Brewbound Podcast: How the Great American Beer Festival Was Reimagined

[00:00:00] Justin Kendall: It's GABF week. We talk about it next on the Brewbound Podcast. Hello and welcome to the Brewbound Podcast. I'm Justin Kendall.

[00:00:19] Jessica Infante: I'm Jessica Infante. And I'm Zoe Licata.

[00:00:22] Justin Kendall: And as I mentioned, it is the week of the Great American Beer Festival. We're going to talk all about it with Ann Obenchain from the Brewers Association. So stay tuned for that. But first, let's get into some of what we got to do, and that's make some plugs for Brewbound Live. That's coming up December 11th and 12th in Marina Del Rey, California. Tickets are available now. You can find out all about the event at Brewbound.com and as well as in the newsletters and The info is out there. We're adding new speakers. They're going to be announced real soon.

[00:00:57] Ann Obenchain: We have some new news. We could share a new speaker, right? You just confirmed that Mr. Day Bracey himself is going to be joining us. I'm really excited about that. If you are not in the know when you really should be, Day is the founder of Barrel and Flow, which is an annual Beer Festival that takes place in Pittsburgh every summer that celebrates black craft brewers. And it's very much like a celebration of collaboration. The focus is all on the Black-owned craft breweries, of which there are too few in this country. But to participate, any other craft breweries that want to get into Beer Festival have to collaborate with a Black-owned brewery. And as a result, you get some really interesting beers that come out of these pairings. And Day, it's not just a Beer Festival. Day does a great job at putting together like a day of culture? I don't know. Does that sound dorky? It might. Sounds accurate. Speakers, musicians, artists, and Day is one of the rare solid event planners that makes sure everybody actually gets paid in cash, not just exposure. So one of these days we're all going to get there. Yeah. And Day will be on a panel talking about ways to make the craft beer tent get a little bit bigger through various tactics. And we don't need to get into all that right now, but I'm psyched about that panel.

[00:02:18] Justin Kendall: we can reveal one of the other panelists on that panel, and that's Jessica Fierro, the owner and head brewer at Atraveda Beer Company in Colorado. And Jess has been on the BrewTalk stage. She hasn't been on the Brewbound Live stage, but very excited to have her back on a panel with us. And I mean, there's just so much to talk about with Atraveda since we last saw her.

[00:02:43] Ann Obenchain: Yeah, for sure. They do a really great job at having events in their taproom that tap into the interests and customs of the local Hispanic community, which Jess and her husband, Rich, both belong to.

[00:02:55] Justin Kendall: So tickets are available now. Find out more at Brewbound.com. Let's get into some of the news of the week and kind of can circle back to the Great American Beer Festival in that the Brewers Association has picked their new lead for events, and that's Lacey Gaudier. And forgive me if I pronounced her last name wrong. We haven't had the opportunity to speak with her yet, but very excited to see what she's going to do with the organization's events moving forward. And she comes with a pedigree of having worked 15 years in events, including the Natural Products Expo, which attracts more than 70,000 attendees and 3,000 exhibitors. And our friends over at BevNET are way more familiar with that event than we are, but very curious to see how this plays out, because as we know, Nancy Johnson is retiring at the end of the year.

[00:03:56] Ann Obenchain: Yeah, and the events are so important to the BA's overall operation, that this is such a big job. And Nancy's been there for so long that Lacey's got some big shoes to fill, but it sounds like she's got crazy amounts of experience managing very, very large events. So I think she'll do just fine. But you know, she'll do GABF, she'll do Craft Brewers Conference and the related trade show. And, you know, events have changed for the BA since COVID. They used to have Savor, which was the craft beer and food pairing event in Washington, DC, always a great time. And they also used to have Homebrew Con as a standalone event. Now that's kind of been wrapped up a little bit into GABF, but it'll be really interesting to see what Lacey does.

