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Master Brewers Association of the Americas District Northwest Records, 1935-2017

By Tiah Edmunson-Morton

Collection Overview

Title: Master Brewers Association of the Americas District Northwest Records, 1935-2017

Predominant Dates: 1984-2016

ID: MSS MBAANW

Primary Creator: Master Brewers Association of the Americas. District Northwest.

Extent: 1.4 cubic feet. More info below.

Arrangement: The MBAA Northwest District records are arranged into five series: 1. Publications, 1987-2012; 2. Meeting Materials and Presentations, 1984-2016; 3. Photographs, 1935-2008; 4. Governance documents, 2012-2017; and 5. Member Awards, 2010-2016.

Date Acquired: 00/00/2017

Languages of Materials: English [eng]

Abstract

The Northwest District of the Master Brewers Association of the Americas (MBAA) was established in 1935, with events to provide continuing education, technical information, and social opportunities. The chapter currently has two meetings in the fall and the spring, with field trips, conference presentations, and educational workshops.

This collection contains publications, event materials, photographs, and governance records for the Northwest District.

This collection contains digital folders and electronic files describes in Series 1-4. These files are available upon request.

Scope and Content Notes

The Master Brewers Association of the Americas Northwest District collection contains publications, event materials, photographs, and governance records for the Northwest District.

Included in Series 1 are articles and notes collected and annotated by MBAA members (Journal of the American Society of Brewing Chemists, American Society of Brewing Chemists Newsletter, Journal of the Institute of Brewing) that reflect their interests and their work. Also included in this series are white papers written by brewing consultant David Kapral.

Series 2 is comprised of publications and presentation materials for various international and local professional conferences; of special note are the meeting materials for the district meetings, and audio files from the 2016 meeting. Series 3, Photographs, includes a photograph album with article clippings and pictures from MBAA events and conventions in 1935 and in the mid 1950s, and digital pictures taken at the 2008 spring meeting in Hood River.

Governance documents from 2012 to 2017 comprise Series 4.

This collection contains digital folders and electronic files describes in Series 1-4. These files are available upon request.

Biographical / Historical Notes

The Northwest District of the Master Brewers Association of the Americas (MBAA) was established in 1935, with events to provide continuing education, technical information, and social opportunities. The chapter currently has two meetings in the fall and the spring, with field trips, conference presentations, and educational workshops.

In 1935, twelve Master Brewers in Seattle established their own association and petitioned the MBAA for affiliation; their petition was granted December 6, 1935, and the district was named "District Northwestern." The original geographic area of the district included Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and British Columbia. Over time, the growth of breweries in Canada led to the creation of a separate Canadian district affiliation.

During World War II, the MBAA conferences were limited to active members, and discussions were confined to wartime production issues. At the second wartime conference held in Cincinnati, the Western Provinces of Canada were granted their own charter as MBAA's District Western Canada. As a result, the geographical boundaries of District Northwestern were reduced to include just the U.S. states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. In 1962, there were seven breweries in the district, with 52 active members, 12 associate members, and 69 allied members. The district held two meetings annually and hosted the "Fall Round-Up," which featured technical presentations. By 1987, the number of member breweries had decreased to four, with 37 active members, 10 associate members, and 37 allied members.

In 2017, the district was known as "District Northwest;" it is one of the largest in terms of geographic boundaries, and includes some of the most recognized breweries in the country. Because of its location, the district's brewing culture also involves hop breeding, development, and production.

The Master Brewers Association of the Americas was founded in 1887 as a professional support and educational organization with a mission to promote, advance, and improve the interest and skills of brewers and brewhouse staff. The non-profit organization has members throughout the world, with 25 different districts to support members at a regional level.



Author: Tiah Edmunson-Morton

Administrative Information

More Extent Information: 50 photographs; 2 boxes, including 1 oversize; 578.8 MB (147 files)

Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.

Acquisition Note: These materials were donated to the Special Collections and Archives Research Center by Ralph Olson and David Kapral in 2017. Additional materials were downloaded from the MBAA Northwest District website with permission of Linda M. Schmitt.

Related Materials:

The Master Brewers Association of the Americas, Northwest District Records are complemented by several other collections. The collection of Hops Specialist Godfrey R. Hoerner has photographs from the 1937, 1939, and 1940 national MBAA meetings. Also of note are the monthly Oregon State College Extension Service Hop Press Newsletters (1948-1955), written by Hoerner; they contain information about the MBAA activities, publications, and news. The Olympia Brewing Company Library Collection includes issues of the MBAA Quarterly publication for the years 1964 through 2007 (though latter years have missing issues). Issues of the MBAA Technically Quarterly from 2004-2008 have been added to the Brewing and Fermentation Research Collection.

The Oregon Hops and Brewing Archives Oral History Collection (OH 35) includes interviews from industry professionals, journalists and community members. There are several interviews with people related to the MBAA, including Dr. Thomas Shellhammer and Karl Ockert.

The national organizational records for the Master Brewers of Association of the Americas (MS 675) are housed at the Iowa State University Special Collections and University Archives. Washington State University's Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections department has issues of the "Brewer & Dispenser (HD9397.U5 B69)," the MBAA NW chapter newsletter that was produced from 1933 to 1956. Digital copies of the Brewer & Dispenser have been added to the Brewing and Fermentation Research Collection.

Additional materials related Oregon State University research and manuscript collections are detailed on the Oregon Hops and Brewing Archives library research guide. More information pertaining to the history of hop growing and brewing in Oregon can be found on the Oregon Hops and Brewing Archives website.

Preferred Citation: Master Brewers Association of the Americas, Northwest District Records (MSS MBAANW), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Creators

Master Brewers Association of the Americas. District Northwest.

