At the Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) in Nashville, Tenn., I watched as the Boulder-Colo.- based Brewers Association (BA) sought to rally the throng of small and independent craft brewers in attendance to adopt a new program for their packaging and merchandising. The seal, showcasing an upside-down beer bottle with “Independent Craft” reversed out of white, was prominently displayed on signage and marketed during keynote presentations during the record-breaking CBC that attracted nearly 13,000 attendees.
The seal, which officially launched last June, aims to support small and independent craft brewers and to serve as a point of differentiation between craft beer and big beer brands, the BA says. The new program also is focused on enabling on- and off-premise retailers to embrace independent craft beer.