For the last 10 years, Craft Beer Program Director for the Brewers Association, Julia Herz, has opened the Beer Now Conference (formerly the Beer Bloggers and Writers Conference), and for the last eight years the Brewers Association has sponsored the conference. We are very grateful for their longterm support of this conference whose mission it is to help new and established content creators learn, network, and evolve into the the independent professionals they want to be in the beer community.

That is why we say that the Brewers Association, in essence, supports independent bloggers and writers in the same way it promotes independent breweries. Yes, we’re talking about the BA’s #SeektheSeal campaign and its own mission to capture “the spirit of what small and independent craft brewers have achieved,” according to BrewersAssociation.org. Over 4,000 breweries have adopted the seal and integrated it in a variety of ways, from packaging to billboards. In December 2018, Herz wrote a detailed piece about the impact the seal has had since launching.

That’s Independence You’re Reading

As bloggers, writers, podcasters, and influencers, you, too, have the option to show your support for independence by adopting the Supporter Seal from the Brewers Association. Details can be found here. Who’s eligible? “If your business, organization, or website supports independent U.S. craft breweries, you’re eligible to use the independent craft brewer supporter seal,” says the BA. When we asked Andy Sparhawk, Craft Beer Program Digital Content Editor for CraftBeer.com, if that means beer bloggers and writers could adopt the seal and put it on their websites, he replied, “Yes, the Supporter version of the Seal was developed for that reason!”

The 2019 Beer Now Conference and Brewers Association

Never letting us down, the BA has stepped up in big ways to support this year’s conference in Great Falls, Montana, June 6-8 (Register here). In addition to providing an incredible amount of content (more on that in a minute), they are the conference’s Official Coffee Sponsor! You read that right. Who doesn’t agree that beer and coffee go hand-in-hand? During the conference coffee will be sponsored by the Brewers Association, but in true independent fashion, all attendees will be given a specially-made (just for our conference!) coffee mug, courtesy the BA/CraftBeer.com. Seriously, these were made just for our Montana conference! Check it out:

Beautiful, right? It hearkens back to the time, in San Diego if memory serves, that CraftBeer.com provided all attendees a copy of the Deconstructing Craft Beer poster and the CraftBeer.com Teku glass (shown below):

We mentioned great content at this year’s Beer Now Conference. In fact, you can see the full agenda here. But note the sessions and speakers we’ll all be privy to courtesy the Brewers Association and CraftBeer.com. They include:

Julia Herz | Brewers Association

Julia will deliver the conference opening in her typical, high-energy fashion and will also co-present the Cheeses of Europe: Beer and Cheese Pairing with Cara Warren on Saturday June 8. You’ll want to download this app, if you don’t already have it. iTunes | Google Play  Beers graciously donated by Montana Brewers Association members.

Jess Baker | CraftBeer.com

Jess will present Never Write a “Brewery Profile” Story Again | Jess Baker, Editor-in-Chief of CraftBeer.com: Have you heard about the new dog-friendly brewery that has yoga on Saturdays? How about the brewery that has a Wednesday run club and a great IPA? Jess is here to talk about why she cringes when “brewery profile” pitches land in her inbox, and what she wishes freelancers would pitch her instead.

Jill Redding | The New Brewer

Jill will be part of the panel presentation, Three Editors Walk into a Bar: Q&A with Beer Media Leaders alongside Sarah Freeman, October and Kate Bernot, The Takeout: Join us for the an in-depth hour of hearing insights into creating content and writing about beer online and in print. Our panel is comprised of three leaders in beer media, each bringing their unique experiences, expertise, and viewpoints to the Beer Now audience.

Andy Sparhawk | Craft Beer Program Digital Content Editor

Andy will be on hand to answer questions about CraftBeer.com, the Independent Seal, the Brewers Association, and fly fishing (yep, he’s an avid outdoorsman!).