Brewers Association Reimagines 2026 Craft Brewers Conference

The 2026 edition of the Brewers Association’s (BA) Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) in Philadelphia (April 20-22) comes amid turbulence for the trade association’s membership and an evolution of its marquee event.

The craft brewing industry is now coming off its third consecutive year of declines as craft brewers fight for relevance in a crowded total beverage marketplace. The declines come as craft brewers face myriad challenges, from macroeconomic headwinds raising the cost of doing business to shifting consumer preferences. Drinkers are also feeling cost pressures that have dinged their discretionary spending.

As a result, the number of brewery closures (434) outpaced the number of openings (268) for a second year, and a growing number of craft brewers are forging partnerships and huddling in regional platforms to weather the downturn.

Midway through 2025, the BA reported craft volume was down 5%. The full-year number, while not yet fully fleshed out, is expected to see a deeper decline.

“It’s no surprise that it’s going to be a tough number this year,” BA president and CEO Bart Watson said in a recent edition of the Brewbound Podcast. “We’re not seeing the boom years anymore and that’s an understatement.”

Those losses compound upon down years in 2024 (-4%) and 2023 (-1%) and a flat business in 2022. Craft’s last growth year, 2021 (+8%), is now a distant memory.

However, Watson reminded listeners that while the overall trends are down, “we’re still seeing a fair amount of health from a lot of members,” with regional variation and microstories of growth within the larger picture. Although Watson anticipates a repeat of 2024 when “more members saw decreases than they saw growth,” he noted “thousands of breweries” posted growth numbers last year.

“I think that’s something that can be easy to forget,” he said.

Those stories will factor into Watson’s annual “State of the Industry” speech, which will close this year’s CBC – and serve as a precursor to the World Beer Cup awards ceremony.

Watson said he’ll thread the needle between giving a “clear-eyed” view of where the industry is at this moment while offering ideas for how craft brewers can push forward in the future.

With small and independent craft brewers confronting these new realities and rethinking their business models, the trade group that represents them has also reimagined the program of its top event, shortening and retooling the program while offering a cheaper ticket price. Those changes are in response to requests from members who want additional business resources and ideas for driving traffic to their locations.

“We think CBC works best when it’s the big-tent event that everybody is coming to and connecting with,” Watson said, adding he views CBC in four buckets:

• Commerce/the BrewExpo trade show, where brewers learn about trends and connect with suppliers;

• Education, with a host of new voices on the speaker roster;

• Networking, with a more intentional approach.

• Fun!

“CBC should be that week where you do all four of those things,” he said. “But you come back recharged, energized with new ideas, new energy.

“I want to take the challenge on to provide value in all of those buckets,” Watson said. “But we think it’s a great deal and the best use of a few days you can spend in a year.”

Hospitality, which has become a bigger part of craft brewers’ businesses in recent years, will be a main theme of this year’s CBC.

“The vast majority of our members are brewpubs or taprooms and so that hospitality experience, getting butts in seats is really the thing that makes or breaks their businesses,” Watson said.

“Craft is gonna win or lose with people wanting to come into breweries and then having a great experience or not having a great experience,” he continued.

As such the BA has tapped Will Guidara, author of Unreasonable Hospitality, to give the event’s opening keynote speech.

“He’s like a hospitality business ‘Ted Lasso,’” Watson said. “He really brings a spirit and a positivity that is going to be welcomed in craft right now as people try to lean in, do better, grow in what’s a challenging time but one where many people are still finding opportunities to thrive.”

The program will also feature more networking, with dedicated sessions on taproom management, small brewery leadership, marketing and communications, small brewery production, export development, microbrewery production and sales and distribution.

Brewbound will be in town for the event and will be hosting a free networking party at Love City Brewing from 5-7 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 19.

Additionally, look for the Brewbound team on the ground in Philadelphia and on the BrewExpo floor recording future episodes of the Brewbound Podcast throughout the trade show.

The craft brewing industry is now coming off its third consecutive year of declines as craft brewers fight for relevance in a crowded total beverage marketplace. The declines come as craft brewers face myriad challenges, from macroeconomic headwinds raising the cost of doing business to shifting consumer preferences. Drinkers are also feeling cost pressures that have dinged their discretionary spending.

As a result, the number of brewery closures (434) outpaced the number of openings (268) for a second year, and a growing number of craft brewers are forging partnerships and huddling in regional platforms to weather the downturn.

Midway through 2025, the BA reported craft volume was down 5%. The full-year number, while not yet fully fleshed out, is expected to see a deeper decline.

“It’s no surprise that it’s going to be a tough number this year,” BA president and CEO Bart Watson said in a recent edition of the Brewbound Podcast. “We’re not seeing the boom years anymore and that’s an understatement.”

Those losses compound upon down years in 2024 (-4%) and 2023 (-1%) and a flat business in 2022. Craft’s last growth year, 2021 (+8%), is now a distant memory.

However, Watson reminded listeners that while the overall trends are down, “we’re still seeing a fair amount of health from a lot of members,” with regional variation and microstories of growth within the larger picture. Although Watson anticipates a repeat of 2024 when “more members saw decreases than they saw growth,” he noted “thousands of breweries” posted growth numbers last year.

“I think that’s something that can be easy to forget,” he said.

Those stories will factor into Watson’s annual “State of the Industry” speech, which will close this year’s CBC – and serve as a precursor to the World Beer Cup awards ceremony.

Watson said he’ll thread the needle between giving a “clear-eyed” view of where the industry is at this moment while offering ideas for how craft brewers can push forward in the future.

With small and independent craft brewers confronting these new realities and rethinking their business models, the trade group that represents them has also reimagined the program of its top event, shortening and retooling the program while offering a cheaper ticket price. Those changes are in response to requests from members who want additional business resources and ideas for driving traffic to their locations.

“We think CBC works best when it’s the big-tent event that everybody is coming to and connecting with,” Watson said, adding he views CBC in four buckets:

• Commerce/the BrewExpo trade show, where brewers learn about trends and connect with suppliers;

• Education, with a host of new voices on the speaker roster;

• Networking, with a more intentional approach.

• Fun!

“CBC should be that week where you do all four of those things,” he said. “But you come back recharged, energized with new ideas, new energy.

“I want to take the challenge on to provide value in all of those buckets,” Watson said. “But we think it’s a great deal and the best use of a few days you can spend in a year.”

Hospitality, which has become a bigger part of craft brewers’ businesses in recent years, will be a main theme of this year’s CBC.

“The vast majority of our members are brewpubs or taprooms and so that hospitality experience, getting butts in seats is really the thing that makes or breaks their businesses,” Watson said.

“Craft is gonna win or lose with people wanting to come into breweries and then having a great experience or not having a great experience,” he continued.

As such the BA has tapped Will Guidara, author of Unreasonable Hospitality, to give the event’s opening keynote speech.

“He’s like a hospitality business ‘Ted Lasso,’” Watson said. “He really brings a spirit and a positivity that is going to be welcomed in craft right now as people try to lean in, do better, grow in what’s a challenging time but one where many people are still finding opportunities to thrive.”

The program will also feature more networking, with dedicated sessions on taproom management, small brewery leadership, marketing and communications, small brewery production, export development, microbrewery production and sales and distribution.

Brewbound will be in town for the event and will be hosting a free networking party at Love City Brewing from 5-7 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 19.

Additionally, look for the Brewbound team on the ground in Philadelphia and on the BrewExpo floor recording future episodes of the Brewbound Podcast throughout the trade show.