It's National Beer Day! But Why?
The BARch Madness final, US beer continues growth, and a good beer for a good cause
Good morning! We’re in the final stretch of voting in the BARch Madness final between Hops Hill and Bierwax — an intra-Brooklyn matchup to determine NYC’s favorite beer bar. If you’re reading this before 10am on Thursday, you still have time to cast your vote. Otherwise, keep tabs on the social media as the winner is announced.
Happy National Beer Day!
Today, April 7th, is National Beer Day in the United States. And despite the fact that for me, this day is mainly an excuse for every brand on the planet to send me a PR pitch that is at best only vaguely related to beer, there’s actually some historical significance to this beer holiday.
It was Friday, April 7th, 1933 when beer began flowing from taps in the United States legally for the first time since the Volstead Act, which enforced Prohibition, went into effect in January of 1920. The 21st Amendment that repealed Prohibition had not yet been ratified by any states at this point (Congress proposed a Constitutional Amendment to end Prohibition in February of 1933), but lawmakers sought to amend the Volstead Act to classify beer under 3.2% alcohol by weight (about 4% alcohol by volume) as non-intoxicating. Given weak economy and lack of government revenue as a result of the Great Depression, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt sought to encourage beer-making “to provide through such manufacture and sale, by substantial taxes, a proper and much-needed revenue for the Government.” It would also decrease unemployment by generating manufacturing jobs in the brewing industry.
The Cullen-Harrison Act, the bill that would legalize the trickle of 3.2% beer, was sponsored in the House by Rep. Thomas Cullen of Brooklyn, a staunch opponent of Prohibition from its inception. It passed by large majorities in both chambers of Congress and was signed into law by FDR within eight days of its introduction in March of 1933, just two weeks after the President took office. The law would require legislation at the state level to allow alcohol sales, which 19 states and the District of Columbia had done by the day beer was to be sold for the first time. On March 25th, brewers began to bottle 3.2% beer, and breweries in New York City worked 24 hours a day to provide beer to be served in the city starting at midnight on April 7th, 1933.
New York was, indeed, one of those states where 3.2% beer became legal that day. Celebrations took place across the city on April 7th, 1933, and in some places, Broadway filled with crowds wanting to have their first sip of legal beer as the clock struck midnight at nightclubs. The first beer trucks rolled out at 6am to deliver beer to restaurants and saloons. Most outlets did not receive deliveries until 9 or 10 in the morning, but quickly sold out. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that “sold out” signs were going up in outlets in the borough before 2 in the afternoon. A day after its front-page headlines celebrated the return of beer, the New York Times’ ran the headline “Nation Has Beer Shortage.”
By this point, breweries in New York City would be off to the races. Employment grew as production ramped up at the city’s large breweries that weathered the storm of Prohibition by making alternative beverages, like Schaefer, Liebmann, and Hittleman in Brooklyn and Jacob Ruppert’s Brewery on the Upper East Side. The liquid coming off the trucks at the time was only “near-beer” at the time and bore little resemblance to the beer the city’s breweries make today. But innovation would eventually bring cheap adjunct lagers to the masses as demand for beer grew. The era ushered in a revival in the city’s local breweries with brands like Rheingold and Schaefer, but also new competition for them; mass-production and mass-marketing made larger Midwest breweries like Anheuser-Busch national beer brands after prohibition. It would take four decades before those local brands would fizzle out.
Prohibition may have officially ended eight months later in 1933 with the adoption of the 21st Amendment, but its legacy remains. Despite recent efforts to modernize Alcohol Beverage Control laws in New York, many on the books still date back to the post-Prohibition era. Today, there are still seven dry towns in the state, and more than three dozen other communities that partially restrict alcohol. Liquor stores weren’t allowed to open on Sundays in New York permanently until 2008, and it was only six years ago that bars and restaurants could sell before noon on Sundays in the state.
An anniversary like this is a good time to step back and be appreciative of the fact that we have access to beer today. And plenty of it. Happy National Beer Day.
Brewers Association releases annual Top 50 U.S. Breweries list
The Brewers Association has released their list of the 50 largest craft breweries in the U.S. by sales volume — and for New York, there aren’t any surprises on the list.
