May 6th, 2009
American Craft Beer Week . Craft Beer Week . National Homebrew day
Celebrate National HomeBrew Day and Craft Beer Week
Just a reminder that May 7th, 2009 is the National HomeBrew Day and American Craft Beer Week starts on May 11th and runs through May 17th.
National HomeBrew Day
In 1988, May 7 was announced before Congress as National Homebrew Day. The American Homebrewers Association created Big Brew as an annual event to celebrate National Homebrew Day not only in the United States, but around the world. Big Brew is held each year on the first Saturday in May.
Homebrewing has been practiced in America since the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. Today there are an estimated 750,000 homebrewers in the United States. Homebrewers are passionate about brewing beer and love to share that passion with others. That’s what Big Brew is all about: homebrewers getting together all over the world to share their love for the hobby.
Each year the AHA finds two or three recipes to highlight for Big Brew. Then hundreds of homebrewers register their locations for a communal brew-in to celebrate National Homebrew Day. They invite family and friends, or hang posters around town to advertise their brewing site. Then on the first Saturday in May (May 2nd this year) everyone congregates at the brewing site early enough to join in a collective toast at noon Central time and get on with the brewing. If you would like to find a Big Brew site in your area, you can view the registered sites. If there isn’t a site in your area, and you are a brewer, please consider signing up to host a site.
For more information, visit BigBrew
American Craft Beer Week
America’s small and independent craft brewers are making special plans for the annual American Craft Beer Week (May 11-17), a national celebration highlighting the culture and contributions of craft beer. These brewers want the week to inspire beer enthusiasts to declare their independence by supporting breweries that produce fewer than 2 million barrels of beer a year and are independently owned.
Changed to a weeklong event in 2006, the inaugural American Craft Beer Week was recognized by the U.S. Congress with House Resolution 753 (PDF file). The week has continued to grow with interest and support from beer enthusiasts and the media. In 2007, more than 150 brewers registered their community celebrations.
In the works are special brewery tours, beer and food pairing events, special release craft beers and festivals all across the U.S. Go to www.AmericanCraftBeerWeek.org to check out events in your area. While you are there, you can click on the link to become a fan of American Craft Beer Week on Facebook. By becoming a fan you, essentially, are signing the “Declaration of Beer Independence†which is the theme of this year’s ACBW, and before you leave be sure to leave a note on the wall of how you plan to celebrate American Craft Beer Week (May 11- 17).
Things you can do to celebrate American Craft Beer Week and show your support:
1) Sign the ‘Declaration of Beer Independence’ posted on Facebook by becoming a fan of the page: http://tinyurl.com/acbw-fb so we can reach our goal of 10,000 fans by May 17!
2) Spread the word and get others you know to sign the Declaration on Facebook!
3) Attend an event at your local brewery during American Craft Beer Week.
4) Print the ‘Declaration of Independence’ and give it to your local retailer, tavern or restaurant to show them you support beer made from small and independent brewers.
For more information, visit www.AmericanCraftBeerWeek.org
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