United States—The Brewers Association, the trade association representing the majority of United States. brewing companies, has just launched a new website to celebrate the ever-growing interest in craft brewers in America. The new site is a consumer portal providing information and community interaction for craft beer enthusiasts everywhere.

The site, craftbeer.com, offers a comprehensive range of content about beer and food, tours, local breweries and the stories about a selection of the more than 1400 small and independent breweries that today operate in the United States.

“Beer from small and independent craft brewers seems to have everyone—from wine lovers and famous chefs to restaurateurs and celebrities—talking about craft beer,” said Julia Herz, a spokesperson for the Brewers Association.

“CraftBeer.com is an extension of that conversation. The site serves everyone, from the beer beginner to the budding beer enthusiast, highlighting the culture, authenticity and broad spectrum of beer from today’s craft brewers.”

“Why craft beer? Because it’s full of substance and soul,” Julia explained in a video accompanying the announcement.

Much of the explosive growth that craft beer has experienced over the past decade can be attributed to the Brewer’s Association’s dynamic involvement in that countries industry. The association, a not-for-profit trade and education association, is dedicated to small and independent American brewers. The association’s many craft beer-promoting activities cross the full spectrum of events and publishing, and includes : CraftBeer.com, World Beer Cup®; Great American Beer Festival℠; Craft Brewers Conference and BrewExpo America®; National Homebrewers Conference; National Homebrew Competition; SAVOR: An American Craft Beer and Food Experience; American Craft Beer Week; Zymurgy magazine; The New Brewer magazine; and books on beer and brewing.

The Brewers Association has an additional membership division of 19,000+ homebrewers through the American Homebrewers Association.

No similar body exists in Australia. Australia’s largest brewers’ interested are represented by the Brewers Association of Australia and New Zealand which lists Coopers Brewery, DB Breweries, Foster’s Group and
Lion Nathan Limited as members. The Association has a full-time lobbyist in both Canberra and Wellington.

An informal network of microbreweries, the Australian Association of Microbreweries led chiefly by Cam Hines from Mountain Goat Brewery and Paul Holgate from Holgate Brewery, has made submissions to the Federal Government about excise reform for small brewers. However, neither the small brewers or their state-based associations have the financial ability to support a professional incorporated association to represent the brewers interests, which in many cases differ greatly from those of the members of the larger association.

Microbrewing in Australia is championed in Australia primarily by enthusiastic individuals, such as brewer John Stallwood who independently produces www.microbrewing.com.au.

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