People, Places, and Topics

Brewing--Periodicals.
Brewing.
Brewing industry--Oregon.
Hops--Oregon.
Hops and Brewing
Master Brewers Association of the Americas
Professional education.

Forms of Material

Born digital.
Digital photographs.
Photograph albums.
Photographic prints.


Box and Folder Listing

Series 1: Publications, 1987-2012
This series contains articles and notes that were collected and annotated by MBAA Northwest members who were employed at Hopunion USA. They are from prominent industry periodicals. Also included are "Practical Brewing" white papers written by David Kapral. Digital Folder 1 is available upon request.
Box-Folder 1.01: Journal of the American Society of Brewing Chemists, 1992, 1995
Box-Folder 1.02: American Society of Brewing Chemists Newsletter and conference session notes., 1990
Notes were taken by Gregory Lewis from Hopunion USA and pertain to sessions at the 1990 ASBC conference.
Box-Folder 1.03: Journal of the Institute of Brewing, 1987-1990
Various issues from 1987-1990 with articles and monograph abstracts marked.
Box-Folder 1.04: Journal of the Institute of Brewing, 1992
Various issues from 1992 with articles and monograph abstracts marked.
Box-Folder 1.05: Journal of the Institute of Brewing article index, 1991
Index of abstracts of papers published in other journals.
Digital Folder 1: David Kapral White Papers, 2012
Pro-Engineering Craft Brew Tech Notes papers written by David Kapral.
Series 2: Meeting Materials and Presentations, 1984-2016
Series 2 contains publications or presentation materials for conventions, symposiums, and meetings. This series has both print and electronic materials. The International Hop Growers Convention Proceedings of the Technical Commission and European Brewery Convention Symposium monographs on hops include volumes from various conventions and symposiums held between 1984 and 1998. The conventions and symposiums were held in Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Australia, Finland, and the Netherlands, and covered topics related to hops and plant biotechnology. Meeting materials for the Master Brewers Association of the Americas (MBAA) District NW meetings includes speaker presentations and agendas, minutes, lists of vendors, and treasurer reports from some of the meetings. Many of the presentations were given by experts in the brewing industry, including professors, researchers, and brewers.
Box-Folder 1.06: International Hop Growers Convention Proceedings of the Technical Commission, 1984-1998
Volumes from 1984 convention held in Germany, 1985 convention held in Czechoslovakia, 1987 convention held in Poland, and 1988 convention held in Australia.
Box-Folder 1.07: European Brewery Convention Symposium monographs on hops, 1987-1994
Volumes from 1987 on hops and held in Germany, 1989 on plant biotechnology and held in Finland, and 1994 on hops and held in The Netherlands.
Digital Folder 2: MBAA District Northwest Meeting Materials, 2008-2016
This folder contains MBAA District NW meeting and association administrative materials, as well as speaker presentations for various meetings hosted by the MBAA from 2008 to 2016. The topics cover a range of brewing-related subjects, such as brewery automation, brewing techniques, techniques for brewing hoppy beers, malt options for coloring beer, food safety, microbial methods for cleaning in place (CIP) validation, fruit processing, and regulations. Sustainability and environmental impact were also discussed, with talks on water conservation and reducing energy costs in breweries. Some sessions focused on specific aspects of the brewing process, such as yeast propagation, hop selection, fermentation management, and barrel aging beers. Other topics included fruit beers and the history of cidermaking. Included are presentations by David Kapral, Tom Shellhammer, Shaun Townsend, Jeff Clawson, Dick Cantwell, Abram Goldman-Armstrong, Linda Bruslind, Charlie Bamforth, Lisbeth Goddik, Patrick Hayes, John Henning, Karl Ockert, and Christian Ettinger. Digital Folder 2 is available upon request.
Digital Folder 2.01: Meeting, 2008
Digital Folder 2.02: Fall Meeting, 2010
Digital Folder 2.03: Spring Meeting, 2010
Digital Folder 2.04: Fall Meeting, 2011
Digital Folder 2.05: Spring Meeting, 2011
Digital Folder 2.06: Fall Meeting, 2012
Digital Folder 2.07: Spring Meeting, 2012
Digital Folder 2.08: Fall Meeting, 2013
Digital Folder 2.09: Spring Meeting, 2013
Digital Folder 2.10: Fall Meeting, 2014
Digital Folder 2.11: Spring Meeting, 2014
Digital Folder 2.12: Fall Meeting, 2015
Digital Folder 2.13: Spring Meeting, 2015
Digital Folder 2.14: Fall Meeting, 2016
Digital Folder 2.15: Spring Meeting, 2016
This folder contains PDFs and audio files of presentations.
Series 3: Photographs, 1935-2008
Photograph album with clippings and pictures from events and conventions. Also found in this series are 9 digital pictures taken at the 2008 District NW spring meeting in Hood River. Digital folder 3 is available upon request.
Box-Item 2.01: Photograph album, 1935-circa 1950
Photograph album with clippings and pictures of families, groups, and individuals at national and local events and conventions; included is a picture of the NW Charter Certificate.
Digital Folder 3: District Northwest spring meeting photographs, 2008
David Kapral (speaking) and groups shots that include Brett Porter, Bill Pengelly, and Jeff Edgerton.
Series 4: Governance documents, 2012-2017
These documents contain information about the governance of the MBAA regional districts, including the process for establishing new districts, as well as the Northwest District Charter Agreement, by-laws, 2012 Articles of Incorporation. Of special note is a history of the District Northwest chapter, circa 2017. All of these files are electronic and are available upon request.
Series 5: Member Awards, 2010-2016
List of MBAA District NW members who won awards at the World Beer Cup and Great American Beer Festival.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.