138 | Business World Magazine |
December 2013
Homebrewers Association along with Char-
lie Matzen. Five years later, in 1983, this
group was organized as part of the Associa-
tion of Brewers with the goal of assisting the
fledgling U.S. craft brewing community. In
2005, the Association of Brewers merged
with the Brewers’ Association of America to
form what is now known as the Brewers As-
sociation, a trade group that remarkably rep-
resents 99 percent of the beer that is brewed
in America.
Four primary events are held and high-
lighted annually by the BA. The Craft Brew-
ers Conference & BrewExpo America® is an
industry-only event and the largest annual
gathering of brewing industry profession-
als, featuring educational tracks, seminars
and, bi-annually, the prestigious World Beer
Cup®. The BA also organizes SAVORSM:
An American Craft Beer & Food Experi-
ence, the nation’s benchmark craft beer and
food pairing event, as well as the its largest
event; and the Great American Beer Festi-
val®, a fall celebration that compels 50,000
beer lovers from around the world to travel
to Denver and savor the flavors from more
than 600 American brewers. The American
Homebrewers Association, a division of the
BA, also annually hosts the National Home-
brewers Conference, an event that serves to
