Once upon a time, the beer lovers of the United States were very sad. The government ratified the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920, banning all intoxicating liquors, including beer, beginning the period of American history we now know as Prohibition. However, in 1933, the government saw the light and President Roosevelt ended Prohibition. The date was April 7, so now we celebrate New Beer’s Eve each year on April 6! So grab a beer and toast to your ability to drink it!
For lovers of all brews everywhere, the years of 1920 to 1933 were incredibly sad times. This was the period of the Prohibition in the United States, where any and all forms of alcohol were verboten. Thankfully in 1933, the United States government came to their senses, and President Roosevelt decided that this frothy brew should once again flow freely in the taverns and bars of the country.
On this date in 1933, people lined up around the block at the doors of their favorite public house to prepare to imbibe the first legal brews in 13 years. Ever since that night, this day has been referred to as ‘New Beer’s Eve’, a precursor of ‘New Beers Day’. It was said that at 12:01 on 1933, Roosevelt stated “I think this would be a good time for a beer.” For such an auspicious patron, Anheuser-Busch pulled out all the stops, delivering the beer with their Clydesdale draw carriage directly to the Commander in Chief. The first 24 hours of the end of the prohibition saw an estimated 1.5 million gallons of beer consumed.
This is a great time to set up a party, bringing in an abundance of different types of brews and calling in New Beer Day with an abundance of craft beers and the like. Seeing how it’s only this year’s New Beer’s Eve once, it just makes sense to go a little out of well-travelled waters for it. There are micro-breweries popping up all over America, so the opportunity to try a local brew for the first time is popping up every day. Nothing better than celebrating the end of the prohibition by trying out a beer that may never have existed if it had not!
But that doesn’t mean you should spend a small fortune on it, most microbreweries produce beers at a very reasonable rate. While there are higher priced beers on the market, there is nothing saying that they are in fact of superior quality. Some of the most delicious beers on the market are bottom shelf mostly unknown micro-brews. So go for a rarely experienced beer, but don’t get a new mortgage on your house to make it happen.
There are many good suds to be tried this time of year, and it’s a great time to run beer scout for the craft beers that are out there. You can take this opportunity to introduce friends and family, and even fellow beer drinkers to your favorite beverage. But make sure you have a good beer to offer them. There are beers with different qualities that have light fruity qualities, and others with the dark rich body of Guinness. Setting up a party with your friends to get together for a beer tasting is a great way to celebrate this holiday.
So celebrate this New Beer’s Eve by heading out and exploring the vast unexplored wilderness that is craft beers! There are so many options out there for the intrepid beer scout to discover. It’s been a long time since the prohibition, and the world is full of the amazing achievements of brewers reveling in the new freedom we’ve been given because of it. This is the time to go out to your favorite pub and perhaps sponsor an event there, helping others to celebrate the wonderful liberation in libations we experience . You’re craft brew deprived friends will thank you!