[FtMiroBrewMasters] Re: 7-21-15 minutes

  • From: Michael Sawyer <mwsawyer1@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "fmbrewmasters@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <fmbrewmasters@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Mon, 27 Jul 2015 13:13:29 -0500

Chuck and Club,

Sorry I missed the last meeting; I've had a very heavy travel schedule this
summer. With regards to Chuck's comments regarding the pro/hobby
relationship, here's my two cents:

Attached is a copy of the homebrew bill that passed the legislature several
years ago. My club then, the Red Stick Brewmasters, was instrumental in
some of the wording in the bill that finally passed. Please read at your
leisure.

As long as we keep our relationships at "arm's length", we should be fine.
I would think as a club that has multiple members trying to go pro that we
should not favor one brewery over the others in fairness to all members.
We should drink all of their beers, so long as they are drinkable. My real
concern with the club forming preferential memberships with the breweries
is how it will change the perception of our club. We originally founded
the club as a group of Christian homebrewers. The breweries may or may not
reflect this in their individual go to market strategies. For example, I
don't think the club would necessarily want to be included or referenced in
any promotional or marketing materials the breweries may produce.
Concomitantly, I wouldn't think a brewery would want to reference a
homebrew club and potentially cause more problems in an already difficult
and tedious licensing process.

The first year at Blend of the Bayou, we should have had a permit. We got
lucky that nothing happened.

We really only have a few things to do to keep our club safe:

200 gallons / member / year
don't sell, or cause the appearance of selling, ie, no entrance fees to
public club tastings charged by the club
permits at all public tastings, to be provided by the event host (these are
easy to get as we have learned)
maintain a positive presence on social media, with diligence in postings

Really, that's all we need to do.

I could talk about this topic for a long while, but will get off my bully
pulpit for now. Looking forward to seeing y'all soon after the weather
breaks a bit.

Sawyer

On Mon, Jul 27, 2015 at 11:39 AM, Chuck Murphy <chuckmurphy1@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

Hey folks,
See the attached minutes. If you have any questions or comments (we talked
about a few potentially serious issues regarding our members who are
going pro), please call or email me personally.

Thanks!

Chuck




--
Michael W. Sawyer
1400 Emerson St
Monroe, LA 71201
318-732-2129

Attachment: beer bill.pdf
Description: Adobe PDF document

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