Sept. 13, 2014: Guildmaster Lord Brynjolf Rauðskegg held a Guild Moot at Battle on the Bay in Storvik. Please feel free to share this with anyone you think would be interested, including local branches and households.

Also, keep in mind that no decisions on any subjects are being made until we’ve had a few more meetings. This is just brainstorming…Present were Baron Drogo Dragonara, Mistress Sorcha Crow, Lord Mikhail Novgorodets, Lady Cristofana di Lorenzo, Lady Rúna Hóvmansdóttir, Lord Hrothgar Ioanesson Berglund, Lord Dughall-Eoghann LeGrande, and myself [Lord Brynjolf]. 

THE ROLE OF THE GUILD
– To encourage brewing and a forum for networking.
– Special focus on encouraging and supporting new brewers.
– A need to change the perception that the Guild makes drink just to get drunk; and to counter by raising/reinforcing the Guild’s A&S profile.
– “More advertising, better marketing.”
– A need for more policing.
– Better exposure (articles in Tournaments Illustrated, etc).

RANKING SYSTEM
– Abandon the competition-driven model?
– Abandon the apprentice/journeyman/master structure (while period, it conflicts with the apprentice/laurel relationship).
– Leverage the existing award structure (Coral Branch/Opal, Pearl, etc.) instead? Make award recommendations as a Guild…
– Use Atlantia’s Silver Spindle’s skills check-list format? Multiple tracks to accommodate individual styles (mead, beer, cordial, etc).
– Internal awards for brewing achievements?

JUDGING & COMPETITIONS
– More focus on enjoyment of the beverage.
– More focus on learning and feedback instead of “winning.”
– Competitions versus Round Tables were discussed.
– Again, better advertising and marketing (especially with advance notification, announcing a competition three weeks before the event does no good).
– Working more with autocrats to better promote competitions.
– Reinforce the policy of not judging any entries that do not include an ingredient list (safety).
– We briefly touched on reviewing/revising the judging rubric.

WEBSITE & WEB PRESENCE
– Resources page, with bibliography, book reviews, links to suppliers, etc.
– Compile a list of wet event sites.
– Consider adding a list of active participants (members).
– Abandon the Yahoo list and add a Forum to the website?
– Move the listserv to the Seahorse server?
– New brewer resource, including simple medieval beer and mead recipes.

EVENTS
– Discussed site limitations and how to leverage “wet” sites.
– Exploring sites in Stierbach and Spiaggia Levantina were mention specifically.
– More brewing-oriented Universities/University-style events (sites are an issue).
– Discussed ideas for a Guild table at KASF 2015. We’ve done them in the past and they’ve been a success.

Good lord. Did we really discuss all that…?

Anyway, that’s the basics. Again, feel free to share with local branches and households.

Also feel free to post questions/comments/additions/corrections. Seriously. We are soliciting feedback and looking for ideas.

The next meeting is scheduled for War of the Wings, Friday night, 7:00 at the House Barra camp. This will be a fairly short meeting, since the Sapor Secui! open tasting party follows at 8:00.

Lord Brynjolf
Guildmaster