I read BN won the club of the year how’d that happen?
They had enough medalling entries in the first round and second. There’s a club , self-organized by the listener base that is a properly registered club with the AHA.
The advent of online clubs back a few years ago led to a rule that limits the number of points an organization can accrue from all regions to the maximum they could from a single region. (e.g. the points for 1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze). Then the second round works as it always does.
This is probably as good a place as any to ask this… What’s the consensus on this forum? Is it fair for the Brewing Network to have it’s own club (to compete for medals)? I’ve tried to see if similar arguments are going around, as I believe that this is the second year in a row they’ve won. I don’t care about them being a virtual club, or anything like that, I just think that the BN radio show gives them a huge platform to gather members. I know they’re a properly registered club… but that doesn’t require much effort, does it? My club got registered pretty easily, if I remember correctly.
Just trying to see what others think…
Yes, being a virtual club and having the radio show gives them a huge platform for gathering members. On the other hand, if you had a club of 40 members who all entered beers you’d have a pretty good shot of winning club of the year too. It helps a lot if they make good beer of course, something they could learn to do by listening to the BN shows . . .
I don’t know what other people think, but I’m happy for the guys in the BN club.
So far, I’m only seeing support on various forums FOR the BN Army, and no real dissent… There was a blog post from JP, complaining about them not getting enough applause when they took their award…
Weak. Silence with some boos? I like JP, but that’s BS. I was there both times and there was a lot of cheering. If he didn’t feel like there was enough cheering that’s one thing, but he’s making it out to be something it wasn’t. I was there in 2007 when the St. Paul guys beat Quaff to keep them from winning 7 times straight, that’s the loudest I’ve ever heard anyone cheer for the winner. By the next year when St. Paul won it wasn’t nearly as loud.
If anything, it was the BN guys themselves who were subdued about it - like they were waiting for the crowd reaction rather than just celebrating their win. I cheered, my table cheered, the tables around us cheered - and we were right in front of the stage. I guess he didn’t hear us. 
;D
So, why does his blog post only feature comments supporting his claims of ‘silence and a few boos?’
Also, frankly I understand why some people are not happy about it. Clubs are local, yo. It’s not easy to keep people from a single region together and interested, especially not when there’s no incentive to stay in a club when you can just write ‘Brewing Network’ under the club name for your submissions.
Also I am generally not a fan of BN, mostly because I don’t like what I see as some sort of forced juvenile behavior. But then again I really cannot stand Bubba or Howard Stern - I grew up a long time ago.
What a bratty blog post. If anything, the crowd was surprised since not everyone knows the rules for club of the year and the consensus up to that point was, “Hey, those guys from Austin are winning EVERYTHING”.
I think that the BN has a good thing going for it…and ANYONE can have a club in this manner as long as it follows the same rules. It gives the folks with no club ,or a club that isn’t what they had hoped, a chance to be part of a group that is working to advance home brewing.
Sometimes when people are looking for a backlash, they can create it in their own mind, even in the face of praise. I hope that this is such a case. Congrats BN!
I don’t see the why care here. It isn’t like the Club of the Year has any value (like they get to choose where the next conference is held)…it is like the medal count at the Olympics…fun, but doesn’t mean anything…especially since no geographical tie makes membership easier (and other rules allowing anyone to enter any region), until some other virtual club comes on-line, they will continue to win.
BN is funny after you listen for a while…I used to think it was childish, and then I realized I was a child…
g
I was there. There was definitely applause, but it was not as loud as for the individual awards. I heard no boos - might have been some, just didn’t hear any or just didn’t notice.
I personally think there is a disadvantage to being in an internet club. The best education I get is from feedback from my fellow homebrewers. I find that invaluable.
Out of curiosity, how many members are there in BN?
COngrats to the BN on winning, but they are basically a commercially funded club and the rules need to change, but not exclude them
Drew, am I missing something here? Is (6+4+2)*28 really the limitation on first round points? 336 just from the first round doesn’t seem like much of a limitation!
