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Boulder, CO • May 17, 2017—The Brewers Association (BA), the not-for-profit trade group dedicated to promoting and protecting America’s small and independent craft brewers, recently released its Beer Style Guidelines for 2017. Assembled annually by the BA, these guidelines serve as a model resource for brewers and beer competition organizers alike, all while celebrating diverse beer styles from around the world.

The 2017 guidelines include:

A revitalized, concise new format that removes redundant language, is easier to read and is overall more user-friendly.

Hundreds of updates have been made to existing beer styles, underscoring the balance between classic beer definitions and current marketplace trends.

“The Brewers Association Beer Style Guidelines perennially serve as a trusted reference on beer styles for brewers and brewing competitions around the world,” said Chris Swersey, competition manager, Brewers Association. “In an effort to enhance the guidelines and more effectively showcase beer styles, this year we completely revamped the format of beer style content, making it easier to comb through and more readable.”

Since 1979 the Brewers Association has provided beer style descriptions as a reference for brewers and beer competition organizers. Much of the early work was based on the assistance and contributions of beer journalist Michael Jackson. The task of creating a realistic set of guidelines is always complex. The beer style guidelines use multiple sources from the commercial brewing industry, beer analyses, and input from Great American Beer Festival® and World Beer Cup℠ beer judges as resources for information.

The 2017 beer style guidelines are available for download at BrewersAssociation.org.

Contact: Abby Cohen (on behalf of the Brewers Association) 646-695-7044.

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About the Brewers Association

The Brewers Association is the not-for-profit trade association dedicated to small and independent American brewers, their beers and the community of brewing enthusiasts. The Brewers Association (BA) represents more than 70 percent of the brewing industry, and its members make more than 99 percent of the beer brewed in the U.S. The BA organizes events including the World Beer Cup℠, Great American Beer Festival®, Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America®, SAVOR℠: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience, Homebrew Con, National Homebrew Competition and American Craft Beer Week®. The BA publishes The New Brewer® magazine and its Brewers Publications™ division is the largest publisher of contemporary and relevant brewing literature for today’s craft brewers and homebrewers.

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 free Brew Guru™ mobile app. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

The Brewers Association is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital/familial status. The BA complies with provisions of Executive Order 11246 and the rules, regulations, and relevant orders of the Secretary of Labor.