> Attn: Indiana Homebrew Clubs,
>
> --- PLEASE MAKE SURE TO DISTRIBUTE THIS MESSAGE TO YOUR CLUB! ---
>
> This is a Big Deal! For the first time in a very long time, the First Round
> Judging for the Largest Homebrew Competition in the World, the AHA
> Nationals, will not be held in Chicago, and for the First Time ever, it will
> be held here in Indianapolis!!!
>
> This is something that Brian Steuerwald and myself, Ron Smith, have been
> thinking about for a while, and we made it happen this year. The AHA would
> like to have multiple locations for each of the 8 regional first round
> competition sites, so hopefully this will be the start of alternating this
> location with Chicago for the Great Lakes region.
>
> It is very important that we do a great job with this competition, and we
> are very confident we will. With the BJCP study groups that myself and
> others have conducted over the past 5 years, we have developed a large base
> of trained and experienced BJCP judges here in Indiana. We are counting on
> this group, as well as many other volunteers to help make this competition a
> great success!
>
> Brian and myself are somewhat sharing the leadership roles of running this
> large competition, which may see anywhere from 500 - 750 entries.
> Technically, Brian will be the Competition Coordinator and I will be the
> Judge Coordinator, but we will be dividing up the tasks slightly different.
>
> Sun King Brewery has volunteered to be our receiving, storing and judging
> site, which should work out great. A Big Thanks to Sun King for welcoming us
> in for this event. This is also going to make it much easier for many of us
> here in Indiana to enter our beers, since we can drop them off in person at
> Sun King (and of course pick up a growler while we are there).
>
> This First Round competition's purpose is to identify the top 3 beers in
> each major BJCP category for our region, which includes all of Indiana,
> Illinois and Michigan. These winning beers then advance to the Final Round
> held at the AHA National Conference in June in Minneapolis this year (this
> is a traveling conference that goes all over the country). You can learn
> more about the competition and the conference at
> www.HomebrewersAssociation.org.
>
> More information about hotels, judging and weekend activities and agenda,
> etc. will be forthcoming, but for now, we need to start lining up BJCP
> Judges, Stewards and Volunteers. The competition will be held over the
> weekend of April 23rd, 24th and 25th. Ideally, we can do this in one day on
> Saturday, 24th, but knowing that it takes other regions additional sessions
> on Friday Night as well as Sunday Morning to get it all done, we need to
> keep these times open as options.
>
> We are really looking forward to hosting a great and fun competition, but we
> need your help. Please contact us with the following information if you can
> help out...
>
> Judges:
>
> - Name
>
> - BJCP Rank and Experience
>
> - BJCP Number
>
> - Email Address
>
> - Availability (23rd, 24th, 25th)
>
>
>
> Stewards and Volunteers:
>
> - Name
>
> - Experience
>
> - Email Address
>
> - Availability (23rd, 24th, 25th)
>
>
>
> Let us know if you have any questions or need any additional information.
>
> Thanks,
> Ron Smith
> RonSmith@MarketWiseSolutions.com
> Mob: 317-201-6535
> 4843 West 106th Street
> Zionsville, IN 46077
> Ph: 317-873-6976
> Fax: 317-873-6203
>
> Email: RonSmith@MarketWiseSolutions.com
>
> Web: www.MarketWiseSolutions.com