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Sip on Fun Facts About International Beer Day!
By Shane Addinall Aug 07, 2020International Beer Day is a celebration steeped in rich history and culture. Enjoy the day with us while reading up on the richness of beer culture. Beer slots provide the perfect culmination of the culture and can be played at supporting online casinos.For the fourteenth year in a row, people from all over the world will come together in unison to celebrate beer. You may wonder why a dedicated day needs to be installed into the fabric of our society as an excuse to admire ale? Especially when enjoying a beer could be a daily event if we so chose.
Like all good things in life, some believe that it deserves special recognition. After all, lifting your pint glasses into the air together is a sign of camaraderie, and goodness knows we need that in the world today.
History of International Beer Day
This day of observance was founded in 2007 by a man named Jesse Avshalomov in the town of Santa Cruz, California, USA. While the day was originally held on the 5th of August each year until 2012, it is now celebrated on the first Friday of August, annually.
Having started as a local event in the founder’s own bar in the western United States, the idea has spread with rapid effect and is now celebrated in 207 cities, 80 countries, and 6 continents around the globe.
International Beer Day has three declared purposes marked out. These include:
- Gather to enjoy the taste of beer and bring beer gifts for one another.
- Celebrate those responsible for brewing the fabulous beverages.
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Unite the world under the banner of beer on the same day.
The celebrations are lively, and as you can imagine, get louder and louder as the day progresses.
Traditionally, various beer-related events are hosted in honour of the drink. These include the tapping of new beers, drinking games, beer pairing, raffles, giveaways, and extended happy hours at bars.
Putting the B in Beer
Let’s get the facts straight about beer. It is not just any sort of alcoholic beverage, but rather one made from water (93%), malted cereal grain, like barley, and flavoured and preserved with hops. It is brewed by slow fermentation and then carbonated for bubbly delight.
Beer comes in various forms, which is what makes brewing an art. The more commercial options include lagers, stouts, draughts, and pilsners. These all have quite standard taste patterns and are sold by the billions of gallons every year.
Quick Fact: The 2020 brands report noted that 20% of bars polled for Heineken as their number 1 bestselling beer, making it the most popular lager in the world.
Smaller independent breweries and beer makers experiment with flavours and consistencies more often. They often produce unique tastes which are oftentimes very fruity on the palate. These are known as craft beers.
Craft beer drinking has become as fine an art as wine tasting, with many brewers opening their facilities to the public for the sake of beer tasting. Home-made beer is also a popular hobby. Beer purists may even argue that non-commercial ales are some of the best brews in the world.
Beer Through the Ages
When it comes to beer, there is much to be celebrated. The beverage has an ancient history that deserves mention. Beer has stood the test of time through various civilizations and several aeons, yet it still manages to transcend across cultures and races to this very day.
Beer is one of the world’s oldest prepared beverages. Some of the oldest archaeological evidence points to the existence of a crude form of the drink around 13,000 years ago. The clearest chemical evidence dates back at least to 3500BC from the areas now known as Iran. Historians believe that beer culture could be much older.
Beer was instrumental in the shaping of whole civilizations. One classic example noted in history books stems back to ancient Egypt with the building of the pyramids.
It is noted that each worker received a daily ration of several litres of ale for the sake of both nutrition and refreshment. ancient civilizations that can be tied to this beverage include Samaria, Persia, China, India, and Armenia.
Europe received beer through early Germanic and Celtic tribes several thousand years BC. It is rather remarkable how both Germany, together with countries like Scotland and Ireland are still associated with budding beer culture.
Beer was quite a different substance in ancient days and missed hops as an ingredient. Most brewers today will tell you that hops is one of the most vital ingredients to a good beer, but it wasn’t until year 822 that we find the first mention of this word in association with brewing.
Did you know that hops are herbs and that they are used almost exclusively to flavour and preserve beer?
The move from domestic brewing to mass manufacture came during the Industrial Revolution, with the invention of machinery like hydrometers and thermometers. This moved the production of beer into the commercial space, as far greater volumes could be manufactured with consistent outcomes. This brings us to the present day, where an estimated 35 billion gallons (133 billion litres) of beer are produced every year.
Beer Culture
Beer is not just a drink, but an expression of culture. Many different countries take their beer making extremely seriously and even have their own terminologies and slang associated with the beverage.
Travel to the United Kingdom and you will ask the barkeep for a ‘pint’, traverse eastward towards Germany and you will have the pleasure of choosing from a great selection of ‘brau’, or head on to Australia for a ‘schooner’ and visit Canada for a ‘brewski’.
Not only is it called different names, but beer is often served differently from country to country. In England, beer is usually served at cellar temperature. However, in countries like South Africa, it is an insult to offer a person a room temperature ale. Beer must be served ice cold.
Quick Fact: Some of the best bars and pubs in South Africa will chill their beer glasses to ensure that the beer-drinking experience is as frosty as possible.
We simply cannot discuss beer and the celebration thereof, without mentioning the Germans. Not only are they the biggest manufacturers of the drink, but they also celebrate some of the biggest and best festivals in veneration of the beverage.
Oktoberfest is such an occasion. It is a 16 - 18-day folk festival which originated in Munich, Germany but has spread throughout the world (because we all know that we need an excuse to drink beer, right?). The festival usually draws millions of people from around the globe each year, celebrating primarily the craft of brewing beer. It includes a travelling funfair as well and provides for stacks of entertainment.
Invading Industries
The strength and status of beer cannot be resigned to remain in its own market alone but spills over into various other industries too. The most common way this is done is by sponsorship. Many sports teams have benefitted from the beer industry in the past.
Anheuser-Busch InBev is the king of sports sponsorships, as the official sponsor of several professional sports leagues in the USA, including the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB.
Leading alcoholic beverage brands spend over $760 million a year on sponsorships in the biggest competitions and it seems that 89% of these companies are beer breweries.
Quick fact: Heineken currently has 25 active sponsorship deals in place. One of them is worth a whopping $21.4 million for Formula 1 racing.
Another major place of influence for beer is the online gambling market. Several top gaming providers in the industry have crafted slot games themed around beer and its culture.
Video slot gameplay is often one of the best ways to spend your time celebrating a special occasion. For this reason, we can recommend some superb title options that you might be interested in this International Beer Day.
✓ Bier Haus by WMS
A casino classic, Bier Haus showcases the pinnacle of German beer culture. Complete with busty bar maidens, kegs, accordions, and fancy beer jugs, this slot rolls out to provide a potential for serious wins over 40 paylines.
Bier Haus not only provides beer content but special bonus rounds as well. Trigger Free Spins with sticky Wilds for a world of wins.
✓ Oktoberfest by NoLimit City
This slot features happy Germans, tasty beer, and authentic festive tunes to remind you of the rich heritage associated with beer in Germany.
The game boasts great visuals and sounds, with better special features, including free spins, re-spins, super-stacked spins, extra Wilds, and far more.
✓ Pot Shot by Skywind Group
Pot Shot celebrates the pub culture of Ireland. Play for free spins and a chance at landing multipliers and 4 jackpots worth a ton of cash.
The red-haired bar lady bedazzles the screen in green, offering up two stout beers each time she lands.
✓ Andy Capp by Blueprint Gaming
Made popular by the Andy Capp cartoon strip, our favourite bar fly, Andy is constantly heading to the pub for a pint. Played with traditional comic strip-like visuals, this game provides a very different way to celebrate beer.
A series of pub-related game features are capped with a Boozer Free Spin round that incorporates beer taps and Super-spin free games.
Last Call!
Here at Gambler’s Pick, we’d like to toast all of you enjoying this international day of celebration. May the day be merry and stand as a true testament of unity for mankind. If it takes beer to bring us together, then we say, ‘’cheers to that!’’
Be sure to enjoy some of the fine slot games mentioned above at one of our reputable Gambler’s Pick partner casinos and celebrate International Beer Day in the best way possible. But remember to play (and celebrate) responsibly.
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