The Brewers Association (BA) is an American trade group of over 1,900 brewers, particularly concerned with the promotion of craft beer and homebrewing.
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The BA was established in 2005 through a merger of the Association of Brewers and the Brewers' Association of America, intending to "promote and protect small and independent American brewers, their craft beers and the community of brewing enthusiasts."
Two of the largest programs supported by the BA are the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) and the annual Great American Beer Festival (GABF).
The current president is Charlie Papazian.
American Homebrewers Association
The American Homebrewers Association is a division of the Brewers Association focused on homebrewers of beer, cider, and mead. The AHA was founded in 1978 by Charlie Papazian in Boulder, Colorado. The AHA runs the world's largest homebrew competition and also organizes several homebrew events in the United States and Canada. Gary Glass is the current director. The AHA publishes the magazine Zymurgy six times per year to its 37,000 members.
Every year the AHA hosts the following events:
Ninkasi Award
The Ninkasi Award is the prize given by American Homebrewers Association for the brewer who gains the most points in the final round of the National Homebrew Competition, judged at the National Homebrewers Conference. Points are gained from the brewer's winning entries in the 23 categories of beer and several categories of mead and cider. At least 2 points (1 bronze placement) must come from a beer entry.
The Ninkasi Award is named in honor of Ninkasi, the Sumerian goddess of beer.
Past winners
1992 - Steve & Christina Daniel
1993 - Walter Dobrowsky
1994 - Michael Byers
1995 - Rhett Rebold
1996 - Tom Bergman & Chas Peterson
1997 - George Fix
1998 - Art Beall
1999 - Tom Plunkard
2000 - Joe Formanek
2001 - Brian Cole
2002 - Curt Hausam
2003 - Curt Hausam
2004 - Jamil Zainasheff
2005 - Paul Long
2006 - Joe Formanek
2007 - Jamil Zainasheff
2008 - Gordon Strong
2009 - Gordon Strong
2010 - Gordon Strong
2011 - Paul Sangster
2012 - Mark Schoppe
2013 - David Barber
2014 - Jeremy Voeltz
2015 - Mark Schoppe