[00:04:41] Jessica Infante: Yeah, maybe this is what those events need as someone who's outside of beer to bring some new perspective into how you create an event that people are willing to give their precious dollars to and time to. So that's been the biggest thing we've seen is especially industry wise, like folks are their wallets are getting a little light and they're committing less to, you know, taking as many team members to some of these events or like being able to do big setups at like a GABF or something. So how do you convince people that it's worth the time and investment to go still?

[00:05:17] Justin Kendall: And when you have a consumer facing event, such as the Great American Beer Festival, we're hearing that it needs to be more experiential. And that's apparently what's going to happen this year. We're going to find out, Zoe and I will find out in person and see if that actually tracks. But it also reminds me, Zoe, we should probably grab some paired tickets while we're at it. Absolutely.

[00:05:40] Jessica Infante: I still have to go to paired. It's been elusive to me for many years now.

[00:05:45] Justin Kendall: If it's not already sold out.

[00:05:47] Jessica Infante: I feel like we have some connections, we can make it happen.

[00:05:51] Justin Kendall: We'll ask around. Maybe our guests will know. Let's get into some other news of the week. Sapporo Stone had its annual distribution meeting, its national sales meeting. They're talking about their plan for 2025, and that plan includes taking Stone Pilsner, which launched earlier this year, taking that national, pulling back distribution for products such as the Enjoy Buy series of IPAs and special releases. And then the rest of it was like some packaging tweaks for like Buena Vista and then adding a 12-pack for Delicious, which I can get behind a plan that's like one new beer, a packaging change, and then you're adding a packaging format and pulling back on some other things.

[00:06:40] Ann Obenchain: Yeah, I think that's super smart of them. And it just kind of shows, I feel like this is a kind of representative of where craft beer needs to go as a whole, like fewer Drink It Now releases and more like, hey, what do people like to drink right now? And having an answer for that. This is definitely a new stone for sure. Like long gone are the days of like, you're not worthy, like angry gargoyle. This beer has so many hops it will rip the enamel off your teeth. I think this is smart and I think it's going to help. help them with some of those consumer notions that they had gotten in that survey that we talked about with Maria Stipp however many years ago. Smart plan.

[00:07:23] Justin Kendall: Yeah, and we haven't really gotten into the Sapporo piece of this. Any big news that came out of that?

[00:07:30] Ann Obenchain: Yeah, so with Sapporo there, it's, you know, it's really more of a, it's like a channel strategy play, a couple of different packaging tweaks, but nothing wild, nothing crazy. It just seems like they're really like doubling down and seeing what areas of the trade need their focus and focusing there. So huge for Sapporo in 2025 is going to be C-stores. They've already got what they call their silver chalice, the 22 ounce single serve can. They say it does really, really well kind of wherever it goes, but that's going to be the focus for C-Stores. They're also looking into off-premise national chains. Biggest opportunity for them there is going to be 12 fat cans. So plan is to increase promotion during high rate of sale seasons and ad periods and just making sure that they are trying to close the gap between them and like the next closest imports. On-premise also big for them. The sushi channel, super important, which makes a lot of sense. So, Chief Revenue Officer, Tom McGravy, was saying how they have a sticky handle. Like once they get a Sapporo tap handle on in a bar or restaurant, it stays, it works, it turns, it does really well. And that's not always something that you think of first thing for import brands is a tap handle, but it works for Sapporo.

[00:08:44] Jessica Infante: As we know, tap handles are available out there for folks. So that's, you got one that works that people are gonna be willing to take you. Exactly.

[00:08:52] Justin Kendall: And there aren't many meetings like this that you'll hear, you know, we got to own the sushi occasion.

[00:09:00] Ann Obenchain: No, their powers of persuasion were pretty good because I got sushi last night.

[00:09:05] Justin Kendall: Yeah, but that is literally one of the plays that they talk about.

[00:09:09] Ann Obenchain: Yeah, totally. I mean, I think this is definitely a conversation for us to have. offline and in print and other places, but it's really interesting to me to see how cuisine and import brands work together.

