It’s time to crack open a cold one! Whether you like bitter IPA, smooth ale or refreshing pilsner, we’ve gathered all the greatest fun facts about beer!
Beer, beer, beer. If you’re reading this, we’re guessing you love beer as much as we do (and we really love beer!)
And if you don’t love it, hopefully these fun facts about beer will change your mind, because this is such a fascinating drink. There’s a reason why people have been drinking it for thousands of years after all!
From a beer created using AI to the largest beer festival in the world, we’ll travel around the globe to discover a diverse collection of beer lovers!
And did you know, beer has been an integral part of almost every civilization, country and government? From Icelandic independence to the Pyramids of Giza to the beer brewed in the White House basement, beer is literally everywhere.
How about testing your knowledge of beer facts right now?
Here are a few headscratchers: What country drinks the most beer? What’s the world’s best-selling beer? Where can you swim in a pool of beer?
Think you know the answers to any of these? Write down your guesses and keep reading to see if you got them right!
We’re so excited to take this journey through the wonderful world of beer. What do you say, shall we get started?
Contents:
23 Fun Facts About Beer
1. When was beer first produced?
You have to go way back in time to find the first beermakers! Beer was originally brewed in the civilizations of Sumer and Babylonia using barley in 6,000 BC.
Egyptian tombs