American Craft Beer Week Kicks Off Monday!

Hey, we shouldn’t have to remind you again, but we know how you get, so we will.

AMERICAN CRAFT BEER WEEK kicks off everywhere next week and if you’re not already planning for what may very well be the best week ever – well, then you’re just blowing it. Starting next Monday, May 13th and running through the following Sunday, the 19th, the nation’s craft beer community will be coming together for the eighth annual celebration of American Craft Beer and from what we’re already seeing, this year might be the best one ever.

American Craft Beer Week (ACBW) is a nationwide celebration sponsored by the Brewers Association and there will be local festivities taking place across all 50 states. With the tagline “Big Week, Small Breweries,” ACBW is an opportunity to toast the more than 2,400 small and independent American craft brewers who continue to make the U.S. the world’s most diverse brewing destination.

Needless to say, we’re psyched about all this and you should be too…

This year’s festivities will also be introducing what they refer to as the American Craft Beer Week Coast to Coast Toast. It’s a simultaneous celebration commemorating the week and we’re in (but then again, we’re always in on things like this). Here’s the deal. At 8:00 pm ET/5:00 pm PT on Thursday, May 16, small brewers and craft beer lovers nationwide will raise a glass of their favorite craft brewed beer to toast ACBW and the delicious beer that it celebrates. To find a toast location near you, just visit the official American Craft Beer Week events page and you’ll be able to scope out where everything’s taking place. After all, you don’t want to be sitting at home, raising a glass by yourself in front of a mirror – that’s no fun.

A number of cities couldn’t wait for the official launch on Monday and have already started their celebrations. Seattle’s Beer Week has already begun. Theirs started yesterday – it’s an 11-day celebration – and it will run through the 19th.

In an effort to show more restraint than Seattle, the Long Island Craft Beer Week decided to hold their festivities over a 10-day period, but they still couldn’t help but start celebrating early. Things on “the island” start tomorrow, Saturday the 10th, and will also wrap up on the 19th.

Untappd, the mobile-based social network that connects breweries with craft beer lovers, is offering an American Craft Beer Week Badge for users who check-in during ACBW events, so if you’re living in that world, you can participate that way as well.

From tap takeovers and tasting tours to food pairings and festivals, American Craft Beer Week is being celebrated in many ways throughout the country. Many of our regional correspondents have already started drinking and they’ll be keeping you plugged in to everything that’s going on.

Here’s wishing you all the best American Craft Beer Week ever! Have fun, be safe, and keep checking with us at American Craft Beer.com for updates.