Uniting the World One Beer at a Time!
International Beer Day (first Friday in August) is a global celebration of beer, taking place in pubs, breweries, and back yards all over the world -- It's a day for beer lovers everywhere to raise a toast to our brewers and bartenders, and rejoice in the greatness of beer!
That’s right, folks. Come this August 2nd 2013, Makers, Lovers and Sellers of beer all around the globe now have another reason to raise their frosty mugs. Along with hundreds of bars, restaurants, pubs and breweries worldwide, we have declared the aforementioned International Beer Day!
The purpose of IBD is threefold:
1) To gather with friends and enjoy the deliciousness that is beer.
2) To celebrate the dedicated men and women who brew and serve our beer.
3) To bring the world together under the united banner of beer, by celebrating the beers of all nations and cultures together on this one remarkable day.
1) To gather with friends and enjoy the deliciousness that is beer.
2) To celebrate the dedicated men and women who brew and serve our beer.
3) To bring the world together under the united banner of beer, by celebrating the beers of all nations and cultures together on this one remarkable day.
International Beer Day is our chance to let the breweries and bars of the world know how much we appreciate them, all while participating in one of the best activities ever -- drinking beer! Perhaps even more than the beverage itself, International Beer Day is about celebrating the establishments who produce it, sell it and give folks a place to enjoy it.
So raise your glass on August 2nd to celebrate these heroes behind each tasty brew. Cheers, and Happy International Beer Day!
International Beer Day (IBD) is an August 2 celebration 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.
Tasty Brew Suggestions
Beer lover Jesse Avshalomov (Santa Cruz), founded International Beer Day back in 2007, along with a posse of friends and fellow beer advocates (Evan Hamilton, Aaron Araki, and Richard Hernandez) as a celebration of beer and the people who provide it. Consider this Friday, August 2nd to be a beer love-fest. Last year’s event featured 278 official celebrations in 138 cities and 23 countries. This year promises even more recognition worldwide. The story of IBD and its beginnings according to Avshalomov ‘s comments on the IBD website:
“A few years back a group of friends and I decided that there needed to be a day in celebration of all things beer, a day in thanks to the people who produce and provide our favorite beverage. So we invented International Beer Day, convinced our local bar to celebrate on August 5th, made a little website for it, gave thanks to the beer industry, and had a good-ol’ time.
Then we started receiving emails from people who had found the IBD website and held their own celebrations in England and South Africa. We knew then that we needed to take our celebration to the world.
Ever since we’ve been working each year to bring the celebration to more and more people, and this year we’ve hit over 100 celebrations! We’re working super hard to make this year’s celebration Epic, we’ve even had a classy logo and new website designed, so we hope you have yourself an awesome International Beer Day.”
Celebrating this foamy, beer-soaked holiday requires simply a gathering of friends, a fine watering hole, open-mindedness and giving thanks to the myriad brewers across the globe. This is truly one of the least complicated holidays on the calendar. I asked the founders (Avshalomov and Hamilton) just what they’d be consuming on this fabeled day:
Jesse (founder): I’ll definitely be sipping on a Belgian Tripel. They’re fierce, complex, and flavorful in a way that deserves thorough contemplation. And when you’re not feeling contemplative, they’re still delicious.
Evan (Co-founder): I’m going to be drinking some black lager. It’s my new favorite beer style… somehow light enough to be refreshing on a hot day, but dark enough to please your tastebuds.
To assist you in procuring the just-right brew for celebrating I’ve compiled a starter list. Last year’s Best Beer In the World, Weinstafen, certainly tops it. But beer, much as with wine, lends itself to such staggering variety that we’d be remiss to drink the same old thing. Make the month of August about trying something new.
Cool Brew To Try:
Share YOUR recommendations for the BEST beer.
Lost Tribes Brew actually has a company mission to revive ancient brewing recipes, dating from over 2,700 years ago, from ten ancient tribes that settled across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Each tribe possessed a special brew recipe that this company strives to reproduce. Try the Lost Tribes Chibuku: According to the wesbite, this one is brewed from a maize like porridge and rare yeasts of the Zimbabwe region. Known for its heavy kick, travelers from around the world venture to the African continent to get a sip.
Weisntephen— A Bavarian wheat beer, Weihenstephan Vitus, gets the nod as the 2011 World’s Best Beer from the World Beer Awards in England. Voted World’s Best Beer (read my story on it here).
Warsteiner—This German brewer crafts a clean pilsner. Nice and smooth, it plays well with others and might be the just-right brew to kick off a hot, steamy August 5th celebration. Try the Premium Dunkel, a dark pilsner.
Sweetwater 420—I’m an Atlanta girl, and this is a hometown brew…always the just-right note of hops. I confess to a weakness for IPA and this balanced, nicely nutty brew is a dream on draft with fried chicken and grits.
