Portland, are you ready for a bunch of homebrewers coming into town in just over two weeks?

On June 28-30, 2018, the American Homebrewers Association will be hosting the 40th annual National Homebrewers Conference for three days of special events, seminars, and of course the awards ceremony for the annual National Homebrew Competition at the Oregon Convention Center.

Not only is this a special event because it is turning 40, but because Charlie Papazian (AHA founder, father of homebrewing and ah, wrote a few books on homebrewing) will be giving the Welcome Toast and Keynote Address which will be leading up to his retirement from the Brewers Association in early 2019.

The AHA has 46,000 members and an estimated 3,000 members are expected to descend on Portland, Oregon for the conference to hear speakers in 60+ educational sessions, partake in an expo and social club, and the infamous club night and prestigious award ceremony for Homebrewer of the Year. The conference is for all levels of homebrewers, from the novice to experienced. The full press release can be read here.

To attend the conference, you must be an AHA member. There are many benefits to being an AHA member, one of which they usually provide an “extra” sign up gift (ours was yeast, this month is Loral Cryo Hops). There are also benefits such as Zymurgy Magazine, Brew Guru app, or flash your card at participating shops for a specified discount, brewing resources and exclusive events (such as GABF presale, etc). You can pick a plan and sign up here.

Once you’ve done that, you can officially sign up for the conference. There are different levels of the conference if you are just wanting just the social package or wanting to learn more about homebrewing in the sessions and also an industry package if you are a homebrew shop or similar.

Jon and I will be there as media and will be covering the event with blog posts and social media. We’re already starting to plan out what sessions and events we’d like to attend and it should be easy with the app (that will have a 2018 update soon) to view while at the conference. Download the Android or Apple app so you know where to go and when and don’t get lost!

It’s not too late to sign up and attend at the end of June! See you there!