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Got Beer? April 7th is National Beer Day, one of many National Beer Holidays. In modern times, it all began on April 7, 1933. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Cullen-Harrison Act, which legalized the sale of beer with an alcohol content of 3.2%. This was the first step toward the end of Prohibition*.
On December 5, 1933, the 21st Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, repealing the 18th Amendment, which was ratified on January 16, 1919. Imagine 13 years with no legal alcohol sales!
On January 16, 1919, the amendment was ratified as a part of the Constitution‡.
As important as these dates are, the following 32 dates give you “official” reasons to celebrate with a beer. Invite your friends!
The holidays follow, but first:
> The different types of beer, a photo glossary.
> The history of beer.
> What are hops?
THE YEAR’S 40+ BEER HOLIDAYS
Beer lovers can plan an entire year of beer celebrations on these days. We’re not listing January 1st, National Hangover Day, as one of them.
January 16th: Prohibition Remembrance Day‡
January 18th: Baltic Porter Day (photo #1)
January 24th: Beer Can Appreciation Day
February: Stout Month (photo #2)
February: Super Bowl Sunday*
February, Monday after Super Bowl Sunday: National Football Hangover Day
February: 24th: World Bartender Day
March 8th: International Women’s Collaboration Brew Day
March 17th: St. Patrick’s Day*
March 20th: National Beer Day
March 23rd: Orval Day†
March 27th: Michael Jackson Day (honoring the great British beer expert, March 27, 1942 – August 30, 2007)
April: Alcohol Awareness Month
April 6th: New Beers Eve (on this date in 1933, people lined at pubs to drink the first legal brews in 13 year of Prohibition)
April 7th: National Beer Day
April 11th: King Gambrinus Day (the unofficial patron saint of beer and possibly, the first to add hops to beer)
April 17th: Saison Day (photo #5)
April 23rd: German Beer Day
April 27th: King’s Day in Holland (enjoy a Dutch beer)
May 1: National Rotate Your Beer Day‡‡
May, 1st Saturday: National Homebrew Day
May, 2nd Full Week: American Craft Beer Week
June 14th: National Bourbon Day (photo #3 — an occasion to toast to Bourbon barrel-aged beers)
June 15th: Beer Day Britain
July: American Beer Month
July 12th: Michelada Day
July 18: St Arnoldus Day (the patron saint of Belgian Brewers and hop-pickers)
August, 1st Thursday: National IPA Day
August, 1st Friday: International Beer Day
August, 1st Saturday: International Hangover Day
September 8th: National Sour Beer Day
September, 3rd Week: Oktoberfest Begins (through 2nd week in October)
September 27th: Crush a Can Day (created to promote the benefits of recycling)
September 28th: National Drink a Beer Day (a.k.a. Drink Beer Day)
October, 1st Friday: Barrel-Aged Beer Day
October 9th: National Pizza and Beer Day
October 14th: Homebrewing Legalization Day (signed into law by President Jimmy Carter in 1978)
October 27th: National American Beer Day
November, 1st Thursday: International Stout Day
November 12th: National Happy Hour Day
November 17: International Happy Gose Day
November, 1st Saturday: Learn to Homebrew Day
December 5th: National Repeal Day (repeal of Prohibition)‡
December 10th: National Lager Day
There are also local beer events. Check to see what’s happening in your state!
[6] Without hops there would be no beer (photo © Chuckanut Brewery And Kitchen).
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[1] Baltic Porter. January 18th is Baltic Porter Day (photo © Chuckanut Brewery And Kitchen).
[2] February is Stout Month. Guinness is the world’s most famous stout (© ).
[3] Abyss, a Bourbon barrel aged stout (photo © Deschutes Brewery).
[4] IPA in a Spielgau IPA glass specially designed to enhance its hoppy flavor and aroma. The glass is available at Kegworks (photo © Kegworks).
[5] Saison beer. All saisons are farmhouse ales, but not all farmhouse ales are saisons. More about it (photo © Beer Connoisseur).
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*St. Patrick’s Day is not an official beer holiday, but green beer is certainly a star of the day.
†Orval Day celebrates Orval Trappist Ale from Belgium. It is one of only a few Trappist breweries, meaning it is made within a monastery under the supervision of monks, with proceeds supporting the monastic community and charitable causes. Each year, the importer of the beer makes a donation to a charity based on its U.S. sales.
‡On February 20, 1933, Congress proposed the Twenty-first Amendment, aimed at rescinding prohibition, and in April Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Cullen-Harrison Act, which amended the prohibition-based Volstead Act to permit the manufacturing and sale of low-alcohol beer and wines. Ratification of the amendment was completed on Dec. 5, 1933.
‡‡The main purpose of National Rotate Your Beer Day is to encourage people to purchase fresh beer, which is deemed essential if one wants to enjoy the true taste of the beverage. The best place to find it is at a brewpub.
Beer was drunk freshly-brewed for millennia, until Louis Pasteur’s work on pasteurization in culminating in 1876 gave brewers the way to extend shelf life by heating beer to kill microorganisms. This was transformative for commercial brewing. Combined with refrigeration technology, it marked the time when beer became a reliably shelf-stable product that could be stored for many months or years.
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