Craft Brewers Conference 2026: Brewers Eye Reset in Philadelphia

The Craft Brewers Conference 2026 makes its return to Philadelphia at a time of great uncertainty in the industry and the country at large. One of America’s great beer cities, CBC Philly hopes to get back to the roots of craft beer, reconnect with its foundation, and plot a course for future growth.

I recently spoke with Bart Watson, President and CEO of the Brewers Association about the conference, its commemorative beer, and his first year running the organization. 

Andy Crouch: The CBC is returning to Philly, where the conference has been held before, tell me more about choosing the city.

Bart Watson: Philadelphia is a great beer town. There’s a lot of awesome options, both in terms of breweries and beer bars and near the convention center. So we’re excited to be back in Philadelphia. It’s one of the cultural centers in the US, and we were so pleased to be there last time, and excited to be back.

AC: Tell me about the commemorative beer this year.

BW: The commemorative beer was brewed by a whole bunch of brewers in Pennsylvania. It has an amazing label and if you haven’t checked it out, you should. Probably nobody comes to a conference for the commemorative label but I think this is one of our best ones yet. They had a brew day and I forget the number who participated but it was a shockingly high number. That shows the great engagement that the brewers in Pennsylvania have had. So we’re excited to roll that out. And as a sign of the times, it’s not an IPA. So I think it’s gonna be well received. 

AC: Every year we have these conversations and the BA says that brewers are notoriously last minute in their signups. How are the attendance figures looking compared to past years?

BW: You’re right that it’s hard to say precisely how many there are going to be. And I think this is particularly true with the East Coast location. A lot of brewers are having to make last second calls. Do I have the staff needed to cover all the shifts? Do we need to fit in a brew day. You know, running a small business is kind of a last second thing for a lot of people. That’s one reason that we see that late surge. I think we saw 1000 sign ups on site last year. So it could vary a lot based on those kind of final things. We were actually checking this morning, and I think we’re kind of more or less looking at a similar track to last year. So hopefully in that seven to 8000 range that is down from its peak, which I think reflects a different time for the industry. Money is tighter, and maybe kind of a more mature industry. One thing we hear from a lot of members is that they’ll adopt a cycle for CBC, either for the whole brewery or within staff. So people trade off years. At the peak, we were seeing a little bit more that everybody goes every year. We think it’s valuable for everyone to come to CBC. That’s why we put it on what we’re trying to create. Our lower pricing is also a part of trying to convince people they can come every year. But it’s tough. There’s locations that are not easy for everybody to get to. So my sense is we’re going to end about where we were last year, which is down from the peak. But I think it shows where the industry is. 

AC: How is the World Beer Cup shaping up this year and how does it fit into CBC?

BW: World Beer Cup is one of my favorite parts of CBC. We get to close it with that award ceremony and celebration of beer, both American and global. We’re doing that every year now so we get one of those with every Craft Brewers Conference. World Beer Cup has held pretty steady, actually, and entries are fairly steady year over year. I think there’s still a lot of interest in competitions as a way to learn, get feedback, test quality, and then if you win, promote. Finding those differentiating factors is more important than ever in a tight market. So I’m super excited. 

AC: Tell me about the keynote address this year.

BW: The keynote is going to be given by Will Guidara. For anyone who is unfamiliar with Will, he helped run Eleven Madison Park, which was at one point named the best restaurant in the world in New York, and wrote a book about that experience and kind of his philosophy of hospitality, called Unreasonable Hospitality. It’s a great book if you haven’t read it. It’s not just about a restaurant, there’s a lot in there about management, working with people, and running a business that I think would be valuable as well. We thought he was a particularly good choice in an era where we’re seeing a lot of brewers turn to hospitality as their differentiating factor. One of the challenges of the craft beer revolution has been that there is good beer everywhere. You don’t have to just go to a brewery to get good beer. And so giving people that overall experience is one of the things that I think helps pubs and tap rooms stand out. He’s a super positive person. If you’ve never seen him speak, has a very positive message that will be well received in an industry that is looking for positivity as we kind of rebuild and regrow. I also think he has a lot of very practical and applicable tips for people running the hospitality side of their business. I think he is great and can’t wait to see what he has to say and how he tailors it for our audience.

AC: Any last pitch for folks who maybe are on the fence about attending CBC?

BW: My pitch is that this is where your community is gathering. I think all brewers I talk to right now, they want to know what’s going on, what’s being successful. And there’s going to be no greater concentration of brewers that can talk about what they’re doing that works and doesn’t work than in Philadelphia this week. We recognize it’s a cost in time and in money to come out, but our team is dedicated to providing the best return for that money possible. I’m very confident that anybody who comes is going to see the benefits of coming, and feel energized after a week with their colleagues and their community. I’m super excited about it.

AC: You have now been running the Brewers Association for a little over a year now. Reflecting back on that, how has your first year been? How has it met your expectations? And where do you want to go from here?

BW: I don’t know that I had, you know, full expectations, but it’s been a whirlwind. Certainly there’s been a lot going on in the industry and in the world. I didn’t expect to be spending so much time thinking about aluminum and aluminum tariffs, or tariffs in general, but here we are. That’s what a trade association does, right? It evolves and changes. What we were five years ago can’t be what we are today. I will say, just on a personal note, I’m still super energized, still super excited to be here. I think the past year has reminded me what I love about this industry, and why I was excited to take this job, even knowing the challenges we face right now. So there’s been a lot to learn. It’s been a learning curve, certainly not necessarily 100% what I expected, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world, and I’m excited for the next year.