International Beer Day celebrates suds

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – In what some would argue should be a declared national holiday, Friday, Aug. 5, is International Beer Day.

Celebrated the first Friday of August, International Beer Day is a time to enjoy, responsibly, that most ancient of beverages.

Archeologists have found beer recipes on tablets dated to 4300 B.C., and beer has been found in ceramics dated to 3400 B.C.

Arkansas has 70 breweries and consumes 23.9 gallons of beer per capita. As of 2020, it ranked 44th in beer consumption among the states.

Little Rock local Lost Forty Brewing is recommending visitors try its lager in honor of International Beer Day.

International Beer Day is a fairly new holiday, first begun in 2008. Its promotors recommend three points in celebrating the day:

• To gather with friends and enjoy the deliciousness that is beer.
• To celebrate the dedicated men and women who brew and serve our beer.
• To bring the world together by celebrating the beers of all nations and cultures on this one remarkable day.

President Jimmy Carter deregulated beer production in 1979, allowing small-scale brewers to manufacture beer.

Since then, the craft beer industry has exploded, and today over 9,118 craft breweries operate in the United States, up from 1,409 in 2006.

In the U.S. beer sales went up 1% in 2021, with 187,637,077 barrels sold, leading to gross sales of about $100.2 billion, according to the national Brewers Association.