[00:09:21] Justin Kendall: I absolutely do. Well, some sad news to close out this week, and that's, you know, we heard about the death of Ron Jeffries, who is the founder of Jolly Pumpkin, co-founder of Jolly Pumpkin in Michigan. I met Ron years ago and we didn't converse a whole lot, but when we did over email, he was one of the nicest people out there. And from others I've heard, you know, called him just a gem, a treasure, and very sad to hear about his passing. So wanted to send our thoughts out to his family and the folks at Jolly Pumpkin. And I don't know how to pronounce it. Is it Hala Hala Hala Brewing in Hawaii? The brewery they started? I think it's just hola holo. Hola holo. Okay.

[00:10:11] Ann Obenchain: Yeah. And you know, like you, I had only conversed with Ron a couple of times, but I was, I just remember finishing our phone call and thinking that person was so nice and he didn't have to be nice to me. It was like the height of 2020 when everything was stressful and crazy. And Ron was so just like a delight to talk to. So yeah, Ron and his wife Lori, the family moved out to Hawaii a little bit ago, which was a lifelong dream of theirs. So I'm really glad that they made it. And the family launched Holo Holo Brewing. It's been like a whole family project. And I'm really sad for all of them. I mean, he was like a titan in the Michigan craft beer scene going back years. He founded Jolly Pumpkin in 2004, so 20 years ago, but almost a decade before that, he was working in craft beer in Michigan, was a huge part of the Guild when it was founded, and just a really important guy for craft beer.

[00:11:07] Justin Kendall: an introduction to sour beer for a lot of folks out there.

[00:11:12] Ann Obenchain: For sure. I mean, I think that's something that maybe we need to talk a little bit about. You know, Jolly Pumpkin was the country's first all wild oak aged brewery, and that's really creative and was probably super innovative and not common back 20 years ago.

[00:11:30] Justin Kendall: Absolutely. We should probably get going to our featured interview, but yes, we wanted to throw our thoughts out to Ron's family and friends and all the folks at Hullah Hullah Brewing and Jolly Pumpkin and one of the first brewery collectives or partnerships out there, which is Northern United Brewing.

[00:11:53] Ann Obenchain: Yeah, you know, in 2008, super long time ago now, Jolly Pumpkin and North Peak Brewing merged to form Northern United Brewing. And today that happens all the time, but not back then.

[00:12:04] Justin Kendall: Yeah. With that, let's get to our featured interview with Ann Obenchain from the Brewers Association. The 2024 edition of the Great American Beer Festival takes place Thursday through Saturday in Denver. Joining us now to discuss all the expectations and changes for this year's GABF is Ann Obenchain, VP of Marketing and Communication for the Brewers Association. Thanks for being here, Anne.

[00:12:32] Brewers Association: Thanks for having me. Great to see you, Justin. Great to see you, Zoe.

[00:12:36] Justin Kendall: Yeah, it's great to see you and we'll be excited to see you in person when we're all in Denver. Absolutely.

[00:12:42] Brewers Association: Can't wait to see you.

[00:12:44] Justin Kendall: So let's get a sort of lay of the land as far as this year. What's the early read on ticket sales for this year and how many attendees are you expecting?

[00:12:54] Brewers Association: Well, ticket sales are continuing to come in and we're expecting around 40,000 attendees. So similar to last year, we have all sessions available. So we're still seeing that change in ticket buyer behavior where a lot of ticket buyers are waiting until the last minute. And, you know, we start to see that increase in ticket sales as we get closer and closer to the actual days of Beer Festival.

[00:13:21] Justin Kendall: Do you get a sense that maybe consumers are now waiting a little longer to purchase in hopes of maybe scoring a deal or something?

