About The New Brewer

The New Brewer

The New Brewer is the trade magazine of the Brewers Association, published in Boulder, Colorado, for the American craft brewing industry. The first issue was published in 1983 — the same year the Association of Brewers was organized to assist the emerging microbrewery movement — and the magazine has chronicled the rise of craft beer ever since, from a handful of microbreweries to an industry of thousands. Published bimonthly for association members, it covers brewing technique, business operations, raw materials, marketing, and industry trends.

The 1983 First Issue

The first issue of The New Brewer was published in 1983. The timing was no coincidence: in 1983, the Association of Brewers was organized to include the American Homebrewers Association and the Institute for Brewing and Fermentation Studies, with the mission of assisting the emerging microbrewery movement in the United States. The magazine was born as the movement's journal — a professional publication for the tiny fraternity of Americans trying to build small breweries in a market dominated by national giants.

The Association of Brewers Era

The magazine's early decades unfolded under the Association of Brewers, the Boulder-based organization founded by Charlie Papazian — who had formed the American Homebrewers Association in 1978 with the publication of the first issue of Zymurgy magazine. The Association of Brewers' early milestones marched alongside the magazine's pages: the first Micro-Brewers Conference in Boulder in 1984 (later renamed the Craft Brewers Conference), the debut of the Great American Beer Festival in 1982, and the first biennial World Beer Cup in Vail in 1996. Papazian himself was the movement's animating spirit: he had formed the American Homebrewers Association in 1978 in Boulder, Colorado, with the first issue of Zymurgy magazine — announcing the organization, publicizing the federal legalization of homebrewing, and calling for entries in the first AHA National Homebrew Competition. The GABF he debuted in 1982 at Boulder's Harvest House grew into the largest ticketed beer festival in North America, drawing more than 60,000 attendees annually, with a competition ranked among the industry's most coveted awards. The New Brewer documented each step of the microbrewery movement's growth into the craft beer revolution.

The 2005 Merger

In 2005, the Association of Brewers and the Brewers' Association of America merged to form the Brewers Association — the not-for-profit trade association dedicated to small and independent American brewers, their beers, and the community of brewing enthusiasts. The merger united the craft-brewing movement's institutional strands: the Association of Brewers' microbrewery heritage (stretching back to the 1942 Small Brewers Committee that first met at Chicago's Palmer House) and the Brewers' Association of America's industry representation. The heritage ran deep: the Small Brewers Committee, a precursor to the Brewers Association of America, had first met at the Palmer House in Chicago in 1942 to discuss raw materials supply — one early fight was over supplies of tin for crowns to seal beer bottles — and in 1976 the Brewers Association of America secured a small-brewers tax differential on the first 60,000 barrels for brewers under 2 million barrels per year. The New Brewer became the magazine of the combined organization, serving a membership that today represents more than 70 percent of the brewing industry.

The Bimonthly Rhythm

The New Brewer publishes on a bimonthly rhythm — January/February, March/April, May/June, July/August, September/October, November/December — with each issue built around industry themes. The archive shows the pattern: the January/February 2008 issue covered restaurants and brewpubs, including women in beer, on-premises opportunities, and beer-and-food pairing; March/April previewed the Craft Brewers Conference; May/June delivered the annual Industry Review of brewpub, microbrewery, and regional brewery performance; July/August examined draft beer quality and line cleaning; September/October focused on sales and marketing; and November/December covered raw materials, from the hop crop to sustainability and barrel aging.

The Industry Review

The May/June Industry Review issue is the magazine's flagship: an annual recap of the performance of brewpubs, microbreweries, regional breweries, and large breweries and imports. For an industry built on independent businesses, the Review's data — growth rates, segment performance, market trends — is essential intelligence, and the magazine's yearly compilation has become the historical record of craft beer's economic rise. The 2008 archive shows the format: the May/June 2008 issue recapped 2007 performance across brewpubs, microbreweries, regional breweries, and large breweries and imports — the segment-by-segment accounting the industry plans around.

The Papazian Tribute Issue

The January/February 2019 issue — the Taprooms issue — coincided with Charlie Papazian's exit from the Brewers Association after 40 years. "Say it ain't so, Charlie!" the association wrote, honoring its founding father with a feature on his legacy by Dick Cantwell as well as a back-page interview. The issue also marked a business milestone: at its November board meeting, the association had created a new taproom membership category to accommodate the increasingly popular business model, and the issue explored "Taprooms 2.0: Craft Beer's Booming Business Model." The tribute captured the magazine's dual role: industry journal and institutional memory.

The Member Benefit

The New Brewer is published for members of the Brewers Association, whose members make more than 99 percent of the beer brewed in the United States. The magazine's online edition is member-only content — readers are invited to log in to view The New Brewer online, with a free sample issue available to non-members. The association invites prospective readers to 'check out a free issue of the magazine' — a sample of the industry intelligence members receive every two months. As a membership publication, the magazine serves the association's mission directly: informing and connecting the small and independent brewers who define American craft beer.

Brewers Publications

The magazine is part of the association's broader publishing operation: the Brewers Association's Brewers Publications division is the largest publisher of contemporary and relevant brewing literature for today's craft brewers and homebrewers. Together, the magazine and the book division make the association the industry's central publisher — from the bimonthly journal to the brewing library. The division is the largest publisher of contemporary and relevant brewing literature for today's craft brewers and homebrewers — a publishing arm befitting an association whose members make more than 99 percent of the beer brewed in the United States.

The Events Connection

The magazine's editorial calendar tracks the association's event calendar: the World Beer Cup, the Great American Beer Festival, the Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America, SAVOR: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience, and American Craft Beer Week. Conference previews, competition coverage, and event-driven features tie the magazine to the gatherings where the industry meets — making The New Brewer the connective tissue of the craft brewing community. The March/April issues traditionally preview the Craft Brewers Conference — San Diego in 2008, Austin's scene in 2007 — while November/December recaps the Great American Beer Festival and the year's hop crop.

Official Website

The New Brewer is published by the Brewers Association, whose official website is https://www.brewersassociation.org. Members can access the current magazine and the archive online; a free sample issue is available to non-members. The association also serves beer lovers at CraftBeer.com and homebrewers through the American Homebrewers Association — the Boulder organization Papazian founded in 1978 whose first Zymurgy issue announced the new era of American brewing.