In 1979 Papazian founded the Association of Brewers and remained President of that organization until 2005, when the Association of Brewers merged with the 63-year-old Brewers Association of America, and Papazian was named President of the combined organization. Papazian also founded the American Homebrewers Association in 1978, a group that is also now under the umbrella of the Brewers Association. Other organizations and annual events subsequently founded by Papazian include the Institute for Brewing Studies, Brewers Publications, the Great American Beer Festival, the World Beer Cup, and Zymurgy magazine.

In 1984, Papazian wrote his first book on the subject of home brewing, titled The Complete Joy of Home Brewing. As of August 2005, The Complete Joy of Home Brewing has seen 25 reprintings, 3 editions, and has sold over 900,000 copies. As the first American (and, for over a decade, the only) mass-market book to provide in-depth information on subject of how to brew beer in the home, The Complete Joy of Home Brewing was very often the sole source of home brewing information for novice home brewers in America. Consequently, the book has gained iconic status among America's home brewing community, who have referred to it as the "home brewer's bible." Papazian has since written five more books.