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The Complete Guide to Beer Holidays
Indulge in brewtiful festivities year-round using this handy beer celebration guide.
Beer is the best. We all know it, and that’s why you’re here with us, reading about the best beverage in human history.
Though any of the 365 days in a year are a great time for a finely crafted brew, there are specific beer holidays that are peppered throughout the calendar that highlight specific styles or other ancillary factors related to beer.
While we don’t really need an excuse to pop a top on a well-made beer, these holidays sure give us extra motivation. Beer is often an integral part of any good celebration, but with most days on this list, beer is the specific reason for the festivities.
If you are a big lover of beer, you're in the right place. Of course, if you want to express your love for beer in a more unique way, you can consider using a customized keychain. You can customize keychains in any style and pattern you like on KeyChains Co. and you can add elements related to your favorite beer on these keychains. Small keychains can also give free rein to your creativity and fashion taste.
Read on to explore The Beer Connoisseur’s Complete Guide to Beer Holidays!
January
18th – Baltic Porter Day
The cold, dark days of January are ideal to celebrate the roasted, smoky malt and high alcohol content of the delectable Baltic Porter style.
24th – Beer Can Appreciation Day
There’s a lot to appreciate about beer cans – they are easily recycled, lightweight and easy to transport, which is why many breweries, such as Oskar Blues, strictly can over bottle. This day allows beer fans to focus on cans above glass in their beer imbibing.
February
Stout Month
In the heart of winter and with Valentine’s Day mid-month, February is a perfect time for luscious, succulent stouts.
Super Bowl Sunday
Beer is truly the quintessential drink of Super Bowl Sunday, with an estimated 325 million gallons of beer consumed by Americans before, during and after the big game.
We can’t celebrate beer without giving a nod to the folks behind the bar giving us recommendations, telling us about the new brews on tap and pouring our pints.
March
8th – International Women’s Collaboration Brew Day
Coinciding with International Women’s Day, women brewers everywhere, both professional and homebrewers, participate in brewing the same recipe. The day is all about support and celebration for women in the industry.
17th – St. Patrick’s Day
This holiday celebrates one of Ireland’s patron saints and in the States, it is marked by dressing in green and eating traditional Irish-American fare. Around the world, it means drinking an estimated 13 million pints of Guinness on the holiday alone!
Bock Day celebrates the strong German lager and its entire family – maibocks, helles bock, doppelbock and eisbock. Yum!
23rd – Orval Day
This day celebrates Orval Trappist Ale, and each year, the importer of the beer will make a donation to charity based on its U.S. sales.
April
National Beer Day marks the day that President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Cullen-Harrison Act, which allowed the legalization of beer sales in the U.S. with an alcohol content of 3.2 percent, ending Prohibition. Now that’s a fireside chat I can get behind! Neon signs have long been a staple of National Beer Day, adding an appealing element of excitement to any venue. Custom neon signs have the ability to make a lasting impression. Their vivid colors and eye-catching neon logo design attract plenty of attention for businesses on this high holy day for beer drinkers.
11th – King Gambrinus Day
Gambrinus is a character known as the unofficial patron saint of beer and, some believe, the inventor of adding hops to beer.
Every year on this day, Germans celebrate beer brewed in their own county from the approximately 13,000 breweries in Germany.
27th – King’s Day in Holland
On this Dutch holiday, Trappist Brewery Koningshoeven recently invited the U.S. to partake in this holiday where businesses and homes are decorated in orange and great Dutch beers are enjoyed by all.
May
Every year, this week-long event celebrates craft beer from the nearly 7,000 small and independent breweries across the Unites States. Though any time is a good time for a craft brew, this week in early May marks perhaps the best time to celebrate the delightful world of American craft beer.
5th – Cinco de Mayo
Americans spend upwards of $700 million on beer on this day that celebrates the Mexican army’s victory over the French Empire.
National Homebrew Day celebrates all those who brew at home, whether they are just getting started or have been homebrewing for decades.
June
14th – National Bourbon Day
For beer lovers, this day celebrating America’s national spirit is all about the wonderful world of bourbon barrel-aged beers, a favorite of beer geeks the world over.
Beer Day Britain is Britain’s annual national beer day where a Cheers to Beer anthem is sung at 7 p.m. (depending on how much beer has been imbibed, the song might be slightly off-key).
July
4th – Independence Day
On the Fourth of July, Americans spend more than $1 billion on beer, making it one of the biggest beer consumption days of the year.
12th – Michelada Day
July 12th celebrates one of the most iconic beer cocktails, the Michelada – a light beer mixed with lime juice, tomato juice, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, hot sauce and spices.
August
First Thursday – National IPA Day
National IPA Day celebrates craft beer’s most popular style, the India Pale Ale, by tagging social media posts with #IPAday.
There are days celebrating beer in the U.S. and other countries, but International Beer Day celebrates beer across the globe and spanning 80 countries that recognize this holiday.
September
8th – National Sour Beer Day
Today celebrates sour beers, a style unlike any other that has risen the ranks as a beer drinker’s favorite beer over the past few years – rivaling even IPAs as among the most popular among beer drinkers.
21st through October 6th – Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest, the world’s largest beer festival, runs through mid-September to the first weekend in October. While the original party is happening in Munich, Germany, multiple Oktoberfest celebrations in honor of the original are happening all over the world.
27th – Crush a Can Day
Crush a Can Day was invented to help people learn about the benefits of recycling, and beer lovers can use it as a good reason to drink a delightful canned brew.
28th – National Drink a Beer Day
While the origins of the day are unknown, to fully partake in National Drink a Beer Day, you have the difficult task of drinking a beer (or two or three or… you get the idea).
October
1st Friday of October – Barrel-Aged Beer Day
Break out those prized beers from the cellar and enjoy all of the goodness that barrel-aging bring to a well-made beer. Perhaps dust off a vertical tasting or one of your rarest whales – life is short, you know!?
9th – National Pizza and Beer Day
Pizza and beer have long been America’s favorite duo for good reason – both are delicious and made even better with each other.
27th – National American Beer Day
This day gives nod to all of the great beer produced right here in the United States.
31st – Halloween
Beer is the number one alcoholic drink consumed on Halloween, and with the growing rise in popularity of pumpkin beers, it gives drinkers an opportunity to be festive with their beer choice.
November
1st Thursday of November – International Stout Day
Stouts around the world are celebrated on this day, and you can expect to find many stout-related events, beer releases and photos on social media.
1st Saturday of November – Learn to Homebrew Day
Learn to Homebrew Day was established in 1999 to encourage beers lovers to expand their passion into learning to brew their own beer at home.
12th – National Happy Hour Day
This day is a good reminder to take advantage of happy hours, often mid-afternoon during the week, when beers and food are discounted heavily. Always drink responsibly though!
28th – Thanksgiving
A few weeks before Thanksgiving, you’ll see a plethora of articles popping up on beer pairings with a traditional meal, which makes sense as this holiday is one of the top drinking holidays of the year.
December
This day is devoted to the light and crisp beer that is the most widely available and recognizable beer style in the world.
25th – Christmas
Christmas is another one of those holidays where the most alcohol is consumed per year, so stock up on all of the seasonal Christmas Ales and winter warmers ahead of a visit from Santa. Who knows, he might prefer a spiced barrel-aged stout to cookies after all!
While these beer holidays might serve as a celebration of the beverage we all love so dearly, no one needs an excuse to imbibe a well-crafted brew.
Make your own beer holiday or simply enjoy a beer whenever you please – there’s never a bad time for a brew.