Brewers Association Announces American Craft Beer Week; Great American Beer Tour to Encourage Brewery Visits.

BOULDER, Colo. -- The Brewers Association, the national trade organization for craft brewers, today announced the launch of American Craft Beer Week to be held May 15-21, 2006.

The theme of American Craft Beer Week will be "Visit your local brewery" in an effort to highlight the fact that America's nearly 1400 craft brewers are widely distributed around the country and readily accessible to nearly every legal drinking-age U.S. resident.

"American Craft Beer Week strives to focus attention on the diverse and flavorful beers produced by small, traditional and independent brewers all over America," said Ray Daniels, Director of Craft Beer Marketing for the Brewers Association. "We want to give every American a chance to visit their local brewery and discover why craft beer is the fastest-growing beverage alcohol category in the U.S.," he said.

During American Craft Beer Week, the Brewers Association expects that breweries will hold tastings, conduct tours, present beer dinners and educational sessions -- all in an effort to help Americans better understand the flavor and diversity of craft beer.

To further encourage brewery visits, the Brewers Association will conduct the Great American Beer Tour during the May 15-21 week. The program will award points to consumers for each brewery visit during the week, allowing them to earn premiums such as beer mugs and logo shirts. The consumer who accumulates the greatest number of points will receive an all-expenses paid trip for two to the 25th Great American Beer Festival held in Denver, Colorado, September 28-30, 2006. Details of the program will be available on the web at www.GreatAmericanBeerTour.org beginning on April 1, 2006.

Over the past two years, craft beer has been the fastest-growing segment of the beverage alcohol industry, with growth rates surpassing those of wine, spirits and all other categories of beer. In 2005, the volume of craft beer sold increased 9.0 percent.

For further information contact Cindy Jones at [e-mail] or 303-447-0816 x 144.