualifying Competition BOS round will be eligible to submit any beer of their choosing to a BJCP format best of show round evaluation of the submitted beers. The homebrewer of the winner of this best of show round will be deemed the winner of the Bert Grant Award. The approved details of this and the WHOTY competition will be posted on the website.
T-shirts for the WAHA are available for ordering. They are $15 and all funds go to supporting the WAHA. Mark Emiley will take your order (checks can be made out to BEWBC).
If you have some areas of Washington homebrewing that you think the WAHA can address or are willing to lend a hand, please let Mark Emiley or Doug Buffett know and we will pass the information on.