CAMRA SO January Newsletter & 2018 Recap – January 13, 2019

Happy New Year, CAMRA SO Members and Friends

We would like to start 2019 by thanking you, our members, for making 2018 our best year yet! Attendance at our signature events soared to capacity, with some events selling out in a single day. Our little South Okanagan Branch is one of the most active regions in BC, and we attribute this to the love of beer that drives our executive team, business partners and members. All of our events started as dreams shared over a pint of craft beer, and with a bit of luck, some help from our friends, and a whole lot of hard work, we’ve crafted those dreams into annual events that grow bigger and better each year!

In this newsletter, we will review highlights from 2018, the current state of CAMRA SO, upcoming events including our January 26 Road Trip North, local beer news and a contest that will challenge your inner punster. Follow our Facebook page to stay up to date on events and beer-related items of interest between newsletters.

Cheers to 2019, and all the amazing places we’ll go, interesting people we’ll meet and delicious beers we’ll drink!


ROAD TRIP NORTH – SATURDAY JAN 26, 10:30-7:30

Join us on our 2nd annual Road Trip North! This year we will visit Kettle River BrewingVice and Virtue BrewingBoundary BrewingWild Ambition Brewing and Truck 59 Ciderhouse. We previously announced the release of a limited amount of tickets on Facebook, but based on strong interest in participating, we have now upgraded to a larger bus and have additional tickets available to purchase.Shuttle cost for CAMRA Members (subsidized by CAMRA SO): $35Shuttle cost for Non-CAMRA Members: $45

This price includes your bus transportation throughout the day. There will be beer and food available for purchase along the way. You are responsible for all costs for tasting fees, flights, pints, food etc. throughout the day.

We’ll leave from Penticton at 10:30am for a full day of craft beer adventures and tastings. If you live north of Penticton, we’ll have additional pick-ups in Summerland, Peachland and/or West Kelowna depending on where ticket holders live.

If you are not yet a CAMRA member or you need to renew your membership, now is the time to do so!

Purchase your tickets through Eventbrite.
Join the Facebook Event Page for event updates.

OKANAGAN FEST OF ALE – APRIL 12 & 13
Early bird tickets are on sale until January 15. CAMRA SO members are invited to attend the Industry Event, held Friday April 12th from 1:00-3:00pm, but you must show your valid CAMRA SO card and a valid ticket for the festival (either day or a weekend pass) to gain entry to this special event.

Early bird Prices: Single Day $26, Weekend Pass $42
Sip & Stay packages are also available for out-of-town visitors!
BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW!

PENTICTON BEER RUN – SATURDAY JUNE 8
Individual and team registration is now open for the 3rd annual Penticton Beer Run! Organized by HooDoo Adventures (a CAMRA SO business partner) this year’s run will be even bigger than last year, with a few new surprises. Register by Jan. 15th for your chance to win a sweet prize pack.

Registration is $65 until March 31, then increases to $75.
Register Now!

We would like to form a CAMRA SO team, please contact Chelsea at vp@camraso.ca if you are interested in running with us!

2018 started off with our very first Road Trip North, with stops at Detonate in Summerland, Kind in West Kelowna, Kettle RiverRed BirdBoundary and BNA in Kelowna. It was a gruelling day of drinking, eating, laughing and learning! Our 2019 event is on January 26th, hope you can join us! From left, Momme, Lory, Maisie, Kim and Eike.

January 2018 also saw the release of Breakfast at Everton’s, a collaboration between Bad Tattoo and Warren Everton, the winner of the Judge’s Choice Award at our 2017 Home Brewing Competition. Bad Tattoo hosted a release party that was well attended by CAMRA SO members. Our 2018 Winners, Arndt and Dino, will be brewing a batch at Tin Whistle sometime early 2019, stay tuned for more details!

We had a full house at our AGM in February, hosted at Craft Corner Kitchen. From left, Brad joined us as Communications Director, Chelsea became Vice President (formerly Communications), Derrick retained Treasurer, Kim stayed on as President, Lory returned as secretary, Eike (helpfully impersonated by brother, Momme, in this photo) remained Home Brewing Liaison, Aldo joined us as Membership Director and Kevin stepped in as Events Director. Sadly Brad was unable to continue the full year and so Chelsea and Eric (not pictured) have helped fill that role during the past few months.

In July we went on another Road Trip, this time South to Firehall Brewery for one of their Back Alley Concerts! The gang had a great time dancing the night away to the Slamdogs, with a special Orange Creamsicle cask created especially for the occasion. Pictured from left, Manny, Harpreet, Ken, Janice, Jim, Arndt, Anthony, Kim, John (a rare sight to see out from behind the camera!) Sid, Kevin and Mairi.

The team had a bit of a scramble when several significant life events derailed our plans for the Home Brewing Competition in September. Fortunately we were able to regroup and reschedule it to November, with a change in venue to Tin Whistle Brewing. This turned out to be advantageous as it offered a larger space in a central location, which helped attendance soar to over 150 people this year! Over the course of 3 hours, 12 beers were poured by 10 brewers with awards going to the top 3 People’s Choice Winners and the Judge’s Choice Grand Prize. Our winners were Mike (far right) who won 1st Place, Liam (2nd from left) who tied Second Place with Warren (middle). The Judge’s Choice Winners, Dino and Arndt (2nd and 3rd from right), were inspired to start home brewing when they attended the 2017 Competition, making their win especially remarkable! Expect to hear more about their collaboration brew with Tin Whistle in early 2019!

