Joining a homebrew club is a great way to promote your passion for homebrewing. There are tons of fantastic clubs all around the world. So, you’ve heard about all of the amazing benefits of joining a local club. You start looking around for one to join only to discover that your town or city doesn’t have an active club. What do you do?
You could give up and continue your homebrew journey alone and miss out on all of the benefits, or you can start your own club. Absolutely anyone can start their own homebrew club. You don’t have to be extra popular or outgoing to create a successful club. The only thing you need is a clear strategy for success.
The Benefits and Challenges of Starting a New Club
Why do people want to start a homebrewing club? Why do people want to join one? Of course, the answer to both questions is that homebrewers become better brewers when they are involved in an active community. Having other enthusiasts to turn to for help can provide new brewers a huge leg up. The most obvious benefit is simple. People are social creatures. Anyone who falls in love with a hobby will want to share it with other people who practice that hobby.
The challenges of starting a homebrew club are fairly obvious. Recruiting members and keeping those members engaged is the number one challenge. Not having enough members can hurt a club’s chance of success. In a club’s early days, this happens because the club’s recruitment efforts are not successful, while a more established club might suddenly face this problem if members start leaving. The important part of facing this challenge is identifying (quickly) why membership is stalling so you/the club can change directions when it is needed.
Steps for Starting Your Club
Once you have decided to start your own homebrew club, your first step should be doing some homework. The internet can provide you with a wealth of information on what makes a club successful. You should also connect with the American Homebrewers Association. The AHA is a worldwide association that serves the needs of homebrew enthusiasts. They can also provide excellent resources you can use to make your club successful, so spend some time checking out the information on their website.
Decide What Kind of Club
There are many different types of homebrew clubs. Most often, local clubs are based simply on town or region. These clubs likely formed to serve the needs of the homebrewers in their communities and are not explicitly centered around a theme or specific purpose. Instead, they are just groups of beer lovers who are looking to interact with other beer lovers in their area. If you want to create your own homebrew club because there is not one in your area, this is likely the type of club you have in mind. These clubs will often continue a wide range of experience levels and focus on every kind of brew that their members can imagine.
While beer is what immediately comes to mind when most people think of homebrew, it’s not the only thing that brewers produce, and these kinds of clubs can provide a space for winemakers or other types of brewers. Is your club going to focus on just one type of brew? Or, more specifically, one style of that brew? Is your club going to be a primarily social event? Do you want it to focus on competitions? These are all things that you must consider when deciding what kind of club to create. It’s important to keep your decisions open, however. As the founder, you should provide the starting points, but once you gain members, let the entire group have a say in these decisions.
Develop a guiding philosophy
A guiding philosophy will help give your club more structure which will help it become more successful. This does not have to be complicated. Form a loose plan for the kind of club you would like to create, however be careful to leave some flexibility here. Once you have gained some members, you will want to revisit this to make sure that everyone is on the same page going forward. Your new members might have a lot to add to the club’s purpose. Be sure to listen to all your new members, and make sure that everyone’s voice and opinion is treated with respect when making these kinds of decisions. Allowing the group to decide the club’s purpose or guiding philosophy will help it be more successful.
Decide the Details
Pick a location to hold your meetings. Then decide how often you want to hold meetings. In the beginning, you can choose, but keep these things flexible so they can change as more people join your club. If you want a more casual environment, you might consider hosting meetings inside your home. You can even rotate this and have a different member take on hosting duties each time you meet. Don’t forget that before you begin conducting meetings, you should make sure you’re aware of the liabilities of running a club. See if your new organization needs any type of insurance coverage before you begin holding official gatherings.
Want a more formal or official feeling to your proceedings? Search venues that you can use to hold regularly scheduled meetings. You should keep in mind that going this more formal route will cost money. In fact, there are many expenses that a club can incur over time. Typically, club members pay dues to become official members. Those dues are then typically used to pay the club’s expenses.
Even more casual homebrew clubs will eventually begin to incur expenses. Have a basic plan in place for how your club will approach these expenses. Expect to pay for things yourself when the club first begins. After membership increases, you will find that the costs are spread out fairly evenly between the club members. The specific details of the dues need to be left up to the entire club (rather than just one founder calling the shots). You want your club to be as diplomatic and democratic as possible so that everyone feels a sense of ownership in the club. After all, you are not just building something that collects people’s money.
