Drawing more than 1,400 of the world's foremost brewers, brewery owners and brewing supply professionals to Seattle, Wash. April 11-14 the Brewers Association (BA) 23rd Annual Craft Brewers Conference,

Drawing more than 1,400 of the world's foremost brewers, brewery owners and brewing supply professionals to Seattle, Wash. April 11-14 the Brewers Association (BA) 23rd Annual Craft Brewers Conference, signaled the opening of the conference with keynote speaker Sam Calagione, founder and owner of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery and author of "Brewing Up a Business."Calagione, named the Small Business Association"s "Business Man of the Year," addressed conference attendees during the keynote address Wednesday, April 12 at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center.

"Sam Calagione embodies the entrepreneurial spirit and creativity of the craft beer community today which continues to produce the most flavorful and diverse beers in the world," stated Paul Gatza, Brewers Association Director. "As the owner of both a brewpub and a small, independent brewery that has a reputation for making unconventional beers with high quality ingredients packed with unique and intense flavors he has successfully created international interest in the American Craft Beer community which benefits us all."

The BA Craft Brewers Conference is the nation's largest annual gathering of the professional brewing industry. It is widely known for its exceptional offering of expert speakers in more than 30 topics ranging from technical brewing to marketing and managing. The Brewers Association World Beer Cup, an international beer competition held every two years was held in conjunction with this year's conference in Seattle.

Sam Calagione is founder and owner of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery of Milton, Del. The company opened in 1995 with the brewpub Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats and today is one of the fastest growing independent breweries in the country. Dogfish Head is widely known for its strong beers crafted with exotic ingredients. In  2004, Dogfish Head's revenue growth reached 52 percent and projected growth for 2005 is more than 60 percent.

Following the keynote speech, Calagione signed copies of his beer/business book "Brewing Up A Business" for brewers from across the country.

Based in Boulder, Colo., U.S.A., the Brewers Association (BA) is a not-for-profit trade and educational association for small, traditional and independent craft brewers. Visit the website: www.beertown.org to learn more. The Brewers Association has an additional membership division of 9,000+ homebrewers: American Homebrewers Association. The associations activities include events and publishing: World Beer Cup