Craft Brewers Conference 2020 canceled due to coronavirus concerns

The [U.S.] Brewers Association has been closely monitoring the situation around COVID-19 [coronavirus] as it relates to the Craft Brewers Conference® & BrewExpo America®and World Beer Cup™. We have been following updates and recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization, as well as state and local governments.

Given the developments over the past 24 hours, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America and World Beer Cup [all three originally scheduled for 17-24 April 2020, in San Antonio, Texas].

The Brewers Association will provide full refunds of conference registration and booth fees, sponsor payments, and World Beer Cup competition entries.

We are grateful to all of you who made plans to attend this year’s events. It is heartbreaking to miss the annual gathering of our craft brewing community, but the safety and health of attendees, exhibitors, sponsors, staff, volunteers, and the craft brewing community at large [are] paramount to the Brewers Association. We look forward to seeing many of you September 24-26 at Great American Beer Festival® and again March 29-April 1, 2021 for the Craft Brewers Conference in San Diego, Calif. Until then, we will continue to work diligently on your behalf to provide you with relevant and timely resources to help you advance your business goals.

— [U.S.] Brewers Association
12 March 2020.

Presented annually for the past three decades by the [U.S.] Brewers Association (BA) —and its predecessor, the Association of Brewers— the Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) is the largest 'craft' brewing industry event in the U.S., serving breweries, brewpubs, and packaging breweries.

CBC joins brewers from across the country for seminars focusing on topics including sustainability, sales, packaging and export development, along with daily receptions, brewery tours, and hospitalities. The concurrent BrewExpo America is a trade show for brewers, with hundreds of vendors showcasing products and services.

The Brewers Association itself is a trade and lobbying organization for "small and independent" brewing companies in the United States and its territories. Among other things, the BA defines a 'craft' brewery as an American brewery producing fewer than six million barrels of beer per year.

Before canceling the April conference, the association had expected over 13,000 attendees. Breweries across the U.S. are canceling previously scheduled festivals and events. Some have begun to temporarily close their taprooms. Is there a 'craft' brewery viability crisis on the horizon? One hopes not.

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More on Covid-19 (coronaivrus) from the World Health Organization (WHO): here. Prevent further spread of the pandemic: wash your hands...often.

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