Master Brewers Association Of The Americas (MBAA), founded in 1887 in Chicago, was started as a national association for brewmasters of the United States. This was at a time when the burgeoning city of Chicago in the American Midwest could already boast of a population of well over 1 million. Up to that time there were only local brewers associations in the United States, but forward-looking master brewers felt that these “locals” should be brought under one roof, thereby enabling a more effective exchange of ideas and generally improving the image of the profession of the master brewer.

A call was sent out for a convention of master brewers and, on March 21, 1887, some 90 master brewers, most of whom were members of local associations, assembled in Chicago for the express purpose of forming a national association. Officers were elected, and the newly created association filed for a charter as a not-for-profit corporation in the State of Illinois under the name of the Master Brewers Association of the United States—frequently referred to, in those early days, as the United States Brewmaster’s Association. Interestingly, so many of the brewmasters were German immigrants that the convention voted to make German the official language of the Association.

By 1910, the membership had grown to 771, and the Association had 17 affiliated “local” associations. These were called “associations”—not “districts”—at that time. They were Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Louisville, Milwaukee, New York, Northern New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, St. Louis, and Northwestern.

After Prohibition became the law in the United States on January 16, 1920, the president of the Association, Robert Weigel, was able to hold the organization together against the odds, until his death in 1926. In 1932, sensing that Prohibition was almost over, the Association held its 29th convention in Detroit and subsequently revitalized old districts and formed new ones. The proposal in Congress of the 21st Amendment on February 20, 1933, signaled the official beginning of the end of Prohibition. That same year, the Association’s 1933 Convention and Exposition was held in the city where it was founded, Chicago, which incidentally was also the venue for that year’s Century of Progress International Exposition (the “World’s Fair”). Prohibition finally ended on December 5, 1933, which was 1 day after Utah, Ohio, and Pennsylvania ratified the 21st Amendment. See prohibition.

The organization’s name was changed to “Master Brewers Association of America” at the 1934 Convention in New York. With that name change, the Association became international in scope. It then began giving serious thought to the main purpose for its existence—“technical and scientific inquiry relating to the brewing industry and profession”—and at the 1935 Convention, the Association presented three technical sessions on brewing materials, brewing practice, and ale production. In 1937, at its 50th anniversary convention in Milwaukee, the Association presented its first machinery and equipment exposition. By the time of the 1941 Convention in Baltimore, the work of the Association had increased to such an extent that it was decided that the organization needed a paid executive secretary. From 1942 to 1945 wartime production problems dominated the discussions. At its first postwar business meeting in St. Louis in 1946, the Association presented the first edition of the book The Practical Brewer.

The Association continued to flourish and held its first convention outside of the United States in Montreal in 1961. Another great step forward was the 1964 publication of the magazine Technical Quarterly. In 1965, the MBAA created the position of technical director.

The MBAA’s name was changed to Master Brewers Association of the Americas in 1976 to better reflect the growing international membership of the Association. The second edition of the Practical Brewer was published in 1977 and, in 1984, the first edition of the book Beer Packaging. The MBAA has cooperative agreements with the American Society of Brewing Chemists (ASBC), with the Institute of Brewing and Distilling (IBD) in the UK, and with the Brewers Association. See american society of brewing chemists (asbc) and institute of brewing & distilling. The MBAA, together with the ASBC, the IBD, the Brewery Convention of Japan, and the European Brewery Convention, sponsors the World Brewing Congress, which is held every 4 years.

Today, the MBAA has more than 2,200 members and is dedicated to providing technical and practical knowledge to all segments of the brewing industry for the continued improvement of products, procedures, and processes, from raw materials through packaging to consumption. It does so by offering professional development education and support, by identifying and communicating technical information and innovation, and by enhancing awareness of emerging issues. Beside holding two courses at the University of Wisconsin each year—the Brewing & Malting course in the spring and the Beer Packaging course in the fall—the Association sponsors pre- and postevent courses at its yearly convention. MBAA members come from all parts of the international brewing industry, from major brewers to pub brewers, to people working in allied professions, and a culture of volunteerism and cooperation exists within its ranks.