Hey all,

Are you excited? No? Well you should be! American Craft Beer Week kicks off today, May 11th, 2009. We'll be filling you in all week long on events around New England and beyond.  But most importantly, this week we've decided that we're going to keep things a bit more local. Now don't run away if you're not from New England. A lot of the beer we'll be featuring this week can be found around the country, and let's not forget beer trades. 

Well, it's been 20 years for Boston's oldest brewpub. On Friday May 8th and Saturday May 9th, 2009 Cambridge Brewing Company will celebrate their 20th Anniversary with an epic keg party. 31 kegs to be exact. And these kegs? Well they're full of some of the best craft beer that Boston (and Cambridge as well, obviously) has to offer! To help with crowds, it looks like they're turning the patio area outside the building into a Beer Garden, which should increase the capacity and ensure nobody is waiting too long for a beer.

Jeff from DrinkCraftBeer.com will be there on Friday evening so come on by and say hello!

Oh yeah, remember those kegs I was talking about? CBC's Head Brewer Will Meyers told us what will be in them:

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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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