(Editor’s note: This event is conducted in Japanese and all the information, except what we provide below, is also in Japanese)

We are pleased to announce that the annual American Craft Beer Experience (ACBE) event will take place again, like last year, via video seminars. This year’s iteration also includes a label art contest and a stamp rally. The benefit of holding ACBE digitally as opposed to an in-person event is that anyone anywhere in Japan can join the ‘experience’.

For those unfamiliar with ACBE, the event began in 2015 as a festival to showcase the best of American craft beer from producers exporting to Japan. Importers in Japan poured selections that are typically available (as well as some special beers), while a handful of brewers made the journey to mingle with guests and host satellite events at retailers later.

The challenges of COVID put the in-person event on hold last year, but the festivities were taken online and featured an educational approach. Several of this year’s seminars will be hosted by last year’s star presenter, Sebastian Hohentanner, whose credentials are impeccable. Hohentanner is a graduate of the prestigious German brewing university Doemens, as well as the director of the Japan Beer Sommelier Association. He is involved in the importation and distribution of brewing raw materials in Japan through his employer, BET, and readers of the Japan Beer Times may be familiar with him as the interviewee in our ongoing series about malt. His knowledge of American craft beer is extensive, too. He has led many successful beer tasting seminars (in Japanese) in this new age of teleconferencing, and we’re confident ACBE will be a hit with Hohentanner as the main host.

The seminars start on November 13th and the topics are: Beer Tasting 2021 (two segments), All About Hops, Beer & Food Pairings, and Beer Glassware. Those interested can register for the seminars online.

Entries for the label design contest are being accepted until November 30th. Designers are asked to upload their work to Instagram with the hashtag #ACBE2021ラベルコンテスト. The top prize will receive six different six packs of American craft beer, a Spiegelau tasting glass set, and three ACBE2021 coasters. Ten other winners will receive a six pack, a Spiegelau glass with the ACBE logo, and three ACBE2021 coasters.

The stamp rally begins on November 15th and lasts until December 28th, and involves restaurants, bars, and izakaya across Japan that carry American craft beer. Those who collect four stamps via QR codes at participating retailers are entered into a drawing for an American craft beer set, while those who collect eight… well, get entered twice! A total of twenty-four winners will receive six packs.

ACBE maintains a website with a wealth of information about American craft beer that’s valuable to consumers and retailers alike. Please visit it if you haven’t yet and, more importantly, let your palate ‘experience’ more American craft beer–you don’t have to wait for these events to get started.