About the Beer Now Conference
The Beer Now Conference started in 2010 in Boulder, Colorado as the Beer Bloggers Conference. The conference subsequently broadened its scope and changed its name to the Beer Bloggers & Writers Conference. In 2018, the conference again expanded its scope to include everyone involved in the communication of beer and renamed to the Beer Now Conference.
The conference attracts approximately 100 attendees from throughout North America and beyond to network, learn, and taste beers. For a glimpse into the conference, see this video from the first-ever conference.
COVID Safety Procedures
See our COVID-19 Safety Procedures for details. All attendees must be fully vaccinated or presented a recent negative PCR test result.
Host Location: Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville is one of the greatest beer towns in the world. The Asheville Brewers Alliance has 30 brewery members, in a town of 95,000 people. According to the NC Beer Guys website, the state of North Carolina now has 368 breweries (up from 111 on their list the last time we held the conference in Asheville).
But it is more than just numbers that make Asheville and North Carolina high on a beer writer’s list of places to visit. The town itself is a fun small town with lots to do and the brewers are leading the nation in the beer revolution. This is true both for the small brewers in the city as well as the larger breweries such as Oskar Blues and Sierra Nevada located just outside
Host Hotel
The conference will take place at the Doubletree Asheville-Biltmore. The upscale hotel gets a 4.5 rating on TripAdvisor and has an indoor heated pool and whirlpool with a retractable skylight roof. The Biltmore area has two breweries within walking distance and the hotel offers a shuttle to downtown, which is only a couple miles away. We have secured a group rate of $179, which is a good rate for Asheville in August, and will have information on how to secure your room soon.
Arrival and Departure
The Asheville Regional Airport is 16 miles and 20 minutes from the hotel. The hotel does not have shuttle service. You won’t need a rental car in Asheville and so your best options are to use a taxi, Uber, or shuttle to reach the hotel. The Asheville Airport Shuttle and Asheville Airport Express both charge $50 one way.
Other airports in the region that might have less expensive airfares include Charlotte (2:15), Atlanta (3:30), Raleigh (4:00, and Nashville (4:30).
We hope to create pre-conference and post-conference excursions and so suggest you wait to make your airfare until those announcements are made.
About Bloggers, Writers, and Influencers
We changed our name to Beer Now because the term “beer blogger” simply doesn’t approach the breadth of involvement of our attendees. Here is a primer on our audience:
- Beer Bloggers simply use one medium, the blog, to express their opinions. Blogs are an amazing tool that allow anyone to express their views in long-form, including photos and videos, with zero barrier to entry. Don’t discount the powerful of these citizen journalists.
- Professional Beer Writers are different in that they get paid to write. They often have greater immediate visibility and instant credibility.
- Social Media Influencers are those who write, photograph, and video about beer and the beer industry. The time to post is often minimal but the reader attention span is also much shorter.
Almost all our audience engages in at least three if not all four of these communication media.
Who Should Attend
- Citizen Beer Bloggers
- Professional Beer Writers
- Social Media Influencers who write, podcast, photograph, and video about beer or the beer industry
- Beer industry members who themselves blog or otherwise communicate related to their brewery or other beer industry business
- Those who would like to learn about digital media or interact with the key beer industry influencers in attendance
Cost, Payment, Cancellation, and What is Included
The cost of the conference depends on when you register, whether you qualify as a Citizen Blogger, Published Beer Writer, or Social Media Influencer, and whether as a media attendee you agree to write posts about our sponsors. See the Registration Page for details. New in 2022, we are requiring all participants to purchase a $150 meal package, which will include two lunches and one dinner at a minimum. We have found this necessary to meet the minimum food and beverage purchase requirements at the hotel. Not included in the conference price are your hotel, transportation to and from Texas, additional meals, personal expenses, and pre-conference and post-conference excursions.
Previous Conferences
The Beer Now Conference started in 2010 in Boulder, CO. See below for a list of previous locations and agendas for our most recent events.
- 2021 Austin, TX: Agenda | Sponsors | Speakers
- 2020 Virtual Summit
- 2019 Great Falls, MT: Agenda | Sponsors
- 2018 Loudoun County, VA: Agenda | Sponsors
- 2017 Milwaukee, WI: Agenda | Sponsors
- 2016 Tampa, FL: Agenda
- 2015 Asheville, NC: Agenda
- 2014 San Diego, CA
- 2013 Boston, MA
- 2012 Indianapolis, IN
- 2011 Portland, OR
- 2010 Boulder, CO
Conference Organizer
The Beer Now Conference is organized by Zephyr Conferences, the organizer of the:
- Beer Marketing & Tourism Conference
- Wine Media Conference
- International Food Blogger Conference
- Wine Marketing & Tourism Conference
For information about our conferences, please email info@zephyrconferences.com. If you are in a region interested to host one of our conferences, please complete a Host Application.
Zephyr Conferences is part of Zephyr Adventures, which has been running active tours around the world for the last 25 years. Please visit our website for information on our active food, wine, and beer tours.
In addition to Zephyr’s active tours, its sister company Taste Vacations runs beer, wine, food, and spirits tours around the world which leave the physical activity at home.
Travel Montana is a new company we created in response to the pandemic and the resulting surge in demand for domestic travel. Montana, our home state, is one of the world’s top outdoor vacation destinations. Travel Montana has a dozen itineraries suitable for small-group private and public vacations.