Press Release: (Portsmouth, NH) – On Thursday, January 11, Governor John Lynch designated June 24-30, 2012 as New Hampshire Craft Beer Week, featuring tastings and tours at breweries across the state, beer pairing dinners, brewing workshops and many other special events, including one of the states biggest beer festivals, the New England Brewfest, on Saturday June 30.

Following suit from many other cities and states, New Hampshire’s Craft Beer Week will celebrate the dozens of breweries in the Granite State and hundreds of homebrewers that create ambers, stouts, porters and many other varieties of craft beer for the rest of us to enjoy.

“What’s cool about this proclamation is that New Hampshire will now acknowledge what we homebrewers have been practicing all along….the art of making great beer and the celebration of handcrafted beverages,” said Steve Ainsworth of the Winnipesaukee Area Brew Crew.

Tony Lubold, head brewer at Seven Barrel Brewery, sees New Hampshire Craft Beer Week as a great opportunity, “not just for us as brewers but for consumers as well, who can benefit from a more concise source of beer info, not only on beer events but also on their choices for enjoying beer across the state of New Hampshire. After all, beer was made for having fun with friends, even those who we have yet to meet!”

A new website, http://www.nhbeerweek.com, was put together to act as a clearing house for all activities and events, listings of the breweries and clubs, a map of the NH Beer Industry, and general information on the New Hampshire craft beer culture. The website is free and open to the public to list their events and promotions for beer week and all year long.