As the nation heads towards the final days of American Craft Beer Week, Public Radio Kitchen caught up with Julia Herz, Craft Beer Program Director for the Brewers Association and a certified Cicerone (the equivalent of the wine industry’s sommelier).

Here’s what she had to say:

PRK: What are the most interesting trends in American craft beer of late?
Diversity of styles and flavors. Barrel aged, sour ales, imperials, seasonals. I could go on and on.

PRK: What sets American craft brews apart from the legendary beers of Europe?
Today’s ‘new world’ U.S. craft brewers have taken old world styles and packed them full of more ingredients which gives them more flavor and body. These beers are now getting emulated back in great brewing nations like Belgium, Germany and England, who are now inspired by U.S. craft brewers. Plus, today’s U.S. craft beers are amazing when pairing with food and pick up where wine leaves off.

PRK: What are the breweries to watch here in New England? In Boston?
Based on medals won at 2010 Great American Beer Festival (2011 will be the end of September in Denver, Colorado), New England has some amazing award-winning breweries:

• Bronze: Reverend Potter’s Baltic Porter, The Prodigal Brewery, Effingham, NH
• Bronze: Portsmouth Brewery Milk Stout, Portsmouth Brewery, Portsmouth, NH
• Silver: Portsmouth Brewery Rye Not, Portsmouth Brewery, Portsmouth, NH
• Gold: Celia Pale Ale, The Alchemist, Waterbury, VT (Gluten Free)
• Bronze: Samuel Adams Latitude 48, Boston Beer Co., Boston, MA (English IPA)
• Bronze: Samuel Adams Honey Porter, Boston Beer Co., Boston, MA (Specialty)
• Bronze: Robust Porter, Wormtown Brewing Co., Worcester, MA (Pro Am)
• Gold: GestAlt, Haverhill Brewery, Haverhill, MA (Alt)
• Silver: Annie Schwarz, Haverhill Brewery, Haverhill, MA
• Bronze: Decadence Imperial IPA, Trinity Brewhouse, Providence, RI
• Bronze: Allagash White, Allagash Brewing Co., Portland, ME (Belgian style Wit)
• Silver: Coolship Resurgam, Allagash Brewing Co., Portland, ME (Belgian-Style Lambic or Sour Ale)
• Gold: Allagash Blonde, Allagash Brewing Co., Portland, ME (Belgian- and French-Style Ale)

PRK: What kind of turn-out to you anticipate, nation-wide, at ACBW events?
Digitally, the buzz is crazy. Thousands of tweets on twitter with 35,000 plus in Facebook community. Plus more than 800 events in all 50 states are listed on [the] official calendar. We estimate tens of thousands will have celebrated in brewery tap rooms, retail accounts and at home tastings by the week’s end.

PRK: What are the goals of ACBW?
Beer weeks are giving craft beer fans across the U.S. ever-increasing options to enjoy and share the beverage they love. Beer weeks celebrate the culture and community of craft beer, and give breweries and beer businesses the opportunity to connect with the fans.

The Brewers Association — the national non-profit association on behalf of the majority of today’s U.S. breweries, and publishers of CraftBeer.com — celebrates the culmination of these events each May with American Craft Beer Week (ACBW), The Mother of All Beer Weeks. This year, ACBW will be held May 16 – 22, 2011 and offers an exciting opportunity for small and independent craft brewers and the community of better beer retailers to feature craft beer in their community.

PRK: Why are there no events listed as taking place in Boston (but in Providence, RI and Lewiston, ME, instead?)
There are more events beyond what is listed in the master calendar, but needless to say Ipswich and Harpoon are both having anniversary celebrations during ACBW that look awesome!

PRK: What is your favorite-tasting beer of late?
The one in my hand as I’ll try anything. But it being Spring going into Summer, I’m enjoying wits, saisons, kolsch, ESB and IPA. Also depends on what I’m eating. I’ve posted my best craft beer and food pairing tips.

PRK: We’ve heard that canned beer is a new trend in craft brewing. Can you confirm and/or comment?
We reported for 2010 that 3% of beer made by craft brewers was canned. www.Craftcans.com is a good resource and has a list of more than 300 canned craft beers from more than 100 breweries.

• Compared to bottles, cans are and inexpensive entry to packaging for small brewers.
• Art generally covers full can, unlike bottle label.
• About 300,000 barrels from craft brewers packaged in cans today.
• Oskar Blues is an example of a company that was a small brewpub that is now a strong, fast growing regional brewer based primarily on cans. Their “Canned Beer Apocalypse” started the modern trend of craft brewers canning their beers.

Read PRK’s previous post on ACBW and related local happenings at Harpoon and Ipswich Brewery.  And, mark your calendars for the upcoming American Craft Beer Fest, the East Coasts’ largest celebration of American beer, slated for June 3rd-4th.