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Beer family and friends: It’s almost time for the Great American Beer Festival^® (GABF^®), the nation’s largest and longest-running beer festival and cultural phenomenon!

With a brand-new floorplan, five new experience areas, and thousands of beers plus many other types of beverages to choose from, the 2024 GABF is poised to be the Best Fest Yet.

The American Homebrewers Association (AHA) is excited to announce that members will receive advance access to the ticket presale for this year’s GABF, the premier beer event of the year. The presale includes access to discounted tickets to PAIRED^®, the most scrumptious beer and food event in the country.… Read the rest “Want Exclusive Access to Great American Beer Festival Presale Tickets and Discounts?”

In 2024, craft beer is in a period of transition. Women, BIPOC, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community have smashed down barriers of entry in the industry, forming meet-up groups, advocacy initiatives, and, of course, breweries. There’s still a substantial amount of work to be done, but there has been encouraging progress.

A necessary milestone for the industry to hit is the day when brewers are no longer boxed in by their backgrounds and how they identify, but are simply acknowledged and appreciated for the beer they brew.

However, it’s always vital to recognize the incredible work LGBTQIA+ brewery owners and brewers are doing to get craft beer closer to being a meaningfully diverse industry.… Read the rest “Pride in Their Craft: LGBTQIA+ Brewers Build Community”

Clean and sanitize all equipment before making mead. Mix 5.1 lb. (2.31 kg) honey, 6 qt. (5.68 L) pear juice, and enough spring water to reach 5 gal. Add pectic enzyme and nutrients. Because kveik yeast works so quickly at high temperatures (this mead finished in less than a week), treat the must as high YAN (yeast-assimilable nitrogen) and add all nutrients (i.e., do not stagger) before pitching yeast. Oxygenate (or stir vigorously) for about a minute prior to pitch. No starter was used, just pitch the pouch. This mead was fermented in a bucket wrapped in a honey warming blanket.… Read the rest “Tupearelo Pear Mead”

In 2016, two Army veterans, Lee and Emily Cleghorn, found a new purpose in beer at the heart of the Rockies in Frisco, Colorado.

Eight years later, Outer Range Brewing Co. is renowned for its IPAs and outdoor spirit. It was no surprise when its founders decided to open another brewery—but  choosing to do it 5,000 miles from home, in the French Alps, made quite the impression.

“Lots of breweries are opening second locations in Colorado because the license allows it. But we’re Outer Range—we’re not going to open another place down the street,” Emily says, reminiscing about the time when Frisco was already seen as a bold choice to start their business.… Read the rest “French Twist: Colorado’s Outer Range Opens Outpost in Alps”

By Julia Herz, American Homebrewers Association (AHA) Executive Director

Hello, everyone, and happy May. I’m pleased to share this midyear update. If you are reading this post or watching the video, I hope you have homebrew bubbling away in a fermenter, chilling in your fridge, and frosting up your glass. 

Membership Cards, Member Deals and More

Physical membership cards are back! If you’d like one, request yours online at HomebrewersAssociation.org. Also, all members automatically have a digital card that you can access from your HomebrewersAssociation.org account.

 A friendly reminder from January 2023: the AHA discontinued our BrewGuru app in favor of mobile responsive access to recipes and Member Deals.… Read the rest “Midyear 2024 Update for AHA Members ”

The AHA has secured a brewery location (thank you, Denver Beer Co., who are ready to offer behind-the-scenes access and exclusive tours of their Jason Street production facility that the public doesn’t normally get to see). With that…we need a sense of club participation.

If your club is interested in participating, please let us know no later than 5:00 p.m. MT on Monday, July 1.

What’s Club Night?

Club Night is dedicated to celebrating homebrewing and homebrew clubs. Clubs from across the U.S. bring in elaborate setups to showcase their club’s best homebrew offerings.… Read the rest “Quick Show of Hands: Who Wants To Do Club Night This Year?”

If the only things certain in life are death and taxes, then the only things certain in craft beer are inspectors and taxes. For brewers looking to release a new label, that means working with the once-dreaded Taxman.

Although it can look daunting, the process of label approval through the federal government has become more streamlined in recent years, and the brewers and designers we spoke with agree that once they narrow down some basic rules, receiving approval is relatively painless.

First off, who oversees beer labels? That’s the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, otherwise known as the TTB, which emerged in 2003 with the reorganization of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.… Read the rest “Beer Label Bottlenecks”

Bulk treat 10 gal. (37.85 L) RO water with 2 g each pickling lime, gypsum, and calcium chloride.

Follow low-oxygen brewing practices to the extent possible with your system. Techniques employed were pre-boiling and chilling strike water, purging tubing and grain bed with CO2, underletting mash, using a mash cap, and conducting a full-volume mash to avoid need for sparging.

Dough in at 144°F (62°C), then step mash at 148°F (64°C), 153°F (67°C), 163°F (73°C), and 170°F (77°C) for 45, 10, 45, and 15 min., respectively.

Boil gently with kettle partially covered for 60 min.… Read the rest “Iceberg! Kölsch”