I don’t mind BN winning. Without them only a few clubs are still in the running anyway. So a few childish drunk people weren’t very respectful. Shocking. No worse than the whiny blog post. Maybe they should set up some regions within their organization and have some internal rivalry rather than complain about the strength of the accolades.
cheers–
–Michael
I was a little slow to cheer, as I was convinced it would be Austin Zealots and was surprised by the name announced. After a short pause, I go, yeah the first round was big for them and cheered.
Didn’t hear any boos where I was.
There were no boos that I heard.
I did not applaud.
Why?
I don’t think a national virtual club is the same animal as any other regional club. I don’t think it’s a level playing field when that virtual club can flood multiple regions.
Did not hear the boos from the cheap seats, but the mood was definately subdued ( except for the jerk in the green BNA7 shirt screaming at the top of his lungs, i.e. me ).
I’ve always entered under the BN and was fortunate enough to contribute to the award this year. Until recently, I could not affiliate myself with a local club due to their meeting times conflicting with my schedules. I have now found a club semi-nearby that meets on a day and time that I can make. I’ve only been going for about 7-8 months and we’re still working on formalizing the club direction ( although we are an official AHA club ). So next year, I will be entering this club for my competitions.
But I will always be a member of the BN Army, and will continue to celebrate our successes. And I can guarantee next year if a different club wins, the BN will stand and cheer louder than anyone ( except for the winning club of course )…because in the end, it’s all about the beer!
Brew Strong BN Army and Congratulations!!
The way I understand this to work is rather than the point total being the limiting factor, it is the actual beer. So even if a club took 2 golds in 1 style in 2 separate regions, only 1 gold would count. The points for the other gold would be lost.
I clapped, but I was not as enthusiastic as some other people. I am still torn on the idea of these big overarching national clubs. I think they are great for people who live out in the beer deserts, and can’t find a club. However, I worry about the people who won’t look for a local club, because they can just throw brewing network under their entry. I don’t have a problem with BN in particular, but I would hope that BN can encourage members to join local clubs and be a part of that community. I learned at club night that there are 4-6 more homebrew clubs I could join within a 20 minute drive, so I am interested in meeting more people who love homebrew.
As someone who listens to all the shows, this is done extensively, almost to the point of “ok we get it” and will be again on the next session I’m sure.
Does anyone know the total points yet? If last year is any indication, then we are talking about the BN, DOZE, or Quaff being COTY.
That’s all I really ask. I have so much stuff I listen to, I don’t get around to BN as much as I would like. I also want to say I had worn myself out cheering for the cidermaker and homebrewer of the year awards, who were from Washington, and cleaning it up for the home state.
I haven’t heard anything about total points, but Austin Zealots took a lot of points in the second round, so I would expect them to be up there as well.
I found this in the competition rules for 2011:
[quote]Homebrew Club of the Year will be awarded to the club that accumulates the most total
points in all categories of beer, mead and cider in the First and Final Rounds, as well as the
AHA Club-Only Competitions. In the First and Final Rounds, six points are awarded for a
first place, four points for a second place and two points for a third place. In the First
Round, a club may only receive points for a maximum of three awards per category, the
highest three awards shall be counted, not to exceed a 12-point maximum. In the AHA
Club-Only Competitions, points are awarded on a twelve-eight-four basis for each of the six
AHA Club-Only Competitions in the August to May cycle.
[/quote]
I think that it might be better if the second round points were doubled in NHC. Since there are 11 judging centers in the first round, I think that a bump to second round scores would help even out the “Large vs Small” debate, including the really huge local clubs, such as DOZE, QUAFF, the Zealots, and even Maltose Falcons.
i am not a member of a local club, mostly because i have conflicts at meeting time, and the local club is kind of big for me. however, why do other people like me have to joing the brewing network just to put a club on their entry? In other words, i entered without a club affiliation.