International Beer Day: History, Dates, Celebrations and Activities

Knowinsiders July 30, 2021 | 15:49

International Beer Day gives fans worldwide just one more excuse to have a round on the first Friday in August.

International Beer Day is a global celebration of beer, taking place in pubs, breweries, and backyards all over the world. It’s a day for beer lovers everywhere to raise a toast to our brewers and bartenders and rejoice in the greatness of beer!

International Beer Day: Dates for Coming Years

We celebrate International Beer Day on the first Friday in August every year – August 6, 2021.

5 August 2022

4 August 2023

2 August 2024

1 August 2025

7 August 2026

6 August 2027

4 August 2028

3 August 2029

2 August 2030

International Beer Day Around the World

International Beer Day is one of many beverage holidays celebrated throughout the world. Here are some other popular ones from across the globe.

Related: National Beer Day In USA: Why Celebrated, List of Beers

Country	Holiday	Occasion	Date
Germany	Germans enthusiastically celebrate and drink beer.	Germans enthusiastically celebrate and drink beer.	April 23
Iceland	Beer Day	Iceland celebrates drinking beer after it has been banned for a decade.	May 1
Italy	Espresso Italiano Day	A day dedicated to celebrating coffee.	Third Friday in April
Ireland	St. Patrick’s Day	The luck of the Irish and, of course, Irish Whiskey is celebrated.	March 17
India	National Milk Day	As an agricultural country, India celebrates the many wonderful joys of milk.	November 26

International Beer Day: History

Humans have been fascinated with beer since the first grains were accidentally discovered to have fermented, producing a bubbly aromatic product that someone dared to taste then drink, did not die but instead felt a lovely little buzz, smiled and said, “Wow.” Mankind has been obsessed ever since with perfecting beer recipes and brewing processes in pursuit of the next “Wow.”

Beer has been consumed by almost every culture throughout human history. The oldest evidence of man’s obsession with brewing beer dates back to ancient Babylonia and Mesopotamia. Archaeologists have unearthed recipes for beer that were written on clay tablets in 4300 B.C., and ceramic vessels from 3400 B.C. that are still sticky with beer residue. Everyone drank beer in ancient Egypt: pharaohs, peasants, priests, even children, as part of their everyday diet.

What may be the first song about beer, “Hymn to Ninkasi”—an ode to the Sumerian goddess of beer—dates back to 1800 B.C. and includes a recipe for a beer brewed by female priestesses.

By the Middle Ages, Christian monks were brewing beers, and introduced the use of hops. Until then, beers were brewed with local additives like dates and olive oils to add flavor. Today’s beers continue to be brewed with hops, herbs, or fruits that add flavor. Macro, micro, or craft, the art of brewing beer today remains a craft that employs age-old techniques carefully perfected over centuries and millennium.

It quickly began gaining international recognition and following within only one short year. In between 2007 when it was started in Santa Cruz, and where it currently is no– celebrated in 207 cities, 50 countries and on 6 continents all across the globe!

International Beer Day: Activities

Sing beer songs at Karaoke

Tune up the twang in your voice and head out to your nearest Karaoke venue to pay tribute to beer. Nobody sings about beer like American country music artists. Don’t worry about being able to carry a tune on International Beer Day. Just add a little southern drawl to that twang, and everyone will be singing along with you, celebrating your good taste in music…and beer.

Earn your wings

…with a test flight of beers, that is, at a local taproom. It’s a big beer world, so step out and try something new on International Beer Day. Better yet, why not make a day of it? Tour the brewery first to learn about the science behind brewing beer and then do some flight testing.

Be Generous

If you are a regular at your local pub, tavern or taproom, leave an extra generous tip at the bar today. Tell your bartender how much you appreciate him or her. Take their photo and post it on your social media sites with lots of kisses and hugs. And please remember to drink and post responsibly.

International Beer Day: How to Celebrate

Celebrating International Beer Day can be loads of fun! Try out these interesting ideas for enjoying the day:

Start By Toasting The Beer Makers

Many folks can agree that the perfect place to begin celebrating this day is just raising a glass, tankard, bottle or can and

toasting those that make the amazing brew possible. Whether it is at a bar, club, pub, or even just a cook-out, it is easy enough to find a place to get a brew or two.

Learn Some Beer Trivia

Beer has an interesting history and unique fun facts that can be thrown around with a group of friends, especially on Beer Day! For instance, maybe everyone doesn’t know it was the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution that made alcohol illegal in 1919!

Try these fun facts out to impress those friends at the bar on Beer Day:

Oktoberfest began in Munich in 1810 as a celebration of the royal wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig to Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen.
At the 2010 state fair in Texas, USA, Fried Beer won the prize for the Most Creative Fried Food! (Who knew beer could be fried?)
In response to America’s Prohibition Act, Winston Churchill stated that this was an “affront to the whole history of mankind”.
A beer pipeline was created in Germany, where more than 100,000 gallons of beer was piped through 7 kilometers of pipe to serve visitors to a heavy metal music festival. The purpose was to keep the grass from being ruined by beer trucks driving back and forth over the festival grounds!

Join In On a Beer Day Event

Most places that hold Beer Day events do so by tapping new, or in some cases rare, beers. Other places might celebrate by hosting a happy hour that lasts all day, or putting on trivia events and games–with prizes involving beer gear, of course! Grab some friends (being responsible) and share the wonders of beer with those nearby.

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Try a New Kind of Beer

In honor of the day, consider hoisting up a different type of beer than the usual fare, to expand those horizons.With more than 100 different styles (and sub styles) of beer in the world, and literally thousands of different brands, there is always an opportunity to try something new!

Beer Day is the perfect time to try out one of these unusual styles of beer:

Gruit. This beer might especially cater to lovers of Tolkein’s fantasy world as it takes on a medieval flare, with herbs and spices that with names like mugwort and horehound. Try a variety such as Posca Rustica from Brassier Dupont, Tourpes Belgium.
Oyster Stout. Hailing back to rumors of a tradition in New Zealand and England where some brewers were believed to use oysters in beer for “health purposes”. A few modern breweries have taken this up, like The Porterhouse Brewing Company in Dublin, Ireland.
Gose. This one, coming from ancient brewing antics in Leipzig, Germany, is brewed with salted water that produces a briny flavor. Upright Brewing in Portland, Oregon, is one of a few brewers that have started reviving the tradition with their own versions of this salted beer.

Even if it is just a more average type of beer you have never tried before, give it that much at least. Sometime, somewhere, a brewer spent time to get that beer right, and to market it to the public.

So hoist your tankard, tap the kegs, tip the staff and enjoy the refreshment of Beer Day!

International Beer Day by Numbers

50 billion – the gallons of beer consumed every year all over the world.

8% – the percentage increase in brewing jobs in the U.S. since 2016.

$328.4 billion – the number of dollars contributed towards the economy by the beer industry in 2018.

2.2 million – the number of people employed by the beer industry.

$503,300 – the price of the world’s most expensive beer — Allsopp’s Arctic Ale.

$1.9 billion – the number of dollars contributed to the U.S. economy by Oregon’s beer industry.

1.6% – the percentage of gross domestic product the beer industry in the U.S. contributed in 2018.

912,092 – the number of people who work in malt-beverage retail.

7–10°C – the temperature at which lagers should be stored.

40% – the percentage decrease in the risk of developing kidney stones by drinking beer moderately.

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