[00:13:29] Brewers Association: I think they're just waiting to make decisions in general. When I talk to some of the producers of some of our larger venues here in the area, like Red Rocks or the Mission Ballroom, they're seeing those similar trends. So unless you're Taylor Swift, Usually it seems that they're waiting and unless it's a can't miss once in a lifetime opportunity, which I like to describe Beer Festival as, but it's not Taylor Swift. She won't be here this year. People are waiting and it is driving event marketers absolutely bonkers.

[00:14:07] Jessica Infante: I know we feel that at our events too, so it's a common theme. One thing that might be driving folks to Beer Festival this year that is a bit of a change is you've created these experiential elements to Beer Festival this year, which I know we're excited to see what that really looks like. Can you explain what that is, what those look like, what's new for this year's event?

[00:14:33] Brewers Association: There's a lot new and we like to say that this year'Beer Festival is unlike ever before. So pun intended there and. You know, we haven't really changed Beer Festival for a really long time. Last fall, we were looking at some pictures. 1 of our event committee members was looking at his booth and you couldn't tell if it was 2023 or. 1992, you know, it was the same blue and yellow and we've always just lined up booths and served beer and moved forward and we're seeing a younger demographic come to Beer Festival and we know that customers are looking more for an experience. in addition to the traditional festival. So what we did this year is we changed up the entire floor plan and instead of regions, you know, geographic regions or alphabetical order for the breweries, we've rearranged the breweries into what we call experience areas. So themed areas, so we have six of those areas we have the traditional meet the brewer which hasn't changed so those are booths that have brewery representatives there to talk to our beer lovers and their beer fans and then the rest of the areas all have a different theme the first one since it's october we're leaning into halloween so for people that want to pre-game halloween it is called fright and it will be there'll be scare actors there'll be you know, decorations, there's some really crazy, I'll just say giant LED inflatables over the entrances to some of these areas. So you'll have to take pictures and share them on your channels when you're here. The next 1 is score because we know that beer and sports go together like peanut butter and jelly. So there'll be televisions to watch live TV. There'll be foosball. There'd be all other games for people to play and there'll be breweries all through that area. And then we have prost. How can you not have a Beer Festival without traditional beer garden theme with Stein holding contests? The world's strongest man is going to show up at some point on Saturday and umpah bands and all the good stuff. Then we have more of a. space themed area, which we're calling Blast Off. So beer and beyond. We even brought in some of our international friends. So they're pouring some international beers there. And so that's more of a space theme. And then last but not least, you've seen it before, but we're calling it chill is the backyard with live music and yard games. And then we also have and raw neck chairs. And what's different this year is we actually have breweries in those areas. And it's been fun to see the breweries got to self-select where they wanted to be. And they've started sending pictures of the props that they'll be bringing for their booths. So there's some pretty fun stuff that I can't wait to see this week. So they're really leaning into those things. They are leaning into it. Some are doing special drinks for that area as well. So it's going to be fun and different.

[00:17:57] Justin Kendall: to your point on the booths, as far as, you know, looking at the photo and not being able to distinguish between it was like one year or another, I've been going to Beer Festival since 2016. And the year that really stands out to me is 2018. And that's the year that you had Buffalo Wild Wings there, you had Jameson, however, you know, people sort of view that, you know. It's one of those years that really sticks out to me, having been to it for all these years now, eight years or whatever. that, you know, it's those experiences. And I think that it's clearly something that I'm glad to see that you're leaning into here.

[00:18:36] Brewers Association: Thank you. And yes, that was one of our most popular and most, I guess, discussed Great American Beer Festival, but it's going to be similar to that where, you know, you'll be walking into these areas. They won't be walled like we've seen in 2018 with the Jameson booth, but there'll be, you know, there'll be lights and there'll be clear entrances that you can walk into and be part of that atmosphere. I also forgot, it's near the score area, but not exactly in the sports area. Our friends from Denver Beer Co. and Colorado Cerveceria are bringing the Lucha Libre Mexican wrestlers and a ring. So we have never had a wrestling ring at a Beer Festival, at Great American Beer Festival at least. So that'll be something new. They'll be there Thursday and Friday in promotion of some of their other events going on Saturday at the brewery.

