Wheat, barley, rye, and hops, dark or light, sour or bitter, Beer Day celebrates the entire history of this magnificent drink and everything it has to offer to the world! When something has been around for essentially the entirety of human civilization, you know it has something special about it. So what makes beer so special? Is it the wide variety of flavors it comes in? The frothy head and the frost that forms on a truly perfectly chilled glass? Beer Day is your perfect opportunity to dive in and sample the panorama of flavors and experiences it offers.
History of Beer Day
The history of Beer Day, well, given that we have (apparently) the entire breadth of human history to explore in our examination of this delightful drink, where are we going to start? Well, let’s start with a little bit of (slightly disgusting) science and how it plays into the creation of this frothy drink. Anyone who knows anything about beer production today knows that yeast is a vital element in its creation, but 7000+ years ago yeast didn’t come in nice sealed foil packages waiting for nothing more than water and sugar to be added. No, it roamed wild and free. So how did brewer’s capture it?
The first beer was almost certainly created by accident, a container of wet cereal grains left open to the sky, and the wild yeasts of the area that happen to fall into it. That’s right, the same method you use for ensuring that food spoils is the exact same method they used for starting up a nice rich brew. What this meant was that every brew created was different, even in the same area, though some consistency was possible. At the very least it meant that regions were known for the particular flavors their yeasts imparted to their beers.
So what does that mean for you? It means that Beer Day is all about variety!
How to celebrate Beer Day
Celebrating Beer Day is probably one of the greatest celebrations you can have! Simply go out and buy your favorite brew, and a few varieties you’ve never tried. Get friends together to share their favorite flavors and to bring a few new options to the mix. People may talk about wine as the pinnacle of culture, but these people have simply never had the joy of a beer sampler from a local brewery, or discovering the hoppy nature of a little-known beer. Beer Day is for Beer Hipsters? It’s possible.
