Well, DC Beer has learned that after 14 years in DC, at 3 locations, SAVOR is done. Le sigh.
The Brewers’ Association confirmed this with a series of statements, quoted below.
- After 14 delicious years, SAVOR™: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience is hanging up its apron and will no longer take place, making 2022 the event’s final year.
- SAVOR is being canceled due to a variety of factors, including rising operational costs.
- The decision to cancel SAVOR was not taken lightly. The Brewers Association continues to promote craft beer as a vehicle for innovation and creativity, especially when it comes to pairing craft beer with food. The Great American Beer Festival® (GABF®) is home to PAIRED®, which unites independent craft breweries with acclaimed chefs from across the country for an unforgettable beer-and-food pairing experience.
- With a mission to promote and protect small and independent craft brewers, the Brewers Association is heavily involved in in D.C., lobbying for important industry issues, on both federal and state levels. The BA will be holding its annual hill climb in July 2023.
So there you have it. Bummer.
Recall that in 2019 we–I–erroneously reported that that year’s SAVOR would be the last, but having taken off 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, the event returned, to The Anthem, in June of 2022. For both 2019 and 2022, SAVOR shrank from Friday and Saturday to just Friday, and the events of “Savor Week” in DC dissipated as well.
Putting on the premier gala of the Brewers’ Association was hard work, with a lot of moving parts, and we at DC Beer thank the BA, the chefs, the breweries and their staffs, and event staff and volunteers for all their efforts in making SAVOR an annual marquee event.
We suspect that next July’s hill climb will have a few out of market events associated with it, and as always, we’ll keep you updated on those.