[00:19:32] Justin Kendall: Now you're speaking my language.

[00:19:35] Jessica Infante: No, that's right up Justin's alley. I'm curious, what was the brainstorming process and the decision making process for these elements? And were there any areas that got left on the cutting room floor? Anything that was almost an experience area?

[00:19:51] Brewers Association: I would have to go back and look through my notes, but there were a lot of meetings, a lot of emails, a lot of ideas. The brainstorm starts with there are no bad ideas. Just put everything out there that you can possibly think of. And then it starts to come down to what can we execute with the budgets that we have, and what can we do within a couple months? We don't have a couple years to change. So I honestly don't remember. I have to go back and look. There were some other good ones that we were all giggling about, but we're just, we're not Steven Spielberg. We don't have that kind of set budget.

[00:20:31] Jessica Infante: You're not going to bring in like animatronic dinosaurs or anything? Not yet. No. It's all right. I think we'll be okay. Okay.

[00:20:41] Justin Kendall: Just turn it all into Westworld.

[00:20:45] Brewers Association: could be lots of things. So, so, yeah, we're really looking to hear from everyone on what does this concept look like, you know, can this be carried over at a smaller regional level or, you know, we're taking a big swing and we'll see what happens.

[00:21:02] Justin Kendall: So with the addition of these elements, how does it change execution? Because if you've been doing what you've been doing over and over, you know, it's kind of like, okay, we know what to expect. This year, you know, you're adding Lucha Libre and all these theme areas and scare actors, and there are all these different elements now. How do you sort of envision the execution of all this going on?

[00:21:27] Brewers Association: Well, we have a really great partner in Freeman, you know, kind of look at events like we do the craft brewers conference where we have incredible teams of contractors, volunteers and professionals that will help us get everything set. We're going to be mostly set in most of all the halls, but 1 by Wednesday night. And then we have some time to check our lighting. We're going to play around with some lighting. I can't say we're going to play around with the entrance. You too may want to come in through the ticket holder entrance to experience some different things there. So we'll be doing a dry run of a few of those things. But in general, it's similar but different, if that makes sense. Like, we still have to follow the same schedules. The reefer trucks are still in the back, the refrigerated trucks with ice and our beverages. We still hook up all the tap lines, like, normal ice, the beer, like, normal. We have more packaged products this year, though, because, as, you know. We expanded on what we started last year in boring cider, and we're also adding RTD cocktails, more N.A. products, as well as hard lemonades, teas, ciders. So all of those things will be served out of package versus draft. So that's a little bit different for the house, but still very capable of executing that.

[00:22:56] Justin Kendall: Spirits-based cocktails?

[00:22:58] Brewers Association: Yes. Canned RTDs.

[00:23:03] Jessica Infante: Whenever there is any sort of change, there can be mixed opinions on things. I mean, you mentioned there some of the people pouring are really enthusiastic and leaning into the experiences and stuff. But what has been the general feedback from members on how GABF is changing up a bit this year?

[00:23:20] Brewers Association: In general, from our members, it's been really positive and from, you know, at least here in Denver, the local media is like, October fest in Munich. So, you know, they're all really excited about the changes. We hear that from ticket buyers. I think where we'll hear some probably some good feedback is from some of our longstanding ticket buyers who have come in and are used to the real tried and true beer fans. The ones that have been coming in for a long time. We're going to get their feedback on on how everything is arranged. I am certain of it, but we've already kept many things that they appreciate the meet the brewer. The heavy metal booth where you can taste some of the award winning beers and some of those things for for people that really have that discerning palette and want to lean into beer tasting as their primary goal of Beer Festival.

[00:24:18] Justin Kendall: You mentioned sort of opening up things to other types of products, whether it's cider, ready-to-drink canned cocktails, seltzer, you know, hard lemonade. I can keep going, but you know, we all know what's out there. How does that change the dynamic for Beer Festival that has historically been a showcase of craft beer?

