When the 2025 Craft Brewers Conference ended this year in Indianapolis, attention turned to Philadelphia, the host city for the 2026 event. Placards, slides, and digital assets touted April 20 -26 for the Brewers Association’s signature industry event that also features The World Beer Cup and BrewExpo America.
At some point over the last four months the BA made a change to the calendar, shortening the event by a day. It will still begin on April 20, 2026 but will now end on April 22, 2026. The World Beer Cup Awards will be held on the 22nd rather than the 23rd.
In response to an inquiry about the change from All About Beer, Ann Obenchain the vice President of marketing and communications at the Brewers Association said the dates were revised “to deliver a streamlined, more impactful experience through a bold new schedule, curated programming, and improved accessibility—reflecting the needs of today’s beverage alcohol professionals to maximize value while minimizing time and cost demands.”
The change comes as the craft beer industry is facing strong headwinds. The BA recently deleted the Saturday evening session of the Great American Beer Festival, a consumer facing event held each year in Denver. In 2025 the BA stoped producing a conference for homebrewers when the American Homebrewers Association was under its purview.
Philadelphia last hosted the Craft Brewers Conference in 2016.
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John Holl is the editor of All About Beer Magazine.
JohnHoll@allaboutbeer.com