This Year’s Worldwide Toast & Big Brew Marks 40 Years For The AHA

Thousands will brew out and simultaneously raise a glass.

In honor of National Homebrew Day (which falls every year on May 7), the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) celebrates AHA Big Brew on the first Saturday in May. Throughout the day on May 5, hundreds of bars, breweries, shops and homebrew clubs nationwide will host their local communities to brew on-site for a national, same-day homebrewing session.

This year’s official Big Brew recipes—Rocky Raccoon’s Honey Lager and Dusty Mud Irish-style Stout—were handpicked by the legendary Charlie Papazian. Heralded as the “godfather of homebrewing,” Papazian is the founder of the AHA, which this year is celebrating its 40th anniversary. At noon CDT, all homebrewers and beer lovers are encouraged to raise their glass in a worldwide, simultaneous toast.

From homebrewers’ homes and backyards, to the shops that provide the ingredients and supplies, to local breweries and craft beer bars worldwide. View an interactive map of AHA Big Brew event locations across the country. Register your local AHA Big Brew event and join the conversation on Twitter with #BigBrew18.

There over 1.1 million homebrewers in the United States, 40 percent of which started homebrewing only within the last four years. AHA Big Brew is a toast to the nation’s homebrewers and their shared love and appreciation for homebrewed beer, mead and cider. In 1988, May 7 was announced before Congress as National Homebrew Day, and so the AHA created AHA Big Brew to celebrate National Homebrew Day across the U.S. and globe.

About the American Homebrewers Association

The American Homebrewers Association has worked on behalf of the homebrewing community since 1978 and celebrates a membership of more than 46,000 homebrewers. The American Homebrewers Association (AHA) organizes events including Homebrew Con™ and the National Homebrew Competition. The AHA also publishes Zymurgy^® magazine and offers the Brew Guru™ mobile app. The AHA is part of the Brewers Association, whose Brewers Publications™ division is the largest publisher of contemporary and relevant brewing literature for today’s craft brewers and homebrewers.