Beer Day Britain
Beer Day Britain is a holiday that celebrates beer and is celebrated in Great Britain. Of course, that’s probably not a big surprise because it’s sort of in the name. It’s a holiday that’s observed annually on the 15th of June and has been around since 2015. It’s a day for people to enjoy beer and the pubs that serve up their favorite brews.
But actually, it’s a holiday that goes just a little bit deeper than giving people an excuse to raise a pint (or two or three). It’s a day that celebrates the long and storied history of beer in the British Isles and is actually a day that all Britons can take pride in.
The History of Beer Day Britain
Humans have been making beer for thousands of years. It’s believed that the ancient Sumerians in Mesopotamia were the first people to create a type of beer that was made from barley and flavored with a number of different spices.
The process of making beer spread from the Middle East to Europe, where it became popular with the Greeks and Romans. The brewing of beer became a little more refined during the Middle Ages, and it was an art that was mainly practiced by monks in monasteries, and by housewives looking to earn a little bit of extra money for their households.
Both ale (a drink made from malted barley, yeast, and water) and beer (ale that had hops added to it) were widely available throughout the Middle Ages, although ale was slightly more common among the masses. Since it was the Romans who brought beer to the British Isles, it’s quite clear that there’s a very long tradition of brewing and drinking beer in the United Kingdom.
It’s even mentioned in the 13th-century document known as the Magna Carta. In this royal charter of rights, it clearly states: “Let there be throughout our kingdom a single measure for wine and a single measure for ale and a single measure for corn, namely ‘the London quarter.’” This is why Beer Day Britain is observed on June 15th every year because that is the date when the Magna Carta was sealed in 1215.
This holiday isn’t quite as old as the history of beer, however. In fact, it was only invented in 2015, 800 years after the signing of the Magna Carta. It was started by Jane Peyton, a beer sommelier, writer, and libation educator, with the help of brewers Sophie de Ronde and Sara Barton. This holiday has been observed ever since.
How Is Beer Day Britain Celebrated?
How do people celebrate Beer Day Britain? Well, we’ll give you three guesses. Yep, you guessed it right. It’s celebrated with pub crawls and the drinking of copious amounts of beer. People can also join in on the fun by spreading the word about this day online with the hashtag #BeerDayBritain. Cheers!
