I'm for it: CAMRA debates and passes progressive motions.

I'm aware of all the reasons why an American is supposed to frown on such an organization, with its conferences, motions and cardigans. I love it just the same, and it remains a yardstick to me, 25 years after I first began paying dues and getting monthly newspapers. Eventually I stopped getting the paper copies, and started following CAMRA electronically.

Let’s get behind the beer industry: CAMRA members vote for a more inclusive campaign

Members of CAMRA, Europe's largest beer consumer group, have reinforced the organisation's positive approach to campaigning for beer and pubs by passing a series of progressive motions at its annual conference.

More than 1,200 CAMRA members attended the conference in Nottingham between 18-19 April and debated and voted on 20 motions about issues affecting the beer and pub industry, as well as CAMRA's future campaigning. Decisions were taken to support the practice of serving real ale from ‘key-kegs' and to recognise cider with whole fruit and spices as ‘real' were passed, whereas motions that advocated CAMRA distancing itself from wider beer industry initiatives were rejected.

Members clearly voted in support of an inclusive approach to the beer industry, reaffirming that the Campaign is about the promotion and championing of real ale, and providing a choice for drinkers, rather than outright opposition to other types of beer. The Conference expressed the strong opinion that denigrating other types of beer should not form part of the Campaign's active advocacy of real ale ...

ADI's Annual Spirits Conference and Vendor Expo returns to Kentuckiana.

Flashback to April, 2012 ...

Sticking a toe in the (distilled) water at the ADI annual conference.

Lew Bryson's in town for the American Distilling Institute's annual conference. The ADI gig runs through Wednesday at Huber's Orchard, Winery, Vineyards and Starlight Distillery, and ironically, after Lew returns home, NABC will be having much fun with Session Beer Day on Saturday, April 7.

My friend Jared Austin from The Big Easy came up to attend the conference, and as Lew explains in this posting at Seen Through A Glass, we three coincided at Bank Street Brewhouse on a beautiful Sunday afternoon: Run-up to ADI: Mecklenburg Gardens, and Louisville beers.

It's April again, and they're back.

2015 ANNUAL SPIRITS CONFERENCE & VENDOR EXPO

MARCH 30 – APRIL 2, 2015
KENTUCKY INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTER
LOUISVILLE, KY

I probably won't get a chance to go, but really need to try some of that Starlight Distillery Gin.

"Craft" beer could stand some of its own revitalization first.

Should we be excited by developments like this one, or head for the Grampian Hills to plot strategies for starting all over?

Craft Breweries as Neighborhood Revitalization Tools (American Planning Association, Indiana Chapter)

Learn from industry experts about the benefits of local breweries and what it takes to help one locate in your area!

Lew Bryson's ADI conference coverage.

My reasons for attending the American Distilling Institute's annual conference (April 1 - 4, 2012) included the gathering's close proximity to home, a visit by a friend, a desire to take a few days off work, and a measure of simple curiosity about craft distilling. I found it fascinating, although in truth, much of what intrigued me was less about pure distilling theory and practice than those areas of distillation that overlap with beer and brewing.

Most obviously, before alcohol can be concentrated by distillation, it must be fermented from a mash, and this is the point of considerable convergence.

Consequently, a high point for me was a panel discussion featuring three brewers who also distill, and without going into great detail, each of them offered thoughts on certain "traditional" distilling practices (mashing, fermentation) from the perspective of the contemporary generation of craft brewers, and how old-timey distillers could learn from New Age brewers. I'm sure these thoughts would constitute heresy in some quarters, and as such, I was thrilled to hear them. Throughout human history, heresy has been the most useful precondition for revolution. I might become a spirits drinker yet.

As previously noted here, writer Lew Bryson was in town for the conference, and spirits are his game as much as beer. For far better ADI confab coverage than I can muster, following are links to Lew's thoughts at John Hansell's Whisky Advocate Blog.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Sticking a toe in the (distilled) water at the ADI annual conference.

Lew Bryson's in town for the American Distilling Institute's annual conference. The ADI gig runs through Wednesday at Huber's Orchard, Winery, Vineyards and Starlight Distillery, and ironically, after Lew returns home, NABC will be having much fun with Session Beer Day on Saturday, April 7.

My friend Jared Austin from The Big Easy came up to attend the conference, and as Lew explains in this posting at Seen Through A Glass, we three coincided at Bank Street Brewhouse on a beautiful Sunday afternoon: Run-up to ADI: Mecklenburg Gardens, and Louisville beers.

Lew gave us a ride to the Brown Hotel for ADI registration, and he continues the story at the Whisky Advocate Blog, where this week he'll continue to file reports on the conference. It's always such a pleasure to see Lew, and it was quite the scene outside the English Grill at the Brown, with three big guys drinking and laughing (prior to becoming a quartet when New Holland's Fred Bueltmann sat down on the adjacent upholstery).

NABC's Richard Atnip will be pouring beers for attendees tomorrow (and perhaps lunch on Wednesday) at the Huber Plantation Hall. I'm enjoying a couple of semi-vacation days (daze) and will provide reports if the mood strikes.

Calendar check: 2012 American Distilling Institute Conference in Louisville, and at Huber's.