Long Island’s Montauk Brewing Company, which appeared on last year’s list at #49, is nowhere to be found in the top 50 this year, but there was a lot of shuffling of breweries in the bottom ten, with Toppling Goliath, BrewDog, Fremont Brewing, and New Holland all dropping off the list with them, replaced new entrants like Scofflaw, Fiddlehead, and fast-growing non-alcoholic outfit Athletic Brewing.
The four breweries in New York on the list didn’t move much: Brooklyn Brewery and Matt Brewing in Utica swapped positions at 13th and 14th. Duvel Moorgat, the parent company of Cooperstown’s Brewery Ommegang, held onto its 4th-place position. And Artisanal Brewing Ventures, which includes Sixpoint and Southern Tier in addition to Pennsylvania’s Victory, remained at 8th.
The Brewers Association also released preliminary numbers on U.S. independent brewers’ growth in 2021. Overall, the industry saw 8% growth in volume, brewing nearly 25 million barrels of beer last year. There were still significantly more brewery openings than closings last year, with 646 openings and 178 closings. That’s a decline in openings for the second straight year, but it’s also a decline in closings compared to a rough 2020. All told, according to the BA, the nation boasts 9,247 breweries in operation. That’s a lot more to visit.
Brewery Tracker
Total brewery count: 2,632
Total breweries visited in 2022: 103
Total breweries visited in Greater Manchester: 11
Brewery Visit of the Week
Brewery #2611, Bundobust Brewery, Manchester, England (Visited 20-Mar-2022)
If there’s one thing I look forward to on every trip to the North of England, it’s Bundobust. Started in Leeds in 2014, the restaurant pairs vegetarian Indian street food with craft beer. It’s a match made in heaven, if you ask me, which is why I always make one of their locations a stop on my trips to this region. I’ve had a small obsession with Bundobust and it’s the first place I recommend to anyone visiting any of the three cities they call home. In fact, on this last trip, I made multiple visits to multiple locations. I visited their Liverpool location, their original Manchester location, and this spot — their very own brewery in Manchester that finally launched last year after fits and starts during the pandemic.
The beer ranges from those inspired by the flavors in their food (like the Dhania, a Pilsner with toasted coriander seeds) to beers that pair well with their food (like the Kipsy Bhai Kellerbier) to beers that stand on their own in any setting (like the Dark Mild on cask). The big surprise was the Manak Cream Ale — the best interpretation of the traditional American style I’ve tried outside of the U.S. The space is equal parts beer hall, restaurant, and brewery, and it effortlessly pulled off exactly what I imagined a Bundobust brewery would be. After digging into some fried okra and a vada pav, I felt right at home in the new space.
Social Post of the Week
Montana’s kind of weird, but I like it.
Beer of the Week
Resolve
Kings County Brewers Collective (Brooklyn, New York)
Kellerbier
4.8% ABV
What happens when I enjoy a beer and it’s brewed for a good cause? I drink copious amounts of it, as I have with this KCBC beer since I got back to the states last week. This is part of the Resolve Open-Source Beer Project that was started by 42 North Brewing and their former brewer Naz Drebot, who remains in Ukraine and had started his own brewery in Kyiv, to raise money for humanitarian causes in Ukraine as a result of the Russian invasion. Proceeds from KCBC’s beer go to the Global Empowerment Mission.
As for the beer itself? I think it’s downright delicious. A truly traditional unfiltered Kellerbier with a snappy European hop character and a slightly sweet, clean finish. Twenty-nine breweries have signed on to brew this beer, and I hope more will join in if they’re as good as this one.
Long Read of the Week
In last week’s newsletter, I referenced the “banker pour” of Camerons Brewery Strongarm Ale that I drank on my visit to their taproom in Hartlepool, England. Since I had that beer, I’ve been struggling to find a piece that offers background, history, or prevalence of this unique beer serving style. Enter Reece Hugill, who offers a great read on the quirk of banked beer in North East England in Pellicle this week.
One More Thing
Happy National Beer Day… and happy Major League Baseball Opening Day! I’ll be drinking Bat Flips at Torch & Crown later today to celebrate.
Cheers,
Chris
Now I would like to celebrate that 30-hour work week (headline to the left on the Times front page) with a beer.
Happy Beer Day!! Cheers to ya! Thanks for the read! 🍻