Beer has shone in the Sunshine State, and the nation has noticed.

On August 31st Sarasota will host the first ever Florida Craft Beer Summit, and the event is attracting some big names from around the American beer community. Over the three days filled with beer drinking, networking and brewing education, the summit will be graced by the presence of craft beer big shots from organizations like: Cigar City Brewing, Terrapin Beer Company, Shmaltz Brewing Company, The Brewers Association and All About Beer Magazine.

The aim of the conference is to team existing and future craft beer professionals together in an effort to further individual business goals and better the Southeast craft beer industry as a whole. Brewers will have the opportunity to meet with Southeast distributors and senior managers of retail chain accounts, hear the stories of legendary American breweries and personalities, and learn new technical and strategic practices to promote quality in individual breweries.

Cigar City founder and CEO, Joey Redner, is a pioneer in the Florida craft beer scene, having founded his Tampa brewery in 2008. He will be one of four plenary speakers at the summit.

Joey said, “Florida is among the fastest growing craft beer states, and a conference by and for Florida brewers is a welcome addition to our rapidly evolving beer scene.”

Redner won’t be the only industry thought leader you may bump into at the summit. In fact, the President & Publisher for America’s oldest publication for beer consumers will be giving a class on how to be successful at marketing in craft beer. All About Beer was founded in 1979 and has had contributions from some of the foremost scholars in beer like: Michael Jackson, Fred Eckhardt and Charlie Papazian.

All About Beer’s Chris Rice said, “We are excited to be involved in this inaugural event and know the summit will be a great opportunity to bring the Florida beer industry together”

In addition to Chris’ marketing class, there will be many more brewer education classes, over 20 discussion panels and presentations by industry leaders covering a spectrum of craft beer community topics, from opening financial and employment planning to growth potential and retailer relations.

Classes Scheduled

How to Succeed in Marketing

Brand Management & Distribution Strategies for Craft Brewers

Trademark and Labor Law and Craft Brewers

The Latino Market

Funding Options for Brewers

Lab Essentials

Outsourcing to Manage Growth

Distributor Relationships and Supplier Responsibilities

7 Accounting Tips for Running a Successful Brewery

Florida Grown Hops

Yeast Basics

Introduction to the FL Brewer’s Guild

Why you don’t want to open a brewery

The Florida Craft Beer Summit will run from Wednesday, Aug. 31 through Friday, Sept. 2 and will be hosted at the Hyatt Regency in Sarasota, Fl. The official welcome reception will be held at the Boat House overlooking the beautiful marina. On Thursday and Friday guests are invited to hop on board Brew Thru SRQ on a complimentary craft brewery tour to Calusa Brewing, Darwin Brewing, and JDubs Brewing. Passengers will experience a craft beer experience unlike any other! Join the interactive and entertaining tour that transports you into the world of the Sarasota/Bradenton craft beer scene.

Hurry and Register before Aug. 1 for early bird pricing on various packages. Sponsorship opportunities are still available.