Artigenda
International Beer Day
When: annually, first Friday of August.
The International Beer Day takes place annually on the first Friday of August. In Dutch, the day is known as the International Beer Day. The day is there for the beer-producing and selling sector. In addition, the day is there for everyone who enjoys beer.
Origin
The focus of this day is beer, brewing and the history of beer. It is a global day that has existed since 2007. The day has American origins and can be traced back to the efforts of American Jesse Avshalomov. Until 2012, the day always took place on August 5. It was then decided to make the day take place on the first Friday of August.
History
Of all alcoholic beverages, beer is one of the oldest in the world. The oldest types of beer date back about 7,000 years, according to finds from Iran. Beer was also known in other parts of the world. Think Mesopotamia, Egypt and China. Barley and emmer (a type of wheat) were used by the inhabitants of Mesopotamia to brew beer. They were probably responsible for malting. This is the process that increases the alcohol content of beer.
Beer was not only drunk, it also served as a base for other things and even as a component of religious processes in Egypt. There, it was also used to bake bread. Again later, in the Middle Ages, people preferred to drink beer. The water was often polluted, making it undrinkable. By then, beer had been so adapted by adding hops as a preservative in Europe. Beer became the most popular alcoholic beverage along with wine. From then on, more breweries came up and the production of beer only increased.
Mass production
It would then take until the Industrial Revolution for the mass production of beer to take off. New machines made the production process easier. Moreover, in some cases, production processes were refined. During this period, the famous pilsner was born in the Czech Republic. The 20th century brought further developments, including globalisation and a beer market dominated by big beer brands.
From big to small(er)
In recent years, there seems to be a new development. The emphasis is on small(er) breweries. Consumers are looking for just the special features, rather than mass production. That said, the big names are still good for a large market share. Especially through takeovers. Yet there is a need. From big to small or smaller. A diversity of beers and is what can be introduced on a day like International Beer Day.
Non-alcoholic alternatives
Also new is beer without alcohol or low-alcohol beer. There is also more demand for these. Beer-producing companies are cleverly capitalising on this by increasing this offer. To the benefit of consumers.
More information
A website is available for the day. Only this website does not have an SSL certificate. So it does not start with HTTPS. This may result in an error message. The website is available at internationalbeerday.com.
