SHA Bylaws

MISSION

The purpose of the Southeastern Homebrewers Association is to:

Promote homebrewing, mead making and cider making;
Promote membership in local homebrewing clubs; and
To bring homebrewing clubs from the southeastern US together to compete and judge in an effort to help all club members make the best beer, mead, or cider possible.

ASSOCIATION NAME

The name of the association is the Southeastern Homebrewers Association, herein known as “SHA.”

FINANCIAL DISCLAIMER

The SHA accepts no liability or financial responsibility for member clubs or any events that are sanctioned by the SHA.

The SHA is a non-profit organization and all dues payments received are returned to the members in the form of awards. (see below)

PARTICIPATION

Any homebrewing club is eligible to join SHA and become a “member club” as long as the following criteria are met.

Be located in the Southeastern portion of the US, including but not limited to the following states: North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, and Tennessee.
Must be a registered club with the American Homebrewers Association.
Must demonstrate an atmosphere of openness for encouraging new member growth and thus growing the SHA.
Submit a completed membership application, found on the SHA website.
Designate a single representative who will serve as their club’s voice, and cast their club’s vote in all association business.
Pay annual dues. Admission to the SHA will require a vote of approval from two-thirds of current SHA member clubs in good standing. A club’s admission to SHA may be accepted mid-year; however, any additional club competition (i.e., new to SHA circuit) may require a separate decision to fit into the existing SHA schedule, and thus may be delayed a year. The SHA dues shall not be pro-rated for mid-year memberships.

DUES

Each member club must be current in their dues to the SHA.

Annual membership dues must be received by February 1, or prior to the first scheduled competition for that year, whichever is earliest.
Any member club that fails to pay the annual dues payment by February 1 will be disqualified from receiving any points from competitions their members compete in until that club has successfully rejoined SHA.
Payment will be accepted by paying the membership dues invoice as requested. The invoice will be generated yearly and sent to the club representative.

COMPETITIONS

Though not required, each member club of SHA is entitled and encouraged to host an annual competition.

Any competition that is sanctioned by the SHA must be approved by the association and meet the following criteria:
- Must be registered with the AHA/BJCP and report all relevant participation points thereof.
- Cannot be scheduled on a date that conflicts with other already established SHA-sanctioned competitions or special events.
- Any new competition must gain approval from two-thirds of the SHA representatives.
- Any established competition may retain their approved calendar-time period year over year. SHA competition schedule changes require approval by two-thirds of SHA representatives.
- Competition must enforce an entry maximum of TWELVE (12) individual entries per entrant or team. The hosting club may enforce other entry limits as they deem appropriate for their competition, but cannot exceed the association’s per entrant limit.
- Any competition flight with a minimum of FIVE (5) entries will earn points for awards as detailed below.
- Competitions may enforce any scoring limit they deem appropriate for awarding 1st, 2nd and 3rd place entries. I.e., a flight may not award a 3rd place if scores were very low.

AWARDS

The SHA will recognize individuals and/or teams of competition entrants at the conclusion of the competition season.

The competition season will begin with the first SHA sanctioned event of the calendar year and will end after the last competition of the calendar year.

Individual/Team and Club points will be accumulated throughout the competition season.

SHA competitors MUST be a recognized member of a SHA member club. Competitors can declare a SINGLE member club as their affiliation only once during the competition season. Points earned prior to declaring a club affiliation will NOT be eligible for SHA points. Likewise, the past competition results of clubs that join SHA later in the year are also not eligible for SHA points and awards. I.e., for its comp and its members, eligibility commences effective with SHA membership.

