Dear Oregon American Homebrewers Association Members,

Many of you are probably aware that the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) recently informed the organizers of the State Fair homebrew competition that they could not legally hold a homebrew competition in Oregon. While the OLCC's change of position caught us all by surprise, since there have been homebrew competitions held in Oregon for over 20 years, the current OLCC position does seem a reasonable interpretation of the actual language in the alcohol code regarding homebrewing—see Oregon statutes.

The American Homebrewers Association is currently working with the newly formed Oregon Homebrewers Alliance to resolve this issue. We are confident that with your help, the necessary changes to Oregon's alcohol law can be made.

We encourage you to join the Oregon Homebrewers Alliance Google group to stay informed of the organization's activities. The AHA will also send action alerts whenever direct action is needed.

Please read the statement below from Oregon Homebrewers Alliance co-founder Ted Hausotter.

Thank you for your support of Oregon's homebrewers!

Gary Glass
American Homebrewers Association Director
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Oregon Homebrewers,

As many of you know, this week the state fair has canceled both their homemade beer and wine competitions. This is due to the recent interpretation of a statue 471.403. The issue came about when an Oregon brewery contacted the OLCC about hosting a beer competition at their establishment. This is what most beer competition hosts have done over the years. The OLCC just interpreted the statute differently this time over previous reviews.

We have started an organization, Oregon Homebrewers Alliance, to fix this law so we can have beer competitions in the state. It is a problem that has to be solved through legislation. Please do not scream at the OLCC—we need to work with them. At this time we have a draft bill being reviewed. Many legislators are already involved to help us solve this problem, but it is going to take EVERYBODY'S support to pass during the 2011 legislative session.

Oregon Homebrewers Alliance is setting up a website now—it is under construction. Note that the site does not have active content yet. You will be able to go there and sign up for email updates. I will post again when the website is active.

Ted Hausotter