District Rocky Mountain meets; famous mayor makes special appearance

Modern Brewery Age,  March 20, 2006  

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The winter meeting for District Rocky Mountain was held at the Big Horn Brewing Co. Westminster, Colorado in mid-February. The chapter reports that over 75 professional and associate members and guests attended.

"The meeting started with a social hour that featured hors d'oeuvres and a large selection of award-winning Big Horn ales served by Big Horn brewmaster Steve Turner," said Rocky Mountain publicity chairman Steve Presley. "Tours of the brewery followed the social hour. Those who toured were treated to an in-depth look at the Big Horn brewhouse and fermenting/aging operations."

President Doug Odell (Odell Brewing Co.) presided over the business portion of the meeting. Each committee chair made a report on his area of responsibility.

Details of the upcoming spring meeting to be held May 11, 2006 at the Fort Collins Anheuser-Busch, Inc. brewery were presented. Technical chair Finn Knudsen (Beverage Consult International, Inc.) said he plans to have an informative presentation on the practical aspects of maintenance planning for the meeting.

Treasurer Dan Overmyer (Honeywell PAI) reported that the District's finances are in order. Membership within the District has leveled off at 125.

Membership chair Dana Johnson (Birko Corp.) challenged the group to show continued support for the District through participation and through recruitment of new members. He also reported that the District would be sponsoring an information table and providing MBAA technical books for raffle items at the upcoming annual Rocky Mountain Microbrewing Symposium.

Entertainment chair Steve Woodward (Fort Collins Feed) reported on the fall out-of-town technical meeting and the plans for this year's event in the Dillon, CO, area.

Publicity chair Steve Presley (Anheuser-Busch, Inc.) reported that the District continues to get favorable press coverage from the industry's trade publications and MBAA. He encouraged the members to support publications that support MBAA.

The evening's technical presentation featured Denver's Mayor, the Honorable John Hickenlooper. Mr. Hickenlooper's arrived in Denver in 1981 as an oil industry geologist, but changed careers to develop the Wynkoop Brewing Company, the first brewpub in the Rocky Mountains. The Wynkoop group now includes seven Denver restaurants and a brewpub in Colorado Springs. John was elected Mayor of Denver in 2003. In 2005, Mayor Hickenlooper was named one of the top five "big-city" mayors in America by TIME Magazine.

Mr. Hickenlooper's presentation was titled "Beer and Politics: Lessons Learned from Running a Brewpub that Have Come in Handy as Mayor of the Mile High City." In his talk, he outlined how running a successful brewing business prepared him for the job of mayor. It is his belief that "Brewers know about passion" and that if you "bring the passion you know about beer to politics, you will govern successfully." He said brewers must "recognize we're all in this together" and that "gains are made by making the pie bigger rather than by making smaller pieces." He encouraged brewers to make a beer that "invites you to drink another."

At the close of the event, Steve Presley, past president, thanked the Big Horn Brewing Co., brewmaster Steve Turner and the CB and Potts staff for "hosting this very successful meeting."

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