[00:24:39] Brewers Association: You know, we've been evolving Beer Festival every year to try to meet what the consumer is looking for. Our breweries are meeting are evolving all the time to meet what their customers are looking for. We have to serve these other things. And we want to serve these other things so that we are exactly showing people what these breweries or beverages or cideries are making. And it's like, hey, we also make and we also distill. Look at all these things that you can do when you come to visit us. You've met us here at Great American Beer Festival. You can come visit us and bring your friends because we're not just a brewery. We also offer many different things and experiences.

[00:25:26] Jessica Infante: Last year, the GABF had a whole cider dedicated section. What was some of the consumer feedback that you got to adding that last year?

[00:25:35] Brewers Association: Cider was incredibly popular. People were super excited. We actually expanded that this year. We have, I believe, 13 cider ease that will be pouring 14 cider ease that will be pouring at Beer Festival. So super excited for that addition. We also have added cider five categories of cider to the Great American Beer Festival competition this year. So that'll be there'll be some new winners for cider.

[00:26:06] Justin Kendall: Yeah, we haven't even touched on the competition element.

[00:26:11] Brewers Association: Sorry, I just opened that can.

[00:26:15] Justin Kendall: I'm glad you brought it up. So I mean, as far as the competition goes, you mentioned the addition of cider. Is there anything else that sort of stands out as addition or new to the competition this year?

[00:26:29] Brewers Association: Just the cider. I shouldn't say just. Chris Williams will pummel me on that one. Adding a new category takes a lot of forethought and is deliberate. So we have those five new cider categories for this year and that's it.

[00:26:47] Jessica Infante: People are going to be thrilled. I think so. They hold on to those medals really dear. It means a lot to those producers.

[00:26:55] Justin Kendall: You mentioned the changing dynamics of everything. And we know that demographics are changing. It's harder to reach younger LDA consumers. How have the demographics of GABF attendees changed over the life of Beer Festival?

[00:27:13] Brewers Association: Over the life of Beer Festival, I can't speak to because our demographic information from 1982 is a little spotty. But over the last five to seven years, our demographic has actually been getting younger, which is amazing. And we're seeing, you know, our majority of our ticket buyers right now are that 21 to 34 year old, which is also why we're really trying to change Beer Festival to keep them coming back, get them excited, meet our breweries, Consider drinking beer in addition to the many things they're drinking, but the vast majority of all of our purchasers are under 44. so we've been seeing that get younger, which I find very encouraging as far as just a market point for they're willing to come and try and experience something new and they're coming with their friends, which is great.

[00:28:13] Jessica Infante: So along with these new additions to GABF, BA just announced a new addition to your events team. Lacey Gossier is going to be filling the very prominent shoes of Nancy. So do you have any idea of what Lacey's vision for the future events is or what she's excited about to bring to the BA world?

[00:28:36] Brewers Association: I can't speak to what her vision is. She's just starting day two, week two, and she's down at Precon for GABF. But I am really excited for Lacey to be on our team. I'm excited to work with her. I'm excited to learn from her. You know, she's got incredible breadth of trade show and conference experience coming from the most adjacent, the Natural Foods Expo area. She's worked for small industry, large industry, and she's been on top of the trends. So as we look at Crepe Brewers Conference, as we look at GABF, as we look at potential other things, I'm just really excited to get her perspective on the landscape of what's ahead and what's possible. She's really jumping right in getting started right in time for diving in week head first week to yes.

[00:29:30] Justin Kendall: Wow. Yeah, that's that's quite the start time. Here's your biggest consumer facing event.

[00:29:39] Brewers Association: Yeah and go. Yeah but you know she she's a pro and she has been you know working for events as large or larger than our events and um so this should be a walk in the park for her.

[00:29:55] Justin Kendall: Well anything else about GABF that we should ask about before we jump to a couple other things before we let you go?

