Visit Your Local Brewery ... in Less Time Than It Takes to Get to Work!

BOULDER, Colo., April 6 /PRNewswire/ -- In the time it takes the average American to commute to work, they could visit the nearest brewery.

A recent analysis of population density and brewery locations in the United States reveals that the majority of all Americans now live within 10 miles of a brewery. And given that the average American spends 25 minutes commuting to work every day, that's plenty of time to drop-in at the neighborhood brewery.

"In most communities, people pass within a few blocks of a brewery every day," said Ray Daniels, Director of Craft Beer Marketing for the Brewers Association. "But because so many breweries are part of a restaurant or small business park, many people don't realize that breweries are a part of their community."

During American Craft Beer Week, May 15-21, 2006, American breweries will welcome consumers with tours, educational tastings and special promotions. By participating in the Great American Beer Tour, consumers can receive prizes and compete for a trip for two to the 25th Great American Beer Festival held in Denver, September 28-30.

For more information, consumers can visit http://www.americancraftbeerweek.org/ and http://www.greatamericanbeertour.org/.

An analysis performed by ESRI, the world's leading provider of geographic information system software, shows that 58 percent of Americans live within a ten-mile radius of a brewery. United States Census statistics put the mean travel time to work in 2000 at 25.5 minutes. (See: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html). As a result, 175 million Americans can pick up brewery-fresh beer in less time than it takes to check in with the boss.

Beginning in 1980, the number of US breweries exploded during the microbrewery movement. As a result, the US now has more operating breweries than Germany.

"Today's average craft brewery is nearly 1000 times smaller than the average brewery in 1980," said Daniels.

For more information: See: http://www.greatamericanbeertour.org/ http://www.americancraftbeerweek.org/