ACB Celebrates National Beer Day!

, ACB Celebrates National Beer Day!

In yet another sign that sooner or later there will be an “official day” for just about everything, today has been designated as National Beer Day. And we don’t really care who “officially” designated it as such as long as it legitimizes us drinking in the morning…

That said here’s more than you ever need to know about this important holiday…

A Day Totally Dedicated To Drinking

Even though drinking is an unspoken adjunct to most holidays like Christmas, certainly New Year’s, the 4th of July and even Halloween, National Beer Day is all about the drink. And unlike IPA or Lager Day it’s not style specific – so you can pretty much, power-pound anything, as long as it’s beer.

A Much Lauded History

National Beer Day is celebrated every year on April 7th to mark the first day back in 1933 that people could legally buy, sell, and drink beer after a 13 year prohibition.

Ironically it commemorates the Cullen-Harrison Act being signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on March 22, 1933, but that didn’t actually go went into effect on April 7th, hence today’s designation.

Upon signing the legislation, Roosevelt made his famous remark, “I think this would be a good time for a beer,” and rumor has it that the president continued drinking for days, eventually passing out on the White House lawn.

Not surprisingly the law’s passage was met with almost bacchanalian fervor. A giddy drunkenness took to the streets and children were enthusiastically conceived all across this great nation.

Masses of celebrants began gathering outside breweries, some began the night before. On that first day, 1.5 million barrels of beer were consumed, which should stand as an inspiration for all of us today…

The Holiday’s Modern Incarnation

National Beer Day was reportedly first created in 2009 by Justin Smith of Richmond, Virginia, who started a Facebook page that was noticed by Colorado Beer Examiner, Eli Shayotovich.

Justin’s promoting of the new holiday was further rewarded when the beer drinking app, Untappd, created a badge for National Beer Day which rewarded participants that checked a beer into the app on April 7th. 

National Beer Day has since been trending every year on April 7th using the hashtag #NationalBeerDay -so if you’ve nothing else to do – there’s that.

Although April 7th has been designated as National Beer Day, it’s also interesting to note April 6th has also been officially been given a holiday designation as well. We’re not kidding. New Beer’s Eve is its own holiday, and we’ll be sure to celebrate that holiday next year too!

, ACB Celebrates National Beer Day!National Beer Day Around The World

In an effort to begin drinking one day earlier than their Yankee brethren, the British Parliament made a motion to officially recognize April 6th as National Beer Day in the UK in 2009.

Iceland also has its own “First Day of Beer” celebration on March 1st. Bjórdagur, as it’s known, honors the elimination of their own 74-year prohibition of beer (which ended that day in 1989) – a national holiday memorialized with this famous quote from Icelandic bar owner Kormákur Geirharðsson

“I remember a lot of drinking and a lot of pissing all night long and the next days, and it [was] not stopping.”

And ACB hopes that you’ll keep his “profound and resonant words” in mind as you navigate National Beer Day!

Cheers! 

About AmericanCraftBeer.com

AmericanCraftBeer.com is the nations' leading source for the Best Craft Beer News, Reviews, Events and Media.
Scroll To Top