Wow, 18 points separating 1st from third. Could have gone to any of the top 3 clubs. What an exciting finish.
1 202 The Brewing Network Pacheco, CA
2 188 Diablo Order of Zymiracle Enthusiasts (DOZE) Concord, CA
3 184 QUAFF Carlsbad, CA
Yes, but this is different. I like it this way for a bunch of reasons, but for example it rewards making good beers consistently and not one killer beer, more like NASCAR and golf than the Stanley Cup which is head-to-head elimination. If you want to do it that way then why include the club only competitions or first round at all? Just go by whoever gets the most 2nd round points.
Janis, thanks for working on your day off. 
Thanks Paul, I couldn’t find the link. That was really close, it looks like it definitely could have gone to any of them! A beer here or there and things would be different. I don’t see there’s much room to complain, if they won by eleventy billion points that would be one thing, but if QUAFF or DOZE had entered another great beer or two they could easily have squeezed by.
Well, congratulations to everyone who participated, but especially to my club members and friends Mike and Steve Brown for their silver in the APA category, and of course my friend Randy Scorby, the 2011 Homebrewer of the Year who was kind enough to give me a bottle of the winning beer when I congratulated him at his table. If you were at my table or the one next to us, you got a sample. ;D
Strange happenings at the NHC.
I was sitting at the same table as Randy Scorby when Ted Hausotter and I were tasting Randy’s winning beer. Janis then called out the winner for 2011 Homebrewer of the Year, as Randy jumped up out of his chair in surprise while Ted and I toasted the winning beer at the same time. The timing was incredible. :)
Congrats to all the winners!
While I understand BeerPal’s concerns, I believe that changing the rules to favor the traditional (stereotypical?) concept of a homebrew club would be a mistake and lead to rather arbitrary rules as to what constitutes a club and what doesn’t. My club doesn’t have officers, regular meetings, or dues. We are simply a group of friends who run into each other at the shop, bars, the occasional party, or beer tastings, and we feel that changing this would take the fun out of it for us. The same applies to the BN, except that it is national. Any change in rules will disadvantage any club, no matter the size, that doesn’t fit the mold of the traditional club, not just the BN. Enforcement is another matter entirely - we are talking about the AHA here, which can’t even ensure that round 1 of the nationals is run in a fair and effective manner in all regions (looking at you, NY!)
Should the BN defend its title, I am sure that the other clubs will respond by either focusing on the Gambrinus award or forming their own extra-regional alliances to even the playing field.
Or they could do it the old-fashioned way: brew better beer and more of it. Brew more styles. Get more of the club to brew under-represented styles. Judge the beers before entering them so you can enter them more appropriately. Take care of packaging and shipping. A successful club effort takes focus and effort from individual members plus more coordination at the club level to maximize coverage of the judging categories.
Your assumption that that is the most important criterion smacks of elitism to me. I don’t live within two hours of a population center - so by your standards, I’m prohibited from belonging to a club?
The internet isn’t going anywhere. Deal with it.
No one mentioned Justin’s acceptance speech here…he was quite gracious and acknowledged the fact that they are the club for folks who have no local club, he also advocated local involvement if possible…I side with Gordon…brew more beer and better beer…then talk about the rules!
I agree and Justin clearly stated that he ask for those that also belong to a club enter there club name over the BN Army. Everyone and myself that is a regular on the Brewing Network you should represent your club first. So by taking the privileges of those that have clubs in their area or surrounding area should have the right to be part of a club of some sort and should have all right to enter as The Brewing Network. Its not about the club its about the brewer brewing the beer that makes the difference. Plus many medal winners that won this year are frequent visitors of The Brewing Network.
Goal Displacement is a Business Management term.
It is where rules are established to reach a goal but following the rules becomes more important than reaching the goal.
All 3 top clubs hail from California… hmmm. A state with more people that 48 other states. Might as well say clubs from Cali should be disallowed from entering because Cali has a higher population, and more people to be in clubs, (hell, probably have more clubs period) than the other 48 states…NY, where are ya?
I have nothing to add except that I think it’d be funny if all of the Northern Brewer forum-ites started listing their club as “NB Navy”.
AHA Coast Guard, anyone?
How did you know I’m in management? ;D
Takes one to know one 
8)
And this could be their theme song… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InBXu-iY7cw
I like it!
Thank goodness for the Brewing Network, my home brew club. I have no local club. Were it not for the Brewing Network, I would have probably given up on brewing a long time ago. Instead, I have poured hours of thought and effort into this hobby and have gained a ton of enjoyment from it as a result. I entered a couple of competitions last year with the BN listed as my home brew club. I didn’t win, but the feedback I received was very valuable. I can honestly say my beers have improved dramatically over the last several years because of my “virtual” home brew club, the Brewing Network.
I know it’s not the same playing field to which the brick and mortar clubs, so to speak, have become accustomed. But it enables the rest of us (those of us who don’t have local clubs) to play for a team. And I do not doubt that those of us who list the BN as our club truly believe it to be just that. It’s a club, it’s a family, and I’m proud to watch it continue to grow.
And, yes, I pay dues.
This controversy will all end when clubs offer up their attendance, membership lists, addresses, finances and by-laws for an AHA audit. I just sent mine off to Boulder where a team of bureaucrats will comb through them. :
Seriously, I bet 10% of clubs actually take attendance and collect dues on-time.
I don’t know the answer, but it seems apparent there is an issue. I love the BN and happily acknowledge they play no small part in my own brewing knowledge, as well as several other online message boards and forums where people happily exchange information with the goal of elevating the level of home brewing overall. I heartily raise my glass in cheers to Justin, Jamil, and the whole crew for what they have done, and for their COY victory.
But they create an unfair playing field, and certainly the majority of the members do in fact live within regions where there are brick and mortar club options they could choose as clubs. If they focus their efforts, than the only way to beat them will be to form alliances to compete with their numbers, the same way it occurs in business. Already there was an interesting, and I’m sure unintentional consequence of opening entries to all regions from anywhere. You started to see clubs entering in multiple regions. This way if club X has 5 incredible IPA brewers, rather than knock each other out in the regionals where there are only 3 medals available, they could enter in 5 different regions where there are 15 medals to compete for. In effect they could garner 5 gold medals, where previously they would have been limited to 1 gold.
In the past there have been very strong brew clubs, and they have been difficult to beat in competition. But you always knew how to do it. Get similar membership numbers and bust your rump refining your club members brewing skills. There was a finite number of categories any club could enter in based on the style brackets. Now with virtual nationwide clubs, and with multiple regions open to any club, you can never be sure how many entries you have to compete against for any given club. Large clubs can saturate or “carpet bomb” the regional portion. This could have the unfortunate result of alienating many smaller and mid sized clubs.
For me, my local club represents community, camaraderie, friendship, and regular interaction. We attend larger events such as regional or national events to share on a larger level, or to test our skills in friendly competition, but it all starts at the local level. Yes, it takes a village to raise a brewer.
It’s pretty easy here, I’d like to brew the best beer in my hood…all my friends and family drinking it, enjoying it…and having a great meal with it…what more is there?..good nuff right?