Decide What Kinds of Meetings to Have
The kinds of meetings you hold will largely depend on how formal you want your club to be. Meetings can be purely social events, or they can be much more structured around the themes or topics that you (or the other club members) would like to focus on. The types of meetings you choose to have will depend on the club’s purpose. For example, a competition-centered club will focus its meetings on making plans to host competitions or preparing to enter competitions. Other clubs might simply want informal get-togethers where everyone brings samples of what they are making. Philanthropic clubs will plan their meetings around the community service projects they are planning.
Have Unofficial Competitions
If your meetings are not great experiences that offer value to members, your guests will not be likely to join. Thankfully, there are no shortage of fun, informative activities you can add to your meetings to keep people engaged and wanting to return. Holding occasional unofficial competitions is a great way to help your members bond with each other while tapping into that competitive nature to be the best homebrewer possible. These unofficial competitions can also provide valuable practice for anyone interested in competing. Of course, if the whole point of your club is to enter competitions as a group holding these types of meetings is a no brainer, but even clubs that are less competitive by design can enjoy an in-house no-pressure contest
No matter what you intend the group’s focus to be, you will want to keep everyone involved. Invite some members to provide snacks or volunteer to host the group. Have another organize an activity or arrange tastings. Let another plan a group educational event, so everyone learns something new about brewing. No club will succeed if one person is doing all of the work. Establishing a sense of unified purpose or togetherness is key to long-term success.
Make Your Homebrew Club Official
This is the easy part. Becoming “official” is as simple as reaching out to the American Homebrewers Association and filling out their online club registration form. As soon as they process your entry, you are 100% official. This official status will get your club listed in their online directory and make you a part of their larger organization. Once you are an official club, you could find that recruiting members is easier than ever, as their directory is often the first stop for anyone searching for a homebrew club. While the American Homebrewers Association focuses its attention on the art of making beer, other regional organizations keep their membership requirements open to clubs that include all kinds of homebrewers. If you’d like to include your club with a different organization, reach out and find what the requirements are.
Recruiting Members
There is truly little point in starting a club of any type if no one ever joins it. Recruiting members is going to be a top priority from early on. How exactly does a new club get members? Fortunately, there are more ways than ever before to connect with like-minded people in today’s modern age. The internet will be a natural first choice for anyone looking to connect with other homebrewing enthusiasts.
Find your tribe
The key to organizing any club that can successfully stand the test of time is finding the right people. While you are considering the other details for your club, you should also consider what you want your membership requirements to be and if you want your club to focus on a specific type of homebrewer.
Are you an all-around beer lover who never met a style or type that you did not instantly like? Are you only into German beer or American beer? Do you want to try new styles or be exposed to drastically different recipes? Are you looking to include ALL homebrewers, or do you want to focus on just beer or winemakers? Do you want to find other beer lovers who specialize in your favorite style so you can master or perfect your recipes? These are all things you need to consider before you begin recruiting members. Having a clearly defined common purpose and membership guidelines (even if those guidelines are simply “all are welcome”) will help make your club more enjoyable for everyone. Ultimately, this will also make it more successful.
There are tons of online resources that you can use to connect with other likeminded individuals. Recruit members into your homebrew club by talking to people in forums and on social media. Put yourself out there and invite as many people as possible.
Do not end with that once you have recruited a few people. Allow everyone to invite members into the club. The more, the merrier is the right attitude to have if you want your club to be successful.
Spread the Word
Hosting brewing demonstrations, pub crawls, or other events is a great way to put your club’s name out in front of the public. Attending beer festivals is another great option. Make fliers or cards and distribute them to everyone you talk to. These kinds of events are great for spreading the word about your new club and attracting other like-minded brewers.
To get your club’s name out there is to make sure that you have an online presence. Social media platforms are a quick and effective way to spread the news in your community that your club exists. It also gives potential members an easy platform to interact with you and the other members.
Conclusion
Homebrew clubs are an excellent way for you to connect with other brewers in your community. They can be fun and rewarding. Do not be discouraged if you discover that your town does not already have a club for you to join. Instead, take a little initiative, and start your own. It is easier than you. In no time at all, you can be enjoying great beer with new friends.