The Brewers Association (BA) is an American

trade group A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry. An industry trade association partic ...

of over 5,400

brewer Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer ...

s, breweries in planning, suppliers, distributors, craft beer retailers, and individuals particularly concerned with the promotion of craft beer and

homebrewing Homebrewing is the brewing of beer or other alcoholic beverages on a small scale for personal, non-commercial purposes. Supplies, such as kits and fermentation tanks, can be purchased locally at specialty stores or online. Beer was brewed dom ...

. Two of the largest programs supported by the BA are the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) and the annual

Great American Beer Festival The Great American Beer Festival (GABF) is an annual beer festival hosted by the Brewers Association, held in Denver, Colorado. Typically held in late September or early October, the event is currently held at Denver's Colorado Convention Center. ...

(GABF). The current president and CEO is Bob Pease. The American Homebrewers Association was founded by past BA president,

Charlie Papazian Charles N. Papazian (born January 23 ca. 1949) is an American nuclear engineer, brewer and author. He founded the Association of Brewers and the Great American Beer Festival, and wrote ''The Complete Joy of Home Brewing'' (1984). He is the longtim ...

American Homebrewers Association

The BA was established in 2005 through a merger of the Association of Brewers headed by brewer

and the Brewers' Association of America, intending to "promote and protect small and independent American brewers, their craft beers and the community of brewing enthusiasts." The American Homebrewers Association is a division of the Brewers Association focused on homebrewers of

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

, cider, and mead. The AHA was founded in 1978 by

in Boulder, Colorado. The AHA runs the world's largest homebrew competition and also organizes several homebrew events in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Julia Herz is the current executive director. The AHA publishes the magazine ''Zymurgy'' six times per year to its 37,000 members. Every year the AHA hosts the following events: * National Homebrew Competition * Homebrew Con (previously known as the National Homebrewers Conference) which includes the finals of the National Homebrew Competition * Big Brew, held the first Saturday in May * Mead Day, held the first Saturday in August * Learn to Homebrew Day, held the first Saturday in November

Ninkasi Award

The Ninkasi Award is the prize given by American Homebrewers Association for the brewer who gains the most points in the final round of the National Homebrew Competition, judged at the National Homebrewers Conference. Points are gained from the brewer's winning entries in the 23 categories of

and several categories of mead and cider. At least 2 points (1 bronze placement) must come from a beer entry. The Ninkasi Award is named in honor of

Ninkasi Ninkasi was the Mesopotamian goddess of beer and brewing. It is possible that in the first millennium BCE she was known under the variant name Kurunnītu, derived from a term referring to a type of high quality beer. She was associated with both ...

, the Sumerian goddess of beer.

Past winners

The winners since the introduction of the Ninkasi Award in 1992:

Brewers Publications

Brewers Publications was started in 1986 and is under the umbrella of the Brewers Association organization. The first book Brewers Publications published was ''Brewing Lager Beer: The Most Comprehensive Book for Home- and Microbreweries'' by

Greg Noonan Gregory "Greg" John Noonan (March 4, 1951 – October 11, 2009) was an American brewing expert who wrote several published books on brewing. His writing credits include ''Brewing Lager Beer: The Most Comprehensive Book for Home - And Microbrewers' ...

References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.brewersassociation.org/ 2005 establishments in Colorado Beer awards Beer in the United States Beer organizations Companies based in Boulder, Colorado Homebrewing Organizations based in Colorado Trade associations based in the United States