2022 Board Elections – Meet the Candidates

At the October Membership Meeting, Candidates for your BCBS Board of Directors introduced themselves. Each was invited to share a written statement about why they want to serve on the Board. The responses provided are shared below. Board Elections will be held at the Annual Membership Meeting on November 6th.

Candidate for President (Term 2023-24)

David Ward

Butler County Brewing Society club members, my name is David Ward and I would like to throw my name in the hat to be your next club president.  Think I’ve met many of our members but if our paths have not crossed, let me introduce myself.  I was bit by the homebrewing bug and brewed my first batch in 1993.  Back then, hop selection was not as intimidating as it is today.  You went down to the local wine shop and picked from what they had in stock….you could go with the green ones, the brown ones (not recommended) or once in a while these really awesome ones called Cascade.  

Throughout my homebrewing journey I can absolutely say that the one thing that has improved my brews the most and delivered more joy of homebrewing has not been a secret ingredient or some shiny new piece of gear, it’s been the discovery of the Butler County Brewing Society (BCBS).  The opportunities to learn, grow and share brewing experiences with our club members have been fantastic.   

Over the last 5 or 6 years it has been awesome to see the success, growth, and great strides of Hamilton, Municipal Brew Works and the BCBS.  In the early club days, the homebrews lined up on the MBW bar for the Sunday night club share included a few surprises (good and bad).  Through KART, club brew projects and members helping members, the beverages lining the bar these days include an impressive array of beers, meads and wines, from a growing list of medal winning brewers.  

Much of the credit for the growth and progress of our club needs to go to our board and current president, Chuck Beardslee.  They have done a fantastic job and are leaving some large shoes to fill.  I look forward to the opportunity to work with our future board to lead and help our club continue on this brewing journey.

Cheers!

Candidate for Vice President (Term 2023-24)

David Pfirrman

For those of you that currently don’t know me, my name is David Pfirrman, and I am running for Vice President. I have been brewing for almost 11 years now, and I would be honored to share my experience with everyone within our brew club.

Over the past couple of years, as an active member of the of BCBS, I have been involved in many great projects. I am currently the host of the Solara barrel project. I worked with Cory Aldrich to help build and create the BCBS website. I was part of the committee that help planned and run both the Throwdown and Frenzy beer competitions. With David Ward I helped build and design the National Homebrew Con “Club Night” booth.

If elected for the role of Vice President, I will vow to help our club in many ways. I would like to see our brew club grow by getting the knowledge of our brew club out there and expand the number of active members we have. I would like to see our competitions expand and become a national level competition. I would also like to see an expansion of the website, to have an active member’s side, where we can help, share, and collaborate with each other.

Vote for David Pfirrman and let together grow this club into the best brew club in the Southern Ohio region!

Candidate for Communications Director (Term 2023)

Cory Aldrich (Incumbent)

I volunteered to fill the role of Communications Director four years ago, and I have be honored to help BCBS grow from its infancy to what it is today. I hoped to bring structure and organization that would allow the club to grow and have a larger presence in the Cincinnati homebrewing community. In these last four years – despite the pandemic – I’ve helped with writing new Bylaws to guide the club, setting up a monthly newsletter and new website, and improving our social media outreach. I’ve also been a part of expanding BCBS’s presence in the region by starting the Commercial Calibration in collaboration with Arrow Wine in Mason, launching the Throwdown! Competition, and working on the Fermentation Frenzy committee.

As I think about 2023, my aim is to continue building on the foundation that the club has laid in its first five years. I want to leave additional guidance and structure to make leadership easier for future board members. I want encourage a broad appreciation of the many diverse craft beer styles and the development of our palates and our ability to describe beer. I want to create a pool of certified beer judges within the club. Through all of these, I believe I can help further BCBS’s mission and share the joy of homebrewing and craft beer culture throughout the Cincinnati area.

Candidate for Competition Coordinator (Term 2023)

Lance Clayton (Incumbent)

BCBS members, I am running for another term as your Competition Coordinator. Years ago when I was invited to the club, I never imagined it would take off the way it has. In the beginning, I was just excited to brew my first batch of beer after making wine for several years. Now, after seeing what great concoctions our club makes, there was a real push to have club members start entering competitions. When we were approached by the Butler County Fair to take over the competition, I knew this could be our club’s big event each year. It’s been really exciting to see the club take ownership of this competition as well as having our own intra-club competition.

With the BCBS Throwdown and Fermentation Frenzy firmly in our grasp, I feel we can make both of these competitions even better. I’ve been working recently on networking with other brewers to expand our Butler County competition reach as a club. We took a big step this past July and the Frenzy grew bigger than we thought. Several members have been entering other local and National competitions on a regular basis and our club now being talked about as a real force in Ohio. I can’t wait to see what kind of beer, wine, mead and cider we come up with next to make our competition presence even bigger and better.

Candidate for Treasurer (Term 2023)

Matt Cutter (Incumbent)

I want to be on the board because I always have been and don’t plan on quitting anytime soon. I will continue to provide financial transactions as needed and swag design/purchases/ideas. 

I am inevitable.