It must have dwarfed the biggest, baddest Black Friday sale ever. On the morning of Friday April 7, 1933, thirsty crowds queued up outside breweries across the country, waiting for them to open their doors for the first time in 13 years. Prohibition was history, and the parched public was ready for beer. Breweries sold 1.5 million barrels of beer that day, which worked out to more than 2 1/2 gallons for every man, woman, and child in America: An astonishing figure for a school day.
To commemorate the occasion, freedom-loving Americans everywhere will pop open a few cold ones, regardless of whether they know that National Beer Day even exists. To help you honor the spirit of the day, here are a few local recommendations for beers with a tie to America’s failed “Noble Experiment."
Anchor Brewing – Since the 19th Century, Anchor Brewing has been a fixture on the San Francisco brewing scene. It was one of the few breweries to survive the 13 years of Prohibition and the only local brewery that is still in existence from that time. Their flagship beer, Anchor Steam, is brewed with a special strain of lager yeast designed to ferment a crisp distinctive beer during San Francisco’s cool year-round temperatures.
Speakeasy Ales & Lagers – Speakeasy combines American ingenuity and the can-do attitude of the Prohibition Era with our modern preference for West Coast-style hoppy brews. Their first beer, Prohibition Ale, is bold and hoppy, but the brewery’s biggest seller is their Big Daddy IPA, which Speakeasy touts as San Francisco’s best-selling IPA. Speakeasy will be hosting an all day happy hour to celebrate National Beer Day.
21st Amendment Brewing – Not only is the name of the brewery itself testimony to the end of Prohibition (the 21st Amendment to the Constitution ended Prohibition) but several beers, such as Fireside Chat, Brew Free or Die, Sneak Attack, and Bitter American commemorate American exceptionalism at its finest. 21A will have a special cask version of their Gigantes IPA on the bar tomorrow to mark National Beer Day and to celebrate the start of baseball season.
We also have to give a shout out ot East Bay brewery Trumer Pils, who is helping SF celebrate National Beer Day by raising a glass—a whole cooler-full, in fact. Sign up for the 7x7 newsletter below to win a summer picnic-ready cooler full of bottles of German-style Trumer Pils, and we'll pick a winner at random on Monday. Cheers!
