It's National Beer Day, but why?

April 7 is a day that beer lovers celebrate each year, but why do we celebrate on this specific day?

To find out, we first have to travel back in time to 1919.

Prohibition Begins

In January 1919, the 18th Amendment banned the sale, manufacturing and distribution of alcohol.

Originally, many lawmakers voted for Prohibition as they assumed beer and wine wouldn’t be included, though Prohibitionists used the Volstead Act (named for its legislative sponsor, Representative Andrew J. Volstead of Minnesota) to widen the scope of the ban to all alcohol and provide the government with means to enforce the ban.

As with any law, there were loopholes that many Americans took advantage of. Liquor used for medicinal, religious or industrial purposes remained legal, as did fruit or grape beverages prepared at home.

End of Prohibition

We may owe all of our present-day sudsy adventures to Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was elected President in November 1932. The new Congress made it a top priority to repeal the anti-alcohol laws that were in place during Prohibition.

In February of 1933, Congress adopted a resolution proposing the 21st Amendment, but the amendment required States to ratify it, and only would the full repeal happen when the majority of States did so—Utah was the 36th state to do so in December 1933. It’s the only amendment in our history requiring state ratifying conventions—selected specifically for that purpose—to have been passed.

Since each state would have their own delays selecting a convention and ratifying the 21st Amendment, on March 22, 1933, Roosevelt signed the Cullen-Harrison Act to amend the Volstead Act. The Cullen-Harrison Act allowed people to buy and drink “low-alcohol” beer and wine, but that didn’t go into effect until April 7 officially.

Therefore today is National Beer Day.

It has been reported that in major cities like Chicago, an estimated $5 million of beer was sold on April 7, 1933.

One could argue that FDR signing the Cullen-Harrison Act Is right up there with Jimmy Carter’s legalization of Homebrewing in 1978 as major historical events that helped shape the craft beer industry we know and love today.

Cheers, let’s drink one for our forefathers!

(Bonus points if you can name all the bottles of beer in the image in a comment)