As a beer fan there little doubt you already know it is American Craft Beer Week, a celebration of small and independent craft brewers organized by the Brewers Association. If you didn’t know, it’s time to step up your beer fan credentials. American Craft Beer Week began Monday and runs through Sunday, May 19. Begun in 2006, the week is an opportunity for breweries and bars around the country to host special events to celebrate craft beer.
Billed by the Brewers Association as “The Mother of All Beer Weeks,” it’s celebrated around these parts with a bit of a yawn. Certainly gaining steam, but still only and handful of events around Montana. Part of the
reason for that is explained in the Brewers Association’s own words: “Beer weeks are giving craft beer fans across the U.S. ever-increasing options to enjoy and share the beverage they love. Beer weeks celebrate the culture and community of craft beer, and give breweries and beer businesses the opportunity to connect with the fans.”
According to this list at the Brewers Association’s craftbeer.com, there are at least 40 craft beer weeks in cities and regions around the U.S. plus two craft beer months (VA and OR). That includes our own Missoula Craft Beer Week created and organized by Growler Fills (Alan) and Montana Beer Finder (Ryan) operating together as Craft Beer Promotions, LLC. I can tell you from experience, despite the tremendous interest these weeks generate from both the brewers/retailers and their fans, they take a ton of work to pull together. But they also work because they are personal, specific and better capture local pride and sense of place than a national beer week.
American Craft Beer week will continue to grow and is certainly worth doing, but “the mother of all beer weeks?” The Brewers Association acknowledges American Craft Beer Week is “just one of the many amazing beer weeks happening in the U.S. every year.” Perhaps my lack of enthusiasm also stems from the fact Missoula Craft Beer Week only ended a little more than a week earlier. I need a break.
