Assoc. of Brewers brings Slow Food & Deschutes Brewery onto Board of Directors

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Association of Brewers brings Slow Food and Deschutes Brewery onto Board of Directors Boulder, Colo. • March 18, 2003- The Association of Brewers Board of Directors recently filled two At-Large positions, growing the Board to 16 members. The Association of Brewers welcomes John Bryant, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon and Patrick Martins, President of Slow Food U.S.A., headquartered in New York City, NY. Bryant and Martins bring to the Board a new direction members were asking for - brewing industry marketing expertise and reinforcing the connection beer has with quality food and dining experiences. Deschutes is one of America's fastest growing regional breweries. Bryant says he expects to share information with others in the beverage industry by providing insight from personal experiences in brewery sales & marketing, as well as distributorship management. In addition to an increase emphasis on marketing and craft beer image development, the Association of Brewers has, for 25 years, continued to emphasize the traditional and pleasurable relationship beer has had with food. The Association of Brewers' relationship with Slow Food began with a visit by Slow Food international directors in 1996 to Boulder, Colorado with Association of Brewers founding President, Charlie Papazian. The relationship began to thrive when Slow Food founder, Carlo Petrini, spoke at the Association of Brewers 2000 World Beer Cup Awards Banquet in New York City. Slow Food is an international association founded in Italy in 1986 that seeks a rediscovery of authentic culinary traditions and the conservation of the world's quality food and beverage heritage. Today the organization is active in 45 countries and has a worldwide membership of over 65,000. They organize the world famous Salon del Gusto, which attracts more than 130,000 people to taste the best artisan foods and beverages from around the globe. The Association of Brewers has twice organized groups of craft brewers to exhibit at the 2000 and 2002 shows. As part of the growth of the culinary movement, Slow Food U.S.A. was established in 2000 and is dedicated to supporting and celebrating the food traditions of North America. Slow Food U.S.A. has grown to a membership of nearly 10,000 passionate individuals in a few short years under the guidance of its President, Patrick Martins. Martins says he wanted to be on the Association of Brewers Board to show his support of one of the most important food organizations in the country. "No product better demonstrates biodiversity growing from the ground up than the renaissance of beer culture in the U.S.," comments Martins. "The Association of Brewers is the organization that best embraces this biodiversity and unites it behind a common mission." The Board of Directors for the Association of Brewers meets four-times a year and provides strategic direction for the association. The next meeting will be held June 9 in Boulder, Colo. For a complete list of the Board of Directors for the Association of Brewers visit www.beertown.org. # # # CONTACT: Cindy Jones Sales and Marketing Director Phone: +1.303.447.0816, ext. 144 Fax: +1.303.447.2825 E-mail: cindy(a)aob.org Web Site: www.beertown.org