A happy and hoppy NATIONAL BEER DAY…
…if you’re in the USA, that is!
April 7th, 1933. Whilst not exactly celebrating the ratification of the 21st Amendment, and thus ending Prohibition — that was December 5th, 1933 — this day marked a final nail in the coffin for the ban on alcoholic beverages in the USA. April 7th marked the implementation of the Cullen–Harrison Act, which effectively reclassified beer up to 4% ABV and other low-alcohol beverages as non-intoxicating, and therefore eliminating them from the 1919 Volstead Act that facilitated the 18th Amendment and consequently established Prohibition.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s signature sealed his legacy as one of the country’s most popular Presidents by kickstarting the beer and brewing industry, much to the delight of beer-lovers who’d endured 13-years of a dry, barren wasteland.
Beer drinkers across the land were so ecstatic at the prospect, that all-night parties were held outside breweries in anticipation of sipping the first legal beers for over a decade. As it was, estimates suggest between 1- and 2-million barrels of beer were drank on the first day, April 7th
However, it was not all parties and rejoicing for a brewing industry that had been decimated beyond repair. The vast majority of breweries were unable or unwilling to pick up the pieces after so long, and the US beer-scene remained somewhat in the doldrums for another 50-years until President Jimmy Carter signed bill H.R. 1337, effectively abolishing tax on beers brewed at home. This incredible act of foresight unknowingly caused the initial spark that ignited the craft beer revolution.
Cheers to a delightful and beer-fuelled 85-years!