Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America 2027

How it compares

For a supplier that wants to sell to independent American breweries, few events compete directly. CBC is where owners, head brewers and operations staff from more than a thousand breweries walk one floor in three days, and the Brewers Association membership behind it shapes who comes.

BrauBeviale in Nuremberg is the European counterpart and the larger hall, with 30,821 visitors in 2024. It is the better trip for suppliers chasing European brewers and maltsters, or for American buyers who want to see the European equipment builders in depth. Drinktec in Munich, with 58,281 visitors in 2025, covers the whole beverage industry at industrial scale and comes around only every few years; it suits buyers specifying large filling and packaging lines more than buyers equipping an independent brewery.

Closer to home, the NBWA convention gathers beer distributors, so it serves brewers and suppliers working on wholesale relationships, while CBC is about production and brewery operations. Expo Cerveza Mexico is the place to reach Mexican craft brewers. Cider makers who used to choose between CiderCon and CBC can attend both in one trip in 2027.

The right trip for suppliers of equipment, ingredients, packaging and services who sell to independent American breweries, and for brewery teams who want a year of education and supplier shopping in three days.

Who exhibits

BrewExpo America is a supplier floor. Brewhouses and tanks, canning and packaging lines, malt, hops and yeast, kegs, lab instruments, software and insurance all have their aisles. Names on the 2027 list include Berlin Packaging, Boortmalt USA, American Canning Machines, Anton Paar USA, BLEFA Kegs and Berkeley Yeast, and the federal Alcohol & Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau takes a booth as well. Beer is poured only at sponsored beer stations, which keeps the booths focused on buying for production.

This year's list is on its way. A HallBrief brief picks the exhibitors worth meeting for your goals and the people to talk to at each. Get a brief

Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America 2027

The 2027 show moves to the Henry B. González Convention Center in San Antonio, on the River Walk, and is the first held together with CiderCon. Cider makers get their own education tracks, Cider Share and a CiderCon expo area in Hall 1 beside BrewExpo America, while CBC attendees gain access to a broader set of suppliers and buyers. The Brewers Association treats the co-location as a trial and will decide on future years after this one.

Brewers Association CEO Bart Watson gives his State of the Industry address on the last afternoon, followed by the World Beer Cup awards. After San Antonio the show moves to Columbus, Ohio.

• The expo floor is open for only half a day at each end of the show, so the middle day is the one full day on the floor. Book supplier meetings for it.
• A BrewExpo America Trade Show Only badge covers the expo, sponsored seminars and hospitality suites. Owners who send production staff mainly to meet suppliers can buy that badge for them and keep All Access for the people attending sessions.
• Photographing booths and products is banned on the floor and enforced with badge revocation. Ask exhibitors for spec sheets and take notes on equipment you want to compare.
• Brewery parties and sponsor hospitality suites fill the evenings. Tickets for sponsored events come from the hosting exhibitor, so pick them up at the booth during the day.

Exhibiting

Space is sold in 10-by-10-foot units through a priority point system. Only Brewers Association supplier members earn points, for years exhibited and booth size, and they pick space in groups through the summer before the show; nonmembers pay a higher rate and choose last. In-line booths come with drape and a sign, islands are bare, and every booth includes three trade-show badges per 100 square feet and liability insurance. Beer sampling runs through sponsored beer stations. It pays off for suppliers whose customers are independent brewery owners and production staff.