Knights' Codes

The Guild

• The Knights of the Mashing Fork (herein “guild”) is a guild of homebrewers who are passionate about making and enjoying beer. The guild is a modern day incarnation of the first brewer’s guild founded by Gambrinus, the patron saint of beer. The guild is governed by democratic rule and there will be no head of the guild such as a president or founding fathers- everyone will have equal rights. Posts may be created to designate certain responsibilities such as Public Contact or Webmaster

Membership

• Members will not be excluded based on age*, sex, race, class, brewing experience, or style of brewing (extract or all-grain). *Members must be at least 21 years of age, or otherwise allowed to manufacture and consume alcohol according to US federal law and the laws of the state of Connecticut. Members must live within a 50 mile radius of Hartford, CT
• All members must actively homebrew and make at least one batch a year that is not a guild or other group-brewed beer. All members must remain active in the guild by attending at least six guild functions per calendar year and be in good standing with respect to guild dues.
• Joining: Membership is granted by invitation only through unanimous approval by the current members. After being voted in, a new member will be given a guild nickname beginning with ‘Sir’, e-mail address, and website access.
• Resignation: Members may voluntarily leave the guild at any time by telling at least two current members. Members who resigned voluntarily must relinquish any property or funds belonging to the guild and can retain their e-mail address so long as it is forwarded to their own mailbox outside of the domain. They will not retain access to any secure information on the website.
• Termination: Members may have their membership terminated for any reason by a majority vote of the current members. Members who were voted out of the guild are not eligible to reapply for membership and must relinquish all property and funds belonging to the guild. Terminated members will not retain their e-mail address or access to any secure information on the website.

Guild Funds

• The guild’s fiscal year runs from September 1st to August 31st of the calendar year. Guild dues are $40 a year. These dues will be used for web site fees, propane, and system improvements/repairs. They are due by September first. New members refer to the chart below:
  • Sept-Dec = $40
  • Jan-March = $30
  • April-June = $20
  • July-August = $10
• Members who are overdue on membership dues for 4 months or more will be barred from guild events until their account is in good standing. Members leaving the guild after 30 days of membership will not have their dues refunded to them.
• The Host of each event will pay for the expenses incurred. They can request monetary or other donations to help cover the cost of the event. It is expected that members will take turns hosting events.

Voting

• Issues to be voted on need to be announced (and delivered) to the members by the guild’s contact person at least two weeks prior to the vote in order to secure absentee votes and attendance. Acceptable means of announcing an issue are as follows. Each member should be contacted by at least one of the following:
  • E-mailing the guild distribution list
  • Forum post
  • Postal-mail
  • Phone (leaving a message is acceptable)
  • In-person notification
• All issues (except new membership) including modification of these codes, are ratified by a majority vote. Majority vote is defined as over half of the number of members (half +0.5 for odd numbers or half +1 for even numbers).
• Members who are not present during a vote may state their position in the two weeks prior to the vote. If a current member does not vote by the date the vote is held (provided proper notification was given), their vote will not be counted and the minimum number of votes may need to be revisited. The only exception being New Membership votes. A person will have up to 30 days from when the vote is announced to state their opinion.

Meeting and Events

• Members-only meetings will be held on the first Thursday of every month to conduct guild business including voting and educational activities. Members can meet any time prior to, but can not conduct business before, 6:00 pm EST.
• The November meeting will be a yearly status meeting and will include planning the next year's calendar.
• Monthly Guild Events are held once a month. The schedule of set events is as follows:
  • Jan: Members-only competition
  • Feb: Non-Brewing Event
  • Mar: Club Brew
  • Apr: Club Brew
  • May: Club Brew
  • Jun: Club Brew
  • Jul: Trip
  • Aug: None
  • Sep: NEHB Jamboree / Club Brew
  • Oct: Club Brew
  • Nov: Club Brew
  • Dec: Holiday Party
• One or more guild members (herein “host”) will sponsor each event. The host will solely determine and be responsible for the details of the event, including, but not limited to, any or all of the following:
  • Location(s); time; optional cost or necessities (food/ingredients); attendance (members only, and/or general public); rules and awards (for competition-style events)
  • For Club Brews, the host is responsible for:
  1. Determining Time and Location then Ensuring the online calendar is correct.
  2. Determining if it is open to the public or not
  3. If extra wort will be available for guests
  4. Creating the recipe and posting it on Brewthology prior to the brew
  5. It is highly recommended (but not enforced) that the brew session be educational by conforming to at least one of the following:
     • A style historically timely to the month it is being brewed (ie a Marzen brewed in March)
     • An uncommon style of beer (rare, historical, experimental, or overlooked style)
     • A Hybrid of many types of styles.
     • A beer using an uncommon process/ingredient in its production (ie. cereal mash, bittering herbs, etc…)
     • A style the brewer has perfected and/or is an authority on.
     • A style brewed for a specific guild function (ie an Oktoberfest for an Oktoberfest party)
  6. Creating a Thread in the Area Events portion of the Forum with info from the above steps.
  7. Securing all ingredients needed for the brew itself: propane, water fixings, malt, hops, etc...
  8. Organizing who will bring what for Coffee, Breakfast, Lunch, etc...
  9. Organizing who will bring what for commercial examples (if applicable)
  10. Providing Vorlauf with Mash and HLT water requirements so it can be setup and preheated prior to the brew session.
  11. If possible, Providing printed reference material of the recipe and/or style and/or techniques.
  12. Delegating and Supervising brewing and cleaning duties
  13. Being responsible for ensuring all brewing and food equipment is cleaned, garbage properly handled, and all gas and utilities are shut off.

Honor

• Competition: Members may enter their beers into homebrew competitions under any guild/club/group they are affiliated with, or no group at all, except for Guild brews. Any brew that was made at a guild event (even on another club’s system) or brewed on a guild system must be entered with the “Knights of the Mashing Fork” as the club and the host(s) and entrant as the brewers. The person(s) who pays for the entry of the beer will retain the ribbon and prizes.
• Chivalry: All members will respect each others opinions even when they disagree with each other. No one shall personally attack another. Every member, when representing the guild, will conduct themselves in a civilized manner. This is especially so when dealing with people in other homebrew clubs, brewing organizations, and beer competitions. Each member will, to reasonable extents, protect the honor and safety of other members. This includes, but is not limited to; making sure everyone is able to drive home safely.

Guild Brewing System

• All members must own an equal share of the system. New members will buy in to the system and members resigning in good standing will be bought out of the system.
• The current value of the system is determined by the initial cost of materials ($1160) minus depreciation.
• The system will be depreciated by a total of $100 every 6 months after Jan 2006 but never go below $300. (As of 9/07 $860)
• If a person leaves the guild, the current value is divided by the number of members including the one who is leaving, and the former member will receive that amount of money. That amount will be equally divided by the remaining members.
• If a person joins the guild, the current value is divided by the new number of members and then divided again by the old number of members. The new member will give each old member that amount of money to buy into the system
• It is advised but not mandatory that guild brews are conducted on the system so that all members can take home 5 gallons of wort.
• The system is open for use by all guild members outside of club functions as long as it is scheduled with the person currently in possession of the system. In this situation, members must completely fund all expendables including propane and ingredients. Any items damaged during a private brew must be replaced by that member (unless it was in a progressive state of deterioration as determined by the guild) and it must be cleaned and left in better condition than which it was found.