Today, April 7, is National Beer Day. It is the anniversary of beer being legalized in the United States during the waning days of The Great Experiment - Prohibition. An experiment that failed miserably.
The 18th Amendment to the Constitution did not create a nation of teetotalers. Prohibition led many people to making their own alcohol beverages (and often selling them) in an unregulated environment. Sometimes it was funny, like when many breweries (struggling to survive on the sale of other products - not the funny part) sold cans of hopped malt extract or syrup as an additive to your home recipes - some including instructions to specifically NOT mix it with water, boil the concoction, and wait a few weeks before consuming. Sometimes Prohibition was dangerous as organized crime got a boost and unscrupulous illegal hooch dealers thinned their products with any number of substances.
On March 22, 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Cullen-Harrison Act into law making beer up to 3.2% alcohol by weight (roughly 4.0% alcohol by volume) legal as of April 7, 1933. My grandfather owned and operated a neighborhood, 3.2-licensed bar for nearly a half century - starting in 1933. Most people will encourage you to hoist a beer to mark the occasion. As a nod to history I have a challenge for you; mark the occasion with a beer that would have met the parameters of the Cullen-Harrison Act. I am not suggesting you observe the day with a beer brand or style you don't enjoy, but save the strong, double, and imperialized stuff for another day. Retailers: if you'd like to mark this day with an event next year, I am a Certified Cicerone® for hire; feel free to contact me.
The 18th Amendment to the Constitution did not create a nation of teetotalers. Prohibition led many people to making their own alcohol beverages (and often selling them) in an unregulated environment. Sometimes it was funny, like when many breweries (struggling to survive on the sale of other products - not the funny part) sold cans of hopped malt extract or syrup as an additive to your home recipes - some including instructions to specifically NOT mix it with water, boil the concoction, and wait a few weeks before consuming. Sometimes Prohibition was dangerous as organized crime got a boost and unscrupulous illegal hooch dealers thinned their products with any number of substances.
On March 22, 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Cullen-Harrison Act into law making beer up to 3.2% alcohol by weight (roughly 4.0% alcohol by volume) legal as of April 7, 1933. My grandfather owned and operated a neighborhood, 3.2-licensed bar for nearly a half century - starting in 1933. Most people will encourage you to hoist a beer to mark the occasion. As a nod to history I have a challenge for you; mark the occasion with a beer that would have met the parameters of the Cullen-Harrison Act. I am not suggesting you observe the day with a beer brand or style you don't enjoy, but save the strong, double, and imperialized stuff for another day. Retailers: if you'd like to mark this day with an event next year, I am a Certified Cicerone® for hire; feel free to contact me.
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