President's Message

A Message From Current MBaA President, Mike Sutton
As the new President of the Master Brewers Association of the Americas, I would like to thank all of the members and volunteers that helped make our annual meeting in Minneapolis a success! We had 535 attendees, and an excellent group of presentations mixed with Minnesotan fun. In my first message to you, I would like to highlight a few parts of our organization that I am very proud of and excited about.

The Technical Committee, a staple of the MBAA, gave us an excellent technical program at the MBAA Annual Conference. Ten technical sessions on a variety of topics from Yeast, Fermentation, and Microbiology, to Hops, and Packaging drew a crowd of eager learners. They also added four well-received Brewing Fundamentals courses. Additionally the Workshops and Global Emerging Issues sessions were a huge hit. The technical committee has created a report of the meeting to provide you with the details of presentation and poster awards as well as technical program recaps.

As we closed our General Session on Saturday morning, we began looking ahead. We have the World Brewing Congress in 2012 in Portland, Oregon. The MBAA will also be rolling out a new and improved website that will allow districts to be more active with their news and updates. And we have six planned open enrollment sessions for the Beer Steward Program, one of our most popular offerings.

I want to also give you a look ahead at what to expect from me, as your new president. I want to begin my 2011-2012 term with the concept of “Organizational Engagement.” I hope to tap the energy, ideas, and excitement of our volunteer members wanting to contribute to the growth of the MBAA. I would also like to grow the organization with new members and continue to emphasize membership value to prospective members. Let’s keep the conversation going, and keep MBAA growing!

Finally, I want to emphasize how important it is to keep communicating within the organization. During their recent meeting, the Board of Governors came up with an idea to create the MBAA District Best Practices. This resource will include examples of what other Districts are doing to increase meeting attendance and attract new members. The resource will be ever-growing, and we want you, our members, to send in your MBAA District Best Practices to The Communicator so they can be shared with the rest of the organization in future issues.

Mike Sutton
MBAA President 
 

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Annual Meeting

Technical Committee Chair Report
This year’s Technical Committee Chair, Mary Pellettieri, and incoming Technical Committee Chair, Susan Welch, coauthored this year’s Technical Committee Chair Report. They summarize the annual meeting and future goals. Read the full report and recap of the 2011 MBAA Annual Conference.

MBAA Annual Conference Photo Album
The MBAA created a photo album of the highlights of the 2011 Annual Conference. Photos include award recipients, presentations, and exhibitors. Visit the Photo Album to see what went on at the 2011 Annual Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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Award of Merit
Karl Siebert—Cornell University
Working on problems in the brewery can often take you in completely unanticipated directions. Karl Siebert’s work on occasional clarification difficulties during lagering led to adaptation of a method for measuring beer filterability. He also work on characterizing haze by chemical analysis and microscopy. The Award of Merit recognizes Karl's outstanding contributions to the brewing industry.

Lifetime Achievement Award
Ray Klimovitz—Klimovitz Brewing Consultants
Ray joined the MBAA in 1965. He served as Secretary, Technical Chair and President of Districts Baltimore, Milwaukee and Detroit. In 1988, he joined the National Technical Committee; from 1989 to 1995 he served as the Committee Chairman. Ray also served MBAA President from 1997-1998 and Technical Director from 1999 to 2010. The award honors Ray’s contributions to the MBAA and the brewing industry.

Inge Russell Best Paper Award
Van Havig—Gigantic Brewing Company
Van Havig started his brewing career in 1995 at Minnesota Brewing Company in St. Paul, Minnesota, and then moved on to work for Rock Bottom Breweries for the next 16 years. He was brewmaster at the Bethesda, Maryland and Portland, Oregon Rock Bottoms, as well as the regional brewer in both locations.  From 2004 to 2011 he also ran the QA/QC program for Rock Bottom Breweries. He is currently starting his own brewery, Gigantic Brewing Company, in Portland, Oregon. Van received the Inge Russell Best Paper award for Maximizing Hop Aroma and Flavor Through Process Variables published in the Technical Quarterly Volume 47, no. 2, 2010.

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Technical Tips

Reducing Your Plant Water & Energy Footprint Thru Water Reuse 
Establishing a strategy for the sustainable use of water and water-related energy consumption should be at the top of your priority list of every brewery production manager. With today’s environment becoming tighter and tighter in potable water resources, the brewer with the best Water Efficiency Index can certainly contemplate a brighter future! 

Read more
 

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Upcoming Course Offerings

MBAA Offers IBD Exam Review Courses
Are you taking Module 1 or 2 of the IBD Diploma in Brewing Exams? Make sure you are prepared by taking an MBAA review course in advance! Attend each module’s review by itself or save when you register for both. Space is limited. Visit the Module 1 or Module 2 websites for more information.

Brewery Packaging Course Already Filling Fast!
The MBAA Brewery Packaging Technology Course is still six months away and is already filling fast! Register early to secure your spot in the course. Interested in attending the course for free? MBAA members are eligible to apply for the MBAA Scholarship. The recipient's tuition will be waived. Participants in this year's offering are eligible to sit the IBD Packaging Exam taking place May 11! Act now and make plans to join us in Madison, WI, April 29–May 10, 2012.
 

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From the Technical Director

What’s Your Most Memorable Case Study Situation?
For the brewing and packaging short courses we come up with case studies and then divide the class into groups to brainstorm and present solutions, it makes for a great friendship and learning experience. After almost thirty years of running breweries I had no problem coming up with six case studies from real life situations I have dealt with over the years. These are real life learning situations which we can all benefit from whether we work in a multi-million barrel plant or a brewpub. The Communicator would like to publish your most memorable case study situation. What was the problem, how did you investigate and what kinds of solutions did you find? Send your case studies to communicator@mbaa.org and share your experience.

Cheers,
Karl Ockert
MBAA Technical Director

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District News

Brian Blenkinship was born in the village of Great Ryburgh near Fakenham in the County of Norfolk, England on November 24th 1927. His father, Anthony Blenkinship was a representative of a small flour milling company in Fakenham. With many family members in the malting business, brewing was an obvious career path for Brian. He worked and lived all over the world and contributed to multiple technical committees. Brian beat Esophageal Cancer for 4 ½ years after tumor removal in 2007, but Cancer returned in 2011 and Brian passed away on Wednesday 5th October 2011. Brian Blenkinship joined the MBAA in 1970 as an independent member.

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Copyright 2011 the Master Brewers Association of the Americas

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Submission Deadline for the Next Issue
November 21, 2011

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MBAA Events

2011 Brewing and Malting Science Course
October 30 - November 10, 2011
IBD Exam on November 11
University of Wisconsin-Madison

2012 Brewery Packaging Technology Course
April 29 - May 10, 2012
University of Wisconsin-Madison

 

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"It is a fair wind that blew men to the ale"
 — Oscar Wilde