Quick Hits: Craft Brew Summit Breaks Records, Yuengling’s Women In Brewing Scholarships

American Craft Beer|March 9th, 2020|

(Rob Tod – Courtesy Allagash Brewing / Facebook)

The beer biz never sleeps at American Craft Beer. And here’s just some of what’s been happening in the beer world while you were drinking your way through the weekend…

New England Craft Beer Summit Breaks Records (Portland, ME) – – On February 28, The New England Craft Brew Summit drew a record 600 attendees from across the east coast. During the full-day conference, brewers enjoyed the opportunity to tap into the collective wisdom and experiences of some of the industry’s biggest names. And the topic on everyone’s mind was how to sustain the industry’s rapid growth.

Rob Tod, founder of Allagash Brewing Company, the fifth-largest craft brewer in New England, has weathered industry ups and downs and he shared his considerable insight with the standing-room-only crowd. “None of us are immune to market forces,” said Tod. ‘Focus on safety and quality. Be thoughtful about where you grow and how you grow, and get involved in your community and the larger craft beer industry.”

Craft beer in Maine was primarily seen as a cottage industry five years ago. But since then, it has become one of the state’s biggest economic contributors, growing from 82 to 153 licensed breweries and employing nearly 2,000 people…numbers that were reinforced by Governor Janet Mills in her remarks to attendees at this year’s summit.

Words To Drink By (Portland, ME) “Don’t be too cavalier about opening distant markets….And keep in mind that if you do open a distant market, you’re competing with an awful lot of local breweries.” Rob Tod, Founder Allagash Brewing at the New England Craft Brew Summit

Yuengling Announces New Brewing Scholarship Program For Women (Pottsville, PA) – D.G. Yuengling & Son, America’s Oldest Brewery marked International Women’s Day (March 8), with its Yuengling Women in Brewing Scholarship Program, a campaign they’ve developed in partnership with the Pink Boots Society.

Female beer professionals, who also must be Pink Boots Society members, can apply for up to $12,500 in scholarship funds to enroll in brewing courses from notable institutions including:

Siebel Institute of Technology
University of the Sciences in Philadelphia
Cornell University
Cincinnati State

Created to advance the careers of female brewers through education, the spring application period for Yuengling’s scholarship program will close on March 31, 2020.