Looking Back at American Craft Beer Week 2012

By John Michael Verive on May 22nd, 2012

American Craft Beer Week 2012 has drawn to a close, and we hope that you had fun celebrating it. We sure did! Even though the festivities are over, and LA had a bunch to choose from this year, the mission continues. Find out what we’ve pledged to do, and how you can help, to raise awareness of craft beer!

Los Angeles had events every day of the week, and we talked to lots of people about the rising popularity and awareness of craft beer. Sean Inman at Beer Search Party has a good #ACBW Recap post up, and it sounds like he had some great beers at some great events. You can read about some of the highlights of Beer of Tomorrow’s first American Craft beer week in these posts:

LA may have been slow to really embrace the craft beer movement, but things have picked up and 2012 looks to be even more exciting with more breweries opening and lots of new taps flowing at restaurants and bars.

Beer of Tomorrow will continue our mission of advocacy and education about craft beer, and we encourage you to join and help! If you’re reading this site you clearly care about the beer you are drinking, and the most important thing you can do to advance the cause is to continue to support our local breweries, bottle-shops, and restaurants. The Brewer’s Association has created a Declaration of Beer Independence, and we encourage you to read and sign it!

The Declaration might sound gimmicky, but the call to action is important. Simply buying and enjoying your favorite local brews is the best thing you can do, but helping promote craft beer is nearly as important. The craft beer industry doesn’t have the marketing power of American “Big Beer,” and instead it relies on word of mouth and grass-roots campaigns and, increasingly, social networking to spread the word about its products. Another powerful way you can help the cause is to take to your social networks and join in the conversation about craft beer. Comment on, like, and share articles on Facebook, be more active on Twitter by retweeting and replying to your favorite breweries, and use apps like Untappd and Foursquare to share where you go for good beer and what you enjoy drinking. Without participation these mediums are powerless against the million-dollar ad campaigns backed by InBev and MillerCoors.

TheFullPint.com suggests a few additional ways you can chip-in to help craft beer grow. It is a very exciting time for beer, with the most independent and regional breweries operating in American since prohibition, and it only looks to get even better!

How did you celebrate American Craft Beer Week? Don’t forget to follow us for more information on the best in craft beer!

Cheers!