1,200 Homebrewers Celebrate the Hobby of Homebrewing

Over 1,200 homebrewers from across the nation attended the 31st annual American Homebrewers Association (AHA) National Homebrewers Conference in Oakland, CA from June 18-20, 2009.

"I am thrilled by the record-setting attendance at this year's National Homebrewers Conference," said Gary Glass, Director of the American Homebrewers Association. "Despite the recent economic woes, the hobby is stronger than ever."

There are an estimated 750,000 homebrewers in the U.S., and those who attended the conference were offered 27 educational seminars on beer and brewing presented by professional brewers and other highly experienced homebrewers.

Highlights from the conference include keynote speaker Ken Grossman, co-founder and president of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. and other presentations from industry favorites including Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head Brewing Company, Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River Brewing Company, Matt Brynildson of Firestone Walker Brewing Company and Dr. Michael Lewis of U.C. Davis.

The American Homebrewers Association is a division of the Brewers Association. In 1979, 200 people attended the first AHA National Homebrewers Conference in Boulder, CO. Today, the conference is recognized as the world's largest-attended conference devoted to homebrewers and homebrewing.

Super bowl of Beer Competitions- World's Largest Beer Competition
The finale of the conference was the Grand Banquet and National Homebrew Competition (NHC) Awards Ceremony. A total of 1,310 brewers, from all 50 states, submitted 5,166 entries into the competition in the First Round, which was judged in 10 regional sites across the U.S. and Canada. The Final Round, held at the conference, included 760 entries from 422 brewers.

A total of 74,211 beers have been evaluated in the 31 years of the NHC. The competition has grown from a humble 37 entries in 1979 to become the largest beer competition, amateur or professional, in the world.