2026 California Craft Brewers Association Bylaws Adoption

Dear CCBA Brewery Member,

I write to seek your vote to approve the proposed Bylaws revisions for the California Craft Brewers Association (“CCBA”), a copy of which is linked here.  Your CCBA Board of Directors has voted to approve these revised bylaws and recommends you vote “IN FAVOR” of them as well.

IMPORTANT: Your vote will not be counted unless it is received by 11:59pm PDT on August 6, 2026. To achieve a quorum, CCBA needs 20% of Regular Members (brewery members) to cast a vote. You must be logged into your member portal to vote. If you need assistance logging in, please email paulina@californiacraftbeer.com. 

BYLAWS REVISIONS – EXPLAINED 

It is a best practice for associations to review their bylaws every five years, and the last time that the CCBA bylaws were amended was in 2019.  Since that time, the industry and our members have evolved and adapted, with many breweries brewing additional beverage styles that don’t strictly qualify as beer, such as seltzers, hop waters, and non-alcoholic brews to name just a few examples.  Rather than define membership by percentage of volume (“At least 50% of production by volume must be “beer” as defined by the TTB”), the Board feels defining membership by the type of license that they hold (i.e. holding a TTB brewers notice) better reflects our membership, is more inclusive, and better represents the rights that we continually fight for on Capitol Hill – our core mission.

What’s Changed in the New Bylaws?

Many of the changes are technical to reflect changes State and Federal law, as advised by legal counsel. 

The main changes of note for CCBA members are the changes to the following sections:

• 2.02.01 “Regular Members” – this section removes the requirement that at least 50% of what you produce be beer and instead states that “At least fifty percent (50%) of such brewer’s volume of alcoholic beverage, for purposes of the Production Limit, must be produced under a brewer’s notice, or notices, issued by the Alcohol & Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau, or any successor.” This affords flexibility for those producing hard seltzer, hop water, hard kombucha, etc. to still qualify to be a Regular Member of the CCBA.
• 3.02 Dues “Delinquency” – changes the grace period for members to pay their dues invoice from 90-days to 30-days to reflect the Net 30 model most of us have implemented for our own product invoicing. 
• Article VIII Committees – our legal counsel suggested this change because there are multiple types of committees under California law and there are different privileges afforded to Committees of the Board and Advisory Committee that make recommendations to the Board of Directors. While these changes may look substantial, they outline existing practice for the CCBA and provide additional protections for our organization. 

We would greatly appreciate your thoughtful consideration and approval of the proposed bylaws revision. 

If you have any questions regarding the bylaws revision or the adoption process, please contact the CCBA’s Executive Director, Kelsey McQuaid-Craig at kelsey@californiacraftbeer.com. 

Thank you for taking the time to review the proposed new bylaws and to cast your vote! 

Cheers! 

Alicia Barr

Chair of the California Craft Brewers Association Board of Directors