What's On Tap
How much do you know about your favorite beverage? Test your beer knowledge with these fun facts.
1. Beer is thousands of years old.
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when beer was invented, but the first fermented drinks were probably created around the time cereal agriculture started – about 12,000 years ago
2. Drinking beer can help protect against high cholesterol.
Research shows that consuming alcohol, including beer, in moderation raises high-density lipoprotein or HDL (good cholesterol). It may also be helpful in preventing blood clots, clogged arteries and Type 2 diabetes.
3. The average American adult drinks 27.6 gallons of beer a year.
But North Dakota residents are the country’s most enthusiastic beer drinkers, consuming 43.3 gallons per drinking age adult. New Hampshire, Montana, South Dakota and Vermont follow closely behind.
4. You can bathe in beer for healthier skin.
Why stop at drinking beer when you can immerse yourself in it? Beer spas in Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic offer the chance to soak in your favorite malty beverage (and maybe drink a pint while you’re relaxing).
5. Beer contains the same antioxidant content as wine.
Both beverages have the same amount of antioxidants, though the types present are different.
6. Beer gives you brain power.
A study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that women who drank moderately (beer, wine or spirits) had better cognitive function than non-drinkers.
7. Zythology is the study of beer.
What oenology is to wine, zythology is to beer. It focuses on the entire beer brewing process.
8. Prohibition in the U.S. lasted 13 years.
The 18th Amendment banned the manufacture, transportation and sale of intoxicating liquors and went into effect in 1920. In 1933, the 21st Amendment repealed the 18th Amendment and ended Prohibition.
9. The White House has its own craft beer.
President Obama is the first U.S. president to bring home brewing to the White House. The recipes for the White House Honey Ale and Honey Porter are available to the public.
10. A cicerone is a certified beer expert.
A Chicago brewer started the Cicerone Certification Program several years ago to train and validate beer experts similar to wine sommeliers.