On May 8, 2012 we convened at the Town Hall Brewery in Minneapolis for the BAMF meeting.
Attendance: Andrew N, Brandon, Tim S, Nathan G, Tyler B, Nick P, Steve M, Matt P
Back to the Non-Profit discussion
At the last club meeting, we voted to pursue Non-profit status when funds allow. Thanks to a generous loan from our financial officer, Matt Price, we are able to pursue an LLC with non-profit status. The club will pay back Matt once club funds are above $500. A promissory note is being created for the president and VP to sign.
First we will file ourselves as a 501c7 – A Social Club. This is essentially a federal tax classification, not an article of incorporation. This establishes the legitimacy of our group with the state, gets us an EIN number, and also makes creating the LLC and gaining non-profit status much easier. Best of all, it’s free.
By Laws
We need each club member to acknowledge they have read the by laws. This is essentially a term of membership, but we haven’t been holding to strictly to requiring a signature. This will also ensure that each member is aware of the club rules and regulations. A signature page will be present at the next meeting. If you can’t attend, you can sign by proxy by emailing the Scribe, Tyler B.
Some in progress amendments to the by laws include a liability waiver which will be required to partake in group functions. We will have a waiver for non members who partake in meeting tastings. Brendan, our unofficially official legal counsel, is working on the waiver.
Farmers Market
As stated, we will be a part of the Northeast Farmers Market for at least the first four Saturday’s in June. Since the members representing the club, Nick P and Steve M will be giving a briefing on how to represent ourselves during the next all-club meeting.
We have enough people signed up for each week, but more are always welcome. Nathan is building a jockey box to cool the wort during our brewing demonstrations. Ideally, we can do a different method of brewing or technique each week (extract, all grain, BIAB, etc). If possible, we should bring two brew set ups (kettle and mash tun) so that people can see all parts of the process at the same time.
Summer BBQ – June 30th meeting
At the next meeting, we will have a sign up sheet for party materials. The fiesta is at Nathan’s place in the NE.
We will also go over rules for the summer home brew competition for those who don’t know.
SHE (Single Hop Experiment)
As excited as we all are, so are some other brewing members in the community. Nick P and Nathan G have been reaching out to pro brewers in the area to come to our meeting that night and taste our results. This means we all need to have beer ready to go at the July meeting, with enough quantity to share. More details coming at the next club meeting.
October Home Brew Competition – Big River Brewfest
Sponsoring a HBC takes a lot of work. We have lots to do at this point. A committee has been started: Nick P (chair), Tim, Tyler, Nathan and Andrew N. Hopefully some more will join at the next meeting, since there is a legitimate amount of work to do.
To ease the pain, the BAMF voted 8-0 to only allow beers (all categories) but to exclude meads and ciders from our first run at a competition.
Nick has a good idea as to what needs to be done, but the more volunteers the better.
BJCP Judging
With all that’s going on this summer this topic is tabled until September.
Club Priorities
1. Experiments
2. Club Sponsored Home Brew Competition
3. Marketing – Farmers Market, Social Activities, Recruiting
4. BJCP Certification
Cheers – Hope to see everyone at the THURSDAY May 17th Meeting 7:00PM @ Pracna.