It’s the first Friday of August…
But did you know that it’s also International Beer Day?
International Beer Day (IBD), according to Wikipedia, is a celebration on the first Friday of every August founded in 2007 in Santa Cruz, California. Since its inception, International Beer Day has grown from a small localized event in the western United States into a worldwide celebration spanning 207 cities, 50 countries and 6 continents.
International Beer Day has three declared purposes, ie: To gather with friends and enjoy the taste of beer; to celebrate those responsible for brewing and serving beer and to unite the world under the banner of beer, by celebrating the beers of all nations together on a single day.
A few fun facts about beer to ponder while you’re knocking back a cold one this International Beer Day:
- The oldest written recipes ever discovered date back to 5 000 BC and are for, you guessed it… Beer!
- Cenosillicaphobia, commonly experienced by some drinkers, means “the fear of an empty glass.”
- The first professional brewers were women.
- In the middle ages, beer was the drink of choice, as a matter of safety. The alcohol in beer killed most micro-organisms, thus making it safer to drink than most of the drinking water available at the time.
- The latest research has found that beer has almost as many antioxidants as red wine and contains approximately 93% water. In moderation, beer can even help prevent heart disease.
- Brewers used to insert their thumb into the mix during the brewing process to see if the temperature of the brew was right to add the yeast. Hence the phrase, “Rule of Thumb.”
