People who have been following this series will expect this. Those who have not, won't: This article is Part 4 is a series about the Craft Brewers Conference 2009 in Boston, MA. If you haven't done so yet, please read Craft Brewers Conference Comes to Boston Day 1, Craft Brewers Conference Comes to Boston Day 2 and Craft Brewers Conference Comes to Boston Day 3 first.

Day Four of the 2009 Craft Brewers Conference was the final day. It was indeed a sad day, as many of these people won't see each other for another year. Also, it's hard to find so much free craft beer in one place. That said, it was definitely a fun day as well! On the way in I even ran into Sean Lilly Wilson, Founder of FullSteam Brewery in Durham, NC (picture right). Keep an eye out for these guys, who are starting operations soon, they have some amazing ideas about local beer... I'm sure we'll have an interview shortly!

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First things first, if you're reading this and you haven't seen Craft Brewers Conference Comes to Boston Day 1 or Day 2 yet, check those out first so you know the background! Then feel free to read on.

Day Three of the Craft Brewers Conference was the calm before the storm. With the tours of Day One and the evening celebration, amazing PreSavor event and evening event at Samuel Adams of Day Two it seemed that everybody may have needed a break. Not to say it wasn't fun, it was just toned down. I took this opportunity to check out a seminar and speak with a representative from O-I, one of the largest glass bottle providers to the craft brewing industry.

One thing I do have to note, though, before getting into the seminars and vendors, is that every room in the conference hall smells very strongly of hops. It's an amazing smell and, after a few minutes of investigating I was able to find out why the smell is so strong (top left). Tables like these are set up all over the exhibit hall floor. There are at least ten hop vendors all encouraging people to break up their hops and release the volatile compounds while they check out the wares. That's quite the potpourri!

One quick note: Unfortunately I missed a portion of today due to illness and couldn't drink any beer. Ouch! As a result, this is a shorter piece than the recaps from  Day 1 and Day 2. Day 4 should be back to normal, though. Cheers! -Jeff from DrinkCraftBeer.com

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In our last article, Craft Beer Brewers Go Green Part 1, we looked at the use of wind power in the brewing industry. The fact is that only scratches the surface when it comes to green efforts in the brewing industry. Craft Brewers have incorporated a variety of methods to go green.

Note: This is the second in a series of several articles that will highlight breweries with green practices. Each article will focus on one or two different methods for sustainability, such as recycling or wind power, and then highlight one brewery that has gone above and beyond the call of duty in protecting our world. Enjoy!

In Part 2 of Craft Beer Brewers Go Green, we'll focus on how breweries are able to reduce, reuse and recycle. We'll take a look at New Belgium, Full Sail, Shipyard and Stone Brewing

Full Sail Brewing

Full Sail brewery compresses their work week into four 10-hour shifts, reducing power consumption and water use by 20%.  Full Sail installed energy-efficient lighting and air compressors in their brewery to reduce energy use by 400,000 kWh each year.   In an effort to reduce water consumption they've implementing practices that reduce water consumption by 3.1 million gallons each year.

Full Sail Brewery in Oregon gets honors from state & city & lists how they are environmentally friendly including using 100% recycled cardboard in their packaging, office paper supplies, their wooden mallets & glass too.

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First things first, if you're reading this and you haven't seen Craft Brewers Conference Comes to Boston Day 1 yet, check that out first so you know the background! Then feel free to read on and watch my video recap of Craft Brewers Conference 2009 Day 2:

The day is Wednesday, April 22 2009. Again I find myself waking up quite early with the intention of going to drink craft beer. Am I crazy? Maybe. Am I obsessed? Only slight obsessed... and it's so you don't have to be! Day two of the Craft Brewers Conference in Boston started with the Conference Welcome Address (where I happened to be seated right behind Sam Calagione, Founder of DogFish Head Brewing Company - He's in the blue and yellow hat)(below left). Paul Gatza, Director of the Brewers Association, was up first and talked about the important happenings in the craft beer world for 2008.

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Hi all you Craft Beer Drinkers!

We're excited to report that the 2009 Brewers Association Craft Brewers Conference is in Boston, MA this year from April 21-24! We'll be Twittering live updates from the conference all week long. Check it out on the left hand side of the page or follow us on Twitter.  Check back here for these live Twitter updates as well as articles where we'll report back to you from the conference about what's going on at the 2009 Craft Brewers Conference!