Every September during the past four years, I hop in the ol’ black wagon of doom with a trunkload of shenanigans to make the fear-and-loathing trek to our state capital for the CA Craft Beer Summit. It’s a weekend packed with interesting seminars and talks, a trade expo, food and brew demos and sponsored events, all capped by one of the best beer festivals in the world, featuring more than 500 beers from the tip-top of California to San Ysidro.
But this year, I may just Lyft to it as the summit’s in Long Beach!
The Long Beach Convention Center and Marina Green Park will be craft-beer ground zero Sept. 12-14. The event is put on by the California Craft Brewers Association (CCBA), a 30-year-old organization that advocates for the state’s $8 billion beer industry, with its nearly 1,000 breweries.
And unlike large national beer events such as the Great American Beer Festival, this one offers such craft-beer luminaries as the Lost Abbey’s Tomme Arthur, Russian River’s Vinnie Cilurzo and Sierra Nevada’s Ken Grossman. They and others like them are available for quick chats and photos over a beer, providing you’re not too star-struck.
For 2019, the CA Craft Beer Summit boasts 50 education sessions, which are separated into tracts directed at homebrewers, tasting, hospitality and more.
Early-bird tickets will be available for one day only on May 14. Passes for the entire weekend are priced comparably to a trip to Disneyland, so getting a discount and planning to experience everything will get you the most value.
Head to www.californiacraftbeer.com/craft-beer-summit for more details.
Greg Nagel has been writing about beer since 2011, is an avid homebrewer of wine, cider, and beer, is a certified Cicerone Beer Server, level 1 WSET in Wine, a podcaster with the Four Brewers Show, and runs a yearly beer festival called Firkfest happening on June 29th in Anaheim!