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Brewers Association Conference Slated |
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Friday, 04 April 2008 |
More than 1,600 brewing supply professionals, brewers and brewery owners are expected to attend the Brewers Association's 25th annual craft beer wholesalers conference from April 15-19 in San Diego, Calif.
The event begins with a German beer training symposium from German brewer Weihenstephan, which will include information on processing methods, packaging practices and analytical tools for measuring flavor stability. This course is new to the conference.
"It's great for the brewers in the US who can't afford to fly over to Germany," says Cindy Jones, sales and marketing director for the Brewers Association.
The conference will include many courses, lectures and symposiums that deal with many different aspects of beer making and production.
Courses include, for example, "Technical Brewing," "Selling Craft Beer" and "Sustainability." On the whole, according to Jones, there is "great diversity" in the classes offered.
"Multiple staff members can benefit from the conference," says Jones. "It's not just the brewer who benefits."
A highlight of the conference is the World Beer Cup, which is held every other year. One hundred and thirty judges, 90 of whom are from countries outside of the US, will taste 2,940 beers from 646 breweries from 58 countries. They will award gold, silver and bronze medals to beers in a variety of categories.
"It adds a nice international flavor to the whole conference," says Jones. "More than half of the judges come from other countries. It's a good chance for them to experience American beers."
The results of the competition will be announced the evening of the April 19 at a gala awards dinner. For information, visit beertown.org/events/cbc/attendee/prices.html. |