Awards and point calculations:

Southeastern Homebrewers Association Homebrewer of the Year
1. Three (3) points for each FIRST (1st) place earned in valid competition flights, as defined by each individual competition.
2. Two (2) points for each SECOND (2nd) place earned in valid competition flights, as defined by each individual competition.
3. One (1) point for each THIRD (3rd) place earned in valid competition flights, as defined by each individual competition.
4. An entrant may a receive a maximum of twelve (12) points from beer flights from a single competition, from any combination of ribbons won. See section 3.5 for examples.
5. Points will be accumulated throughout the competition season. The top THREE (3) competitors will be recognized, with the competitor with the most points being crowned the Southeastern Homebrewer of the Year.
6. No points are earned for any “Best of Show” awards, as any entry in the “Best of Show” will have already won points in their individual flights.
7. All entries must be brewed in an “amateur” environment. Any entries that were brewed on a commercial grade system are ineligible for points and should also be discouraged by individual competitions.
Southeastern Homebrewers Association Mead and Cider Maker of the Year
1. Three (3) points for each FIRST (1st) place earned in valid competition flights, as defined by each individual competition.
2. Two (2) points for each SECOND (2nd) place earned in valid competition flights, as defined by each individual competition.
3. One (1) point for each THIRD (3rd) place earned in valid competition flights, as defined by each individual competition.
4. An entrant may a receive a maximum of twelve (12) points from mead and cider flights from a single competition, from any combination of ribbons won. See section 3.5 for examples.
5. Points will be accumulated throughout the competition season. The top THREE (3) competitors will be recognized, with the competitor with the most points being crowned the Southeastern Mead and Cider Maker of the Year.
6. No points are earned for any “Best of Show” awards, as any entry in the “Best of Show” will have already won points in their individual flights.
7. All entries must be brewed in an “amateur” environment. Any entries that were brewed on a commercial grade system are ineligible for points and should also be discouraged by individual competitions.
Southeastern Homebrewers Association Club of the Year
1. The SHA Club of the Year is recognized as the SHA sanctioned club whose membership is most active in SHA sanctioned competitions and consistently stands out as having the most award-winning brewers in those competitions.
2. The club of the year points can be earned from all SHA competition flights that include beer, mead and cider categories.
3. The club of the year points earned for each club are based on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place awards given to each brewer and each mead/cider maker for their declared SHA club in every SHA-sanctioned competition.
4. No additional SHA Club of the Year points will be accumulated for Best of Show (BOS) awards.
5. The club of the year points are earned with the following criteria
  1. Each brewer with a 1st place entry in any SHA sanctioned competition is awarded 3 points
  2. Each brewer with a 2nd place entry in any SHA sanctioned competition is awarded 2 points
  3. Each brewer with a 3rd place entry in any SHA sanctioned competition is awarded 1 point
  4. Each brewer can earn a maximum of 12 points per SHA sanctioned competition to be awarded for their declared club for Club of the Year
  5. Each mead/cider maker can earn a maximum of 12 points per SHA sanctioned competition to be awarded for their declared club for Club of the Year
  6. An example of how SHA club of the year points are calculated:
    1. Brewer A is awarded 2 FIRST place entries, 1 SECOND place entry and 3 THIRD place entries. Total SHA Club of the Year contribution for that member towards Club of the Year for their declared club in that competition is 11 points (6 for two FIRST, 2 for a SECOND, 3 for 3 THIRDS)
    2. Brewer B is awarded 3 SECOND place entries, 2 THIRD place entries. Total SHA Club of the Year contribution for that member towards Club of the Year for their declared club in that competition is 8 points (6 points for three SECONDS, 2 points for two THIRDS)
    3. Brewer C is awarded 4 FIRST place entries, and 2 THIRD place entries. Total SHA Club of the Year contribution for that member towards Club of the Year for their declared club in that competition is 12 points (12 points for four FIRSTS, and is capped at 12 total points for that comp)
    4. Brewer D is awarded 4 FIRST place entries, and 2 THIRD place entries in beer. Entrant D also is awarded one FIRST place entry in mead. Total SHA Club of the Year contribution for that member towards Club of the Year for their declared club in that competition is 15 points (12 points for four FIRSTS in beer, and is capped at 12 total beer points for that comp, and 3 points for the FIRST in mead/cider).
  7. The total points awarded to a Club from a single competition shall be the total points awarded to its declared entrants from beer flights, and mead/cider flights, plus its participation points.

SCHEDULE

The schedule of SHA sanctioned events will be maintained on the associations website.

REVISON

The SHA Bylaws will be revised annually by February 1, or prior to the first scheduled competition for that year, whichever is earliest and shall be approved by two-thirds of the SHA representatives.

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