After more than a year away, Julia Herz will return to the Brewers Association (BA) as the executive director of the the trade group’s homebrewing division, the American Homebrewers Association (AHA).
Her first day will be December 1, the BA announced.
“The Brewers Association is pleased to welcome back Julia, an accomplished homebrewer, beer educator and evangelist whose exuberance has had a positive impact throughout the craft brewing community,” BA president and CEO Bob Pease said in a press release. “Julia has been integral to the success of the Brewers Association in her past role as the craft beer program director, contributing to the elevation of craft beer and the advancement of the community.”
Herz worked at the BA for more than 13 years before her job as craft beer program director was eliminated during the second of two rounds of layoffs the BA underwent last year after the loss of in-person events decimated its budget. Also included in that round in June 2020 was Gary Glass, the former executive director of the AHA.
As craft beer program director, Herz was responsible for “promoting responsible beer appreciation to mainstream media and beer lovers,” according to the release. She accomplished this through publishing CraftBeer.com, the BA’s consumer-facing website about craft beer; designating craft beer-centric holidays throughout the year, such as Independent Beer Run Day on July 3 to remind consumers to stock up on beer from independently owned craft breweries for their July 4 celebrations; and creating the BA’s independent craft brewer seal to indicate to shoppers which breweries were independently owned.
The AHA, which was founded by Charlie Papazian and Charlie Matzen in 1978 and boasts more than 38,000 members, offers educational resources for homebrewers and hosts the National Homebrew Competition, the world’s largest competition for amateur brewers. The organization’s annual gathering, HomebrewCon, is slated to take place in person for the first time since 2019 in June 2022 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
For Herz, the new position marks a return to her roots as a homebrewer, a hobby which sparked a decades-long career in the craft beverages industry.
“My brewing journey began in 1991 with my first batch of homebrew. I’ve spent many years since as a fierce advocate for the craft brewing community and now, many batches of homebrew later, I can’t wait to walk in the footsteps of so many amazing people as leader of the AHA,” Herz said in the release. “I will always consider myself a beer beginner on an endless journey to learn more about the art of craft beer and the AHA is the perfect place to do that. I genuinely believe in the reward and value of the hobby and am eager to showcase homebrewing to new audiences.”
In addition to her work as the BA craft beer program director, Herz also published several books about beer, including “Beer Pairing: the Essential Guide from the Pairing Pros” and CraftBeer.com’s Beer & Food coursebook. She launched her consulting firm HerzMuses Enterprises in the fall of 2020, which she discussed on an episode of Brewbound Frontlines, and Gray for Good for All Womanhood, a campaign focused on closing the gender equity gap.
In September, Herz joined the board of directors of Longmont, Colorado-based Left Hand Brewing.