OnTap Magazine

the needs of today’s beverage professionals while fostering a more structured conference experience. New curated educational sessions and sponsor activations mark a more personalized approach to professional development that lets every attendee follow content aligned with their specific challenges and goals. • Great American Beer Festival® (GABF ® ): America’s favourite beer festival and cultural phenomenon, returns to Denver on 8-10 October, 2026. Dubbed by Thrillist as ‘the one beer festival to try before you die’, last year GABF welcomed more than 28,000 attendees and featured 2,000+ beers from 386 beverage producers. Producers highlighted the best American craft beer, ciders, ready-to-drink cocktails, hard teas, and, for the first time, spirits. While many of the headwinds currently facing the industry aren’t expected to disappear in 2026, there may be reason for cautious optimism in some areas. With interest rates in the States expected to continue declining, the opportunity for measured expansion will become more viable. Some consumer research also indicates that consumers are expecting to socialise more in the year ahead – always a good sign for craft beer. Beer has weathered many storms before and the industry’s creativity and resilience will stand it in good stead to see out this one. American craft brewers will do what they’re best at, ie. adapt and change. South African brewers are welcome to make use of the wealth of resources published by the Brewers Association to understand and enjoy craft beer, downloadable free of charge www. brewersassociation.org ABOUTTHE BREWERS ASSOCIATION The Brewers Association (BA) is the not-for-profit trade association dedicated to small and independent American brewers, their beers and the community of brewing enthusiasts. The BA represents 5,600-plus U.S. breweries. The BA’s independent craft brewer seal is a widely adopted symbol that differentiates beers by small and independent craft brewers. The BA organizes events including the World Beer Cup ® , Great American Beer Festival ® , Craft Brewers Conference ® & BrewExpo America ® and American Craft Beer Week ® . The BA publishes The New Brewer ® magazine, and Brewers Publications ® is the leading publisher of brewing literature in the U.S. Beer lovers are invited to learn more about the dynamic world of craft beer at CraftBeer.com ® and about homebrewing via the BA’s American Homebrewers Association ® and the freeBrewGuru ® Followus onFacebook, X and Instagram. Issued on behalf of the Brewers Association, 1327 Spruce Street, Boulder, Colorado, 80302 USA. www.brewersassociation.org For further press information: Lotte Peplow at lotte@ brewersassociation.org +44 (0)7973 698 414 ABOUTTHE AUTHOR Lotte Peplow is the Brewers Association’s American Craft Beer Ambassador for Europe and is based in London, UK. She is a CertifiedCicerone®, BDI accredited Beer Sommelier, beer writer, author, beer communicator, international beer judge, homebrewer and beer lover 18 | Autumn 2026 | ontapmag.co.za