The December Rare Beers Event co-hosted by JAK’s Cherry Lane and Craft Corner Kitchen was our most popular event of 2018, selling out in a single day! At this members-only event, JAK’s served 12 unusual beers alongside small plate food pairings by Craft Corner’s culinary team. CAMRA SO members had the very first opportunity to try beer from upcoming Hatchery Brewing, who produced a cask in collaboration with Cannery Brewing, especially for this event!

Did you attend any of our events this year? Check out our Facebook Photo Albums to view more photos from these events and relive all the hazy memories!

CAMRA South Okanagan is entering 2019 with 39 family memberships and 61 individual memberships for a total of 139 members! We operate under the leadership of CAMRA BC, which has roughly 1300 members across 4 regions – Powell River, Victoria, Vancouver and the South Okanagan. 2019 will bring some changes to how CAMRA BC and the branches operate, due to recent updates to the BC Societies Act. We do not expect these changes to have much of an impact on our local operations. We will keep members informed as things progress.

A portion of your membership fees are paid to CAMRA BC to support advocacy and representation of craft beer consumer interests at a provincial level. The remainder is spent locally, primarily used to host and/or subsidize event costs to our members and other operational fees. We are a non-profit organization and are run by a volunteer executive team.

Part of the secret to our success has been the relationships we build in our community. CAMRA supports the local craft industry, which in turn supports CAMRA. This includes our formal business partners, as well as informal and occasional partnerships we have with breweries in nearby communities, local restaurants and pubs, members of the local business community and our friends and families who volunteer time, expertise and supplies to help with our events!

In addition to keeping our operations close to home, CAMRA SO Members are also part of the local community, so we remind you in 2019 to continue support local breweries, bottle shops, restaurants, and businesses. For most of us, the main interest in joining CAMRA is enjoying craft beer, but membership also brings the opportunity to connect with our amazing, friendly and talented individual members!

Across all four regions in BC, CAMRA has partnered with local businesses to offer special benefits for members. As a CAMRA SO member, you can access benefits in Vancouver, Victoria and Powell River, go here for the full list. While it’s not officially confirmed, we have even heard of our CAMRA cards being accepted in Alberta and the UK, so remember to keep an eye out for the CAMRA logo while you’re travelling and at the very minimum, they’ll at least recognize a fellow beer lover! Here is the list of local establishments that support CAMRA, make a point of dropping by, flashing your card and thanking them for their support this year.

CALLING ALL PUNSTERS, BEER WITS & DRUNKEN LINGUISTS! The Penticton Breweries are looking for a catchy #HASHTAG to use on social media and marketing materials. For example, #yeastvan (East Vancouver), #brewersrow (Powell River), #brewerycreek (Main St. Vancouver) have all become iconic hashtags used on social media to identify a brewing region, and the products, events and people associated with that region. We know that the pun game is strong among craft beer drinkers, and we need your help coming up with something unique to represent our region. If your suggestion is the winner, you will get bragging rights plus a very cool prize from our local breweries. Send in your ideas to Kim at pres@camraso.ca

Speaking of cool prizes… The Penticton Ale Trail has a fun new passport promotion. Visit any of the participating breweries (Tin Whistle, Cannery, Bad Tattoo, Highway 97 and Barley Mill) to pick up a passport. Visit each brewery and get your passport stamped. Once your passport has been stamped at each brewery, drop it off at any participating brewery for a chance to win an incredible prize package. The draw is once per quarter, giving you plenty of chances through the year to get your hands on some sweet beer gear and other goodies!

New CAMRA South Okanagan swag is in stock! We have hats and shirts for men and women in a variety of colours and sizes. Contact Chelsea at vp@camraso.ca to get yours! Shirts are $20, hats $25. We can accept cash, e-transfers or a cheque to CAMRA SO.
Have an idea for an event? Have a question or suggestion for our team? Want to give feedback about a previous event? Want to chat about beer? Our executive team is available. Contact us by email:

Kim: President – pres@camraso.ca
Chelsea: Vice President – vp@camraso.ca
Aldo: Membership – membership@camraso.ca
Eike: Home Brewing Liasion – education@camraso.ca
Lory: Secretary – secretary@camraso.ca
Derrick: Treasurer – treasurer@camraso.ca
Kevin: Events – events@camraso.ca

We are always looking for more volunteers to help at our events. If you don’t have time to commit to being an executive member, please consider being an event volunteer. Not only will you have a ton of fun, but there is a high likelihood of beer-related perks involved. Contact Chelsea if you are interested in being on our volunteer list.

MEMBERSHIP 

Membership across BC is made up of over 1300 individuals. Member activities include beer tastings, brewery tours, seminars & more. CAMRA members are eager to apply their talents and experience to promoting widespread public appreciation of the many “real beers” that have become available in recent years.

Join or renew your membership online

Why Join CAMRA SO?

  • You have a love of craft beer and see the value of supporting the craft beer industry
  • Your membership in CAMRA SO provides you with the opportunity to join acommunity of like-minded craft beer lovers and help campaign to protect the rights and needs of craft beer consumers
  • You enjoy the opportunity to attend craft beer events (some will offer CAMRA SO discounted rates, special access or advance ticket purchases)
  • You can participate in CAMRA SO member-only organized, brewery tours,meet the brewer events, craft ale pub visits, out-of-town road trips and tastings, cask events etc.
  • Access to a number of CAMRA SO member benefits courtesy of our local participating businesses
  • Keep up-to-date on beer-related activities, cask events, and new craft beer releases throughout the South Okanagan via our member newsletter and Facebook page
  • Communication of and opportunity to participate in other CAMRA BC branch events

For more information – contact Membership Director Aldo Castagna at membership@camraso.ca
To join – visit our Membership page


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