American Craft Beers at the Great British Beer Festival

The Brewers Association's Export Development Program is planning to participate in the Great British Beer Festival for the second consecutive year. The UK is a market of interest to many Export Development Program members and this is a great opportunity to promote U.S. craft beer in the UK.

Event: Great British Beer Festival
Date: August 4-8, 2009
Location: Earls Court, London

Brewers Association Receptions
The Brewers Association will be displaying an assortment of U.S. craft beers in the "USA and Rest of World" section of the show. This area will be "branded" with U.S. craft beer promotional materials, Brewers Association posters and other materials. It will provide excellent exposure for American craft beers in general and, in particular, for brands already in the UK. "The Great British Beer Festival is an excellent venue to promote U.S. craft beers in the UK and northern Europe," states Bob Pease, Brewers Association Vice President, "our Export Development Program members find great value in this event, which is why we are back for a second year."

During the week of Great British Beer Festival, the Brewers Association will also be hosting a series of receptions for importers, distributors, retailers and media where beers from Brewers Association Export Development Program member breweries will be exclusively showcased.

The following Brewers Association Export Development Program members are participating in the Great British Beer Festival by sending beers:

Alaskan Brewing Co
Anderson Valley Brewing Co
Ballast Point Brewing Co
Big Sky Brewing Co
Boulevard Brewing Co
Caldera Brewing Co
Coronado Brewing Co
Deschutes Brewery
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
Firestone Walker Brewing Co
Flying Dog Brewery
FX Matt Brewing Co
Great Divide Brewing Co
Lagunitas Brewing Co
Left Hand Brewing Co
Odell Brewing Co
Rogue Ales Brewery
Shipyard Brewing Co
Steamworks Brewing Co
Stone Brewing Co
Terrapin Brewing Co
Uinita Brewing Co
Victory Brewing Co
Wandering Aengus Ciderworks

In addition to sending their beers, the following Brewers Association Export Development Program members will be working the booth at the Great British Beer Festival promoting all U.S. craft beers:

Ron Lindenbusch, Lagunitas Brewing Co
Doug Odell, Odell Brewing Co
Greg Koch, Stone Brewing Co
Mitch Steele, Stone Brewing Co
Bill Covaleski, Victory Brewing Co

The Brewers Association's Export Development Program began in 2004 with a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture's Market Access Program. Since its inception, objectives for the Export Development Program have remained unchanged. These include the following:

-Educate international trade and media about the quality and diversity of products offered by the U.S. craft beer industry and about the U.S. craft beer culture.
-Inform member breweries about opportunities for their products in key international target markets.
-Complement the industry's own efforts to increase international distribution of U.S. craft beer.

To date, the Export Development Program has been able to promote its members' beer in Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, China, Japan, the Philippines and Australia.