Lotte Peplow, the Brewers Association’s American craft beer ambassador for Europe, welcomes the return of beer conferences in Europe and the USA.
The European Brewery Convention Congress. Photograph: Ruben Del Valle
The pandemic has wrought havoc on the beer industry, so it was great to see normality returning at two major international beer conferences recently. Conferences present a superb opportunity for beer education and learning from esteemed brewing professionals and revered experts in the industry. They are a chance to network, develop long-standing relationships, and explore the beer culture of a different country.
So it was with a great deal of excitement that I attended the Brewers of Europe Forum/38th European Brewery Convention (EBC) Congress in Madrid, in late May/early June. The forum offers plenary sessions, seminars, and practical workshops on hot topics in the beer world. It is combined with the EBC Congress, which claims to be one of the most important brewing technical events in Europe, offering more than 50 scientific presentations and more
than 100 technical posters for reading and discussing with the authors. The event attracted over 1,000 brewing industry professionals from all over the world, including researchers, scientists, and technologists.
One of many highlights was a seminar on diversity, equity, and inclusion, the first time this topic has been addressed at the forum. As one of the speakers eloquently put it, “diversity is being invited to the party, inclusion is being invited to dance”.
Photograph: Ruben Del V
There were ten hours dedicated to sustainability, and the chance to hear the barrel-ageing brewing legend Peter
Boukaert speak about the use of wood. Low- and no-alcohol technical seminars featured heavily, as did raw materials and hop research. There was even one seminar on beer brewed with spirits and wine.
It was also rewarding to see the coming together of large multinational brewing companies and smaller ‘craft’ breweries, both united in one cause — the improvement of beer knowledge and education, and the advancement of beer and the brewing industry.
The final day was devoted to technical brewing visits, which involved a trip to Cervecera Peninsula, a brewery in Madrid founded by Roman Jove, a passionate brewer originally from Venezuela, whose hop-forward beers are inspired by the American West Coast style and the world beer movement.
Earlier in May, the Craft Brewers Conference and Brew Expo took place in Minneapolis and attracted more than 10,300 brewing professionals from all over the world. Attendees welcomed the chance to finally network with long-lost international colleagues, learn from the wealth of information on offer, and seek out the latest and best products and services among the 637 exhibitors on the Expo floor.
Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) is the number one environment in North America for concentrated, affordable brewing education and idea sharing, and the largest industry-only gathering in the States. Attendees can choose from nine educational tracks led by the top minds in the beer and business worlds (all 184 of them!).
One of the many highlights was the general session on the first morning, which included a welcome speech from Bob Pease, chief executive/president of the Brewers Association (BA), and a state of the industry address by chief economist, Bart Watson.
Bob kicked off proceedings by touching on the disruption caused by the pandemic, supply chain issues, and inflation, but stressed that the American craft brewing industry had improved in the last year and the BA was in a strong position to represent the 5,600 craft brewery members going forwards.
There are now 9,247 craft breweries in the USA and openings continue, albeit at a slower pace than previous years. In 2021, American craft brewers saw 8% growth, increasing craft beer’s overall market share by volume to 13.1%, up from 12.2% in 2020. Retail dollar value was estimated at $26.9m, representing 26.8% market share, in 2021 — 21% growth over 2020.
The always insightful Bart was up next and suggested 2022 was going to be a make-or-break year for many breweries, but there was nothing in the numbers that indicated the demand for craft beer was waning. Instead, he argued that the industry is reaching a phase when demand for the segment as a whole does not guarantee demand for individual businesses.
The floor of the Craft Brewers Conference. Photograph: Brewers Association
The craft beer market is maturing, and with it new opportunities, but also new challenges. In order to differentiate themselves breweries need to look for niches to grow that are outside the IPA category. They need to re-invent and refresh themselves in order to stay relevant, and find new people, new preferences and new places for craft beer.
He cited the small but rapidly growing no- and low-alcohol sector as an example of success, and proposed that the industry will see growth where brand meets innovation. Driven by imperial and hazy/juicy examples, the IPA sector continues to grow because it continues to evolve and take on new iterations. But IPA on its own is not enough for the market to thrive, and greater innovation is needed in up-and-coming sectors, such as fruit beers, sours, and
lighter/lower ABV lagers and lighter ales for beer to stay relevant.
Demographics are worth paying attention to as there will soon be more legal drinking age Gen Zs (born 1996 to 2010) than baby boomers (born 1945 to 1965) in America, and 15 million more millennials than either of those two generations. In the last ten years, the average age of the craft beer drinker has gone up by 1.5 years, and if that trend continues we’re going to be drinking what our grandparents drank and seeing a very different marketplace to today.
After a dearth of events during the pandemic, it was great to see beer bringing people together again and to appreciate how these two parts of the world are pushing forward to advance beer and the brewing community.
In the UK, American craft beer can be found at online retailers such as Athletic Brewing, the Cascade Club, the Malt Miller, Beer Merchants, and Beer Gonzo, or selected bottle shops, off-licences, online subscription services, supermarkets, and selected pubs and bars.
About the Brewers Association
The Brewers Association (BA) is the not-for-profit trade association dedicated to small and independent American brewers, their beers and the community of brewing enthusiasts.
The BA represents 5,700-plus US breweries. The BA’s independent craft brewer seal is a widely adopted symbol that differentiates beers by small and independent craft brewers.
The BA organises events including the World Beer Cup, Great American Beer Festival, Craft Brewers Conference and BrewExpo America, SAVOR: An American Craft Beer and Food Experience, Homebrew Con, National Homebrew Competition and American Craft Beer Week.
The BA publishes The New Brewer magazine, and Brewers Publications is the largest publisher of brewing literature in the US.
Beer lovers are invited to learn more about the dynamic world of craft beer at CraftBeer.com and about homebrewing via the BA’s American Homebrewers Association and the free Brew Guru mobile app.
