By Brent Manning, Board President / Riverbend Malt House
2021 has been quite the rollercoaster, from a dreary winter filled with pandemic restrictions to a spring that almost feels like normal. Hopefully, everyone has remained safe and prosperous during these unprecedented times.
The Guild board of directors has remained busy this spring, tackling tons of different projects and planning for the 2021-2022 fiscal year. We have also formed a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force to develop new educational resources and internal guidelines that will help our organization continue to grow in a manner that welcomes everyone regardless of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or culture. Look for these resources to be released by the end of the year.
A huge thanks go out to Hannah Turner for developing and orchestrating a brand new in-person class, the Malt for Brewers Workshop, which she will be hosting later this summer (August 9-10) in Bozeman, MT. The course has been designed to build a greater understanding of malt covering everything from the production of top-quality barley to the production of different styles of malt.
We have also been working on updating and improving our website. The new site has improved functionality, making it easier to log in and access all of the educational content you crave!
Last, but not least, we’ve begun planning for our in-person Craft Malt Conference in Portland, ME. Be sure to mark your calendars for February 18-19, 2021. Check out the Save the Date press release in this month’s newsletter to learn more!