[00:30:03] Brewers Association: I just, you know, I'm excited for you two to show up. I'm excited for the brewers. You know, we are so thankful for all the brewers that are coming to JABF. We don't take their participation lightly and we know they've got hard financial decisions to make. So, so appreciative of all of them and excited to showcase, you know, some of the best beverages and breweries on the planet, cideries and, um, It's going to be fun, though. I can't wait to see you both and hear what you think.

[00:30:38] Justin Kendall: Yeah, we're excited about it. I didn't even mention Parrot.

[00:30:41] Brewers Association: And paired, yeah, and paired, and paired. Can't forget paired. Adam's about ready to, you know, he would be upset with me if we forgot paired, but paired is back. Paired is 98% the same, except we do have a restaurant that's pairing with a mocktail. Oh, cool. And we have, we're doing some pairing with cider and a pairing with, I believe, a ready to drink cocktail. So we've permeated some of the drinks from Beer Festival floor and that concept down into paired. But the rest of paired is everything, you know, in love. We've got twenty five amazing award winning chefs. including Dan Jacobs, who was the runner up in the most recent season of Top Chef. We have Matt Vaughter just as a local James Beard award winner, recent award winner. We've got Michelin star chefs there and a couple pizza throwing champions. So the food, if you haven't seen the menu, the food looks amazing. So that is going to be a delicious addition as always to Beer Festival.

[00:31:49] Justin Kendall: We're going to have to score some tickets, Zoe.

[00:31:52] Jessica Infante: I know. Every year, people are like, yeah, GABF was great. PAIRD was the place to be. It's pretty sweet.

[00:32:01] Justin Kendall: You know, one of the things obviously that's going on is the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. And we're just trying to get a read, you know, how is the B.A. supporting relief efforts for members affected by the hurricane?

[00:32:16] Brewers Association: So, we're in really close contact with Lisa Parker and the North Carolina Brewers Guild. We're on those weekly calls working with her to support her. However, she needs and promote any of those relief disaster relief donations and more and more of that is going to become. Evident as the weeks go by, you know, I and many of our staff have unfortunately lived through natural disasters. So we know it's. There's the immediate needs and then there's the long term needs and this is going to go on for quite some time. So we're chatting with her about using our forum as perhaps a clearinghouse for ongoing job boards and needs and working through those details. So stay tuned on that. For the brewers that can't make it, we're still leaving their booth. If their beer is there, we're going to pour it. We've got signage and QR codes for all of the attendees to scan and help make donations that way. And then ongoing as more government aid becomes available, we're going to make sure to get onto it to those breweries to help spread the word on aid that they might be available to them.

[00:33:31] Jessica Infante: That's great. It's really cool that you're still including them in Beer Festival too, as well. I know we were just at another conference and they're talking about, well, we have members, remember, that wanted to be here and couldn't be here. So it's nice to keep them at the top of mind. Moving forward after GAPF, is there anything that BA is prioritizing through the end of the year? Any certain marketing efforts or any kind of final focuses through the end of 2024?

[00:34:00] Brewers Association: Well, we're already thinking about the craft first conference next April and also rural beer cup. So world beer cup, that registration opens November 12th. So we'll be talking to our breweries on that. And then we've got some other internal initiatives looking to launch in January, February, which maybe we'll invite him back more about those. But right now, you know, we'll bear cups thinking about crappers conference will be our end of your focus.

[00:34:29] Justin Kendall: Well, thanks for doing this, Anne. I would say, you know, plug away before we let you go.

[00:34:36] Brewers Association: I will. Thanks so much. And thanks, everybody. Thank you for your support. And we will see you all at Great American Beer Festival. We don't see you there. Hopefully we'll see you at the Craft Brewers Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana, April 28 to May 1st. And that registration is going to open in January.

[00:34:56] Justin Kendall: All right. Well, we'll see you this week. And thanks to everybody for listening. We'll be back next week.