American Craft Beer Week - A whole week
devoted to the magnificence
that is craft beer.
Craft brewers,
retailers, home brewers,
distributors, beer lovers and
even the United States Congress
have been busily making
plans to celebrate this week,
which runs from May 17th to
May 23rd.
Last year hundred
of events were held nationally
to recognize craft beer and
its tremendous impact on the
American beer drinker.
This year promises to be more
of the same. Already hundreds
of events are posted on the
offi cial web site for the week
(www.americancraftbeerweek.
org) and over 16,000
fans are following the Facebook
page created for the week. The
week is designed to be a celebration
of small and independent
brewers with a focus on
featuring why American Craft
Beer is some of the best beer in
the world. The events are an
opportunity to share with the
consumer and invite them to
join in the celebration. Conducted
in a similar fashion to
local Beer Weeks made popular
in cities like San Francisco and
Philadelphia, and which have
now spread throughout the nation,
expect ACBW to provide
plenty of fun and opportunity
to drink good beer.
In Arizona, events are still being
planned as we go to press,
but we already know that
Papago Brewing will be featuring
one of the newest entrants
in to the market on May 20th.
Crispin Ciders will be featured
from 6 PM to 8 PM that night.
Look especially for The Saint
and Honey Crisp from the
Artisanal Reserve Series. On
Friday night May 21st, the Hard
Rock in downtown Phoenix
will be opening their Sun Up
Patio. Sun Up Brewer Uwe
Boer will be on hand from 4:30
to 7 PM that evening as the
Hard Rock opens its patio. Before
every home baseball game
look for Sun Up Light Rail
Cream Ale and Armadillo Red
featured on the patio.
We mentioned earlier that Congress
was involved in ACBW as
well. How so? Glad you asked.
House Resolution 1297 adopted
on April 22nd recognizes and
supports the goals of American
Craft Beer Week. Considering
the fi nal paragraph of the
resolution encourages beer
lovers to attend events and
celebrate American Craft Beer
Week, it seems as if we all have
a Congressional mandate to
attend these events and enjoy
craft beer. As Stephen Colbert
said on his television show,
“This isn’t one of those fake
holidays…No, this is officially
sanctioned by congress, as of
2006, which in my book makes
it the equal to the separation
of church and state.” With 62
co-sponsors from across the
country and from both sides of the aisle, this resolution is a
true act of bi-partisanship and
something that each and every
member of Congress should be
proud of. So complain all you
want about health care, and
taxes and other hot button topics,
but they got this one right.
Enough about American Craft
Beer Week, what we really need
here is Arizona Beer Week.
That’s right, a week dedicated
to the wonderful beers brewed
and available in the state.
Imagine a week bookended
by two major events and a
whole bunch of little things in
between. Beer Dinners, Pint
Nights, Promotions, Festivals,
Beer Education and
more…it makes our heart go
pitter patter and brings a little
tear to our eye just to think
about it. Well rumor has it that
the Arizona Craft Brewers Guild
and a few others are starting to
kick this idea around, and maybe
2011 will bring us our fi rst
Arizona Beer Week. That would
be one of the next big steps for
craft beer in the state. After all
if Minnesota and Charlotte
and even Cleveland can have a
beer week, why can’t we?
For now, we have ACBW, so
get out that week, stop by your
local watering hole and enjoy
some good craft beer. Hit the
local breweries and thank them
for what they do to support
great beer in our state. Attend
the events that are going
on. In general, take a week to
celebrate great American Craft
Beer. You’ll be glad you did.
http://www.americancraftbeerweek.org/
As Seen in AZ Weekly |
