Why American Craft Beer Week Matters for Your Bar

American Craft Beer Week (May 12-18, 2025) isn’t just a celebration for breweries—it’s a golden opportunity for bars, restaurants, and taprooms to spotlight what makes their draft list special. For anyone serving beer on tap, this week offers a moment to highlight local partnerships, improve beer quality, and create memorable experiences for customers.

Show Off Local Craft Beer Week encourages people to go local. Highlighting regional or in-state breweries on your menu shows that you’re tapped into the local scene. It also opens up chances for brewery partnerships, co-hosted events, or limited-time tap takeovers.

Your Draft System Needs to Shine Your beer list might be impressive, but if your system isn’t clean and dialed in, customers will notice. This week is a great time to:

• Schedule a deep clean of your lines (especially if it’s been more than two weeks)
• Calibrate temps and pressure
• Make sure glassware is beer-clean

Create an Experience Events, beer flights, and education go a long way. Host a tasting night with a brewer, or offer a limited-time Craft Beer Week flight featuring local gems. Give your team some talking points about the featured brews to create a more engaging experience.

CBG Tip: Want your bar to be known for the best craft beer experience? Make sure what comes out of the tap is just as good as what went into the keg. A clean, well-maintained system preserves those brewery-fresh flavors.

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