The state of things

[Cory Meisch]

tl;dr - Things are tough but so are we and we can continue to do awesome things. 

Hi All,

As we begin to share extra time with family and friends this Holiday Season, I wanted to reflect on where we are at as a community.

We have started to see a decline in overall interest in alcoholic beverages, from creation to consumption, as noted by the recent fall of some very notable breweries and local homebrew shops. Historically the industry and homebrewing have always been in evolution, from discovery to innovation and wars and politics. The one unbreakable thread through all of this is us. We are all in this together. We are going to celebrate together and grieve together.

This group in particular has had a tremendous, pound for pound, impact on the homebrewing community. I am proud of that and wear PBC as a badge of pride.

That being said, I would like to commit, and encourage others to do so as well, to foster an environment of inclusion. PBC is a group formed to further the hobby through education, apprenticeship and outreach. Part of the education component is breaking down barriers, biases and injustices. 

If anyone has questions that would generally benefit the group, please feel free to ask them here in the forum. Even if you don't get a response, it doesn't mean that folks are not engaged. We also have Discord and other general forums.

Everyone is welcome at PBC. Bringing beer is not a required admission ticket to meetings. 

Let's continue to evolve and grow and make this a hobby that shines.

Happy Holidays,

Cory