Held in Chicago April 7-10, this year’s CBC was the biggest ever, sold out at over 3,000 attendees. As well as celebrating the ever brightening rainbow of beer styles gushing from the taps of craft breweries, the industry saluted a solid 7% volume growth in the financially teetering year of 2009, 11 percent in dollar sales.

Director of the conference-sponsoring Brewers Association, Paul Gatza, reported that all facets of the industry were up, but that the “sweet spot” is still with microbreweries making less than 15,000 barrels a year. Last year there were 63 openings versus 16 closings; six microbreweries made the jump to the big leagues of regional craft. Gatza touched on trends such as the emergence of nanobreweries, sized four barrels or less, making extremely local beer, perhaps serving just one bar; the emergence of dual (or more) flagships for regional craft breweries; the sustained popularity of seasonal beers; and the continuing dive of imports with a loss of four million barrels last year.

“People say this (growth) is proof we are at least recession resistant,” Gatza said, “But I say we were affected by the recession. I wonder what growth could have been.”

As the industry grows, so does its political clout and ambitions. The keynote speech was delivered this year by Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon), who co-chairs the House Small Brewers Caucus in Washington D.C. He pledged his support to the industry and what “he finds in his beer glass.” DeFazio’s presence amplified the buzz of the conference – H.R. 4278, the graduated excise tax reduction legislation (which would reduce taxes from $7 to $3.50 per barrel for small brewers) which is currently under consideration in the House. His comments were echoed by Congressman Richard Neal (D-Massachusetts).

Not coincidentally, the FX Matt Defense of the Industry award was given to Steve Hindy, president of Brooklyn Brewery who has put in a significant amount of time with the movers and shakers in D.C. on behalf of small brewers. He served as president of the BA and was the first small brewer member appointed to the board of directors of the Beer Institute (traditionally representing the Big Brewers). Other industry awards honored a couple of the industry’s other pioneers, Ken Grossman of Sierra Nevada and Larry Bell of Bells Brewing (formerly Kalamazoo).

Meanwhile, many up and coming brewers continued to act like rock stars; and a real rock star even joined one of the presentations. Elysian’s Dave Buehler, Stone’s Greg Koch and Wynkoop’s Marty Jones considered it a real coup to have former Dire Straits guitarist Rick Nielsen join them in performing a reworked version of “Surrender” live on guitar at their seminar on guerilla marketing. Nielsen is an investor in Chicago’s Piece brewpub.

Seminars which used to feature four basic tracks have now splintered into 11 different topics, from food to sustainability; start-ups to packaging, government affairs to export; and of course all the technical topics. The annual conjoining BrewExpo Tradeshow found itself in tight quarters at the Sheraton; indeed organizers had to spill several exhibitors out into suites on a different floor. Most exhibitors said business was brisk; industry veterans and exhibitors alike told me they hadn’t seen this much energy in the industry since the mid-‘90s, except this time around there’s more people passionate about beer and less would-be investors.

There was no shortage of after-hours activities for conventioneers. The difficulty was getting to all of them. “It was great getting free beer everywhere,” said one conventioneer, “but I spent a fortune on cabs!”
Chitown’s breweries and bars were in fine form for all the thirsty visitors. Highlights included an open house at Goose Island’s Fulton Street production brewery: nine of Chicago’s top-line restaurateurs paired bites (at least during the VIP session) with Goose Island special brews. For dessert, sweets by 3-time James Beard finalist Mindy Segal, and a half dozen twists on Bourbon County barrel-aged stout (plus another couple of Imperials).

The Field Museum provided one of the more the more elegant settings for a CBC welcome reception. Louis Glunz Distributors toured more than 750 people on a Rare Beer Tour featuring exotic brews at 15 different bars — at Sheffields I ran into Dogfish Head World Wide Stout served through a Randall stuffed with coffee beans — kept me buzzing until the wee hours!

The downtown Rock Bottom brewpub served as conference central, with late night hospitality every night including a 20-IPA salute to retiring Hop Union partner Ralph Olsen and a Bloody Mary Brunch for departing guests.

Next year’s conference is scheduled for March 23-26 in San Francisco.