ASBC Newsletter

Fall is a great time of the year: Big Ten Football, walks in the woods, and, of course, Oktoberfest-style beers. It has been a busy few months for the Society, as I am sure it has been for you at your respective companies. Let me update for you some of the happenings of the Society. I hope you are all enjoying the new look of the Newsletter, complete with our new logo. Thanks to Joan Raumschuh and staff for giving the Newsletter a sleeker, more-contemporary look. Joan is always looking for articles for the Newsletter, so if you would like to do a review article or an interest piece, please contact her. She would welcome it.

If you haven’t visited the ASBCnet lately, please check it out. Seminar presentations from the New Mexico meeting have been posted for members. These include the seminars on CO(2) Quality, Packaging, Food Safety and Pest Prevention, Quality Assurance, Enzymes in Brewing, and the Statistics Workshop. Posters presented at the meeting will be coming to the site in the near future.

Your Board of Directors met October 16 and 17 in St. Paul. The focus of our meeting was on our strategic plan and defining and prioritizing major issues that face our membership and the Society. In the upcoming years, the Board will address four issues: 1) How we, as a Society, can provide greater value to our membership; 2) How we can expand our participant base and scope; 3) How we can increase volunteerism; and 4) How we can develop a plan for long-term financial health.

As we all experience on a daily basis, change is constant. Our industry is changing; our companies are changing; and we as individuals are changing. Therefore, our Society must keep up with these changes. What was of value to our members in the past may no longer be so today. We need to assess what brings value to our members and subsequently deliver that greater value.

Because the number of people in our industry is declining, we need to expand our participant base and scope, targeting existing members, young professionals, craft brewers, vintners, and distillers. Craft brewers, vintners, and distillers can bring added value to our current membership base through similar scientific knowledge and technology and vice versa.

Our Society is built on volunteerism. Individuals like you contribute significantly to the successes of ASBC. To continue to be successful, we need to get more people involved. This may mean doing things differently and asking people to contribute in different ways or for shorter periods of time.

Over the last several years, our Society has been operating at a deficit. While we are financially healthy, with significant dollars in reserve, we need to develop a long-term financial plan that will sustain a strong future for the Society.

Our next step as a Board is to clearly define desired outcomes and to develop strategies and action plans to address these four issues.

In August, surveys were sent out to our young professionals, 35 years or younger, to gather information regarding what products and services would be useful to them. This information is being used to help strategically shape the future of our Society. We had an outstanding response rate of 54%. Thanks to all of you who took the time to give us feedback. Another survey will be coming your way soon from our Emerging Issues Committee. This survey is designed to help assess short- and long-term issues of significant interest to the Society, as well as emerging trends in the brewing and allied industries. Your response to this survey will give important direction on issues for the Technical Committee, possible workshop topics for future meetings, or establishment of ad-hoc committees to address issues that could adversely affect our industry. So, I ask that you please take the time to give us your input.

The WBC 2004 Planning Committee and Program Committee are getting into the specific details of the upcoming congress in July. San Diego will be an outstanding venue for this great opportunity to exchange new information and technology. Workshops are being planned, in addition to technical presentations, technical posters, and exhibits. Networking opportunities will be abundant. Planning is also in progress to provide professional-development opportunities in the form of one-day short courses before the start of the Congress. These short courses have been highly successful at recent ASBC meetings, adding value to our membership by providing education and eliminating travel costs that would otherwise be associated with attending a separate short course. ASBC is in the midst of planning the Society business we want to accomplish, including the general business meeting and technical subcommittee meetings, to which you are all invited.

Time these days is extremely valuable. Between work and family, I hope you can continue to give some of your time and talent to ASBC. For me, ASBC has been an excellent opportunity for personal and professional growth. Development opportunities that await ASBC volunteers include developing communication and leadership skills, keeping current with the latest scientific technologies in the brewing industry, and developing global industry contacts. These opportunities are open to all of you and I encourage you take advantage of them. Your ideas and insight would be welcome. Please contact me or anyone on the Board if you would like to volunteer.

In This Issue

Hops short course reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1
Board of Directors' fall meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1
President's column . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	2
First call for nominations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	6
Brian Williams Scholarship Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	7
Feature article . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	9
Book review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	10
Second call for papers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	11
Instructions to Journal authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	14
Technical subcommittee reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	18
Directory of members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	25
Members by company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	47
Local section news . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	53
EBC liaison report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	53
New member information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	54
Update on new ASBC book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	55
MBAA meeting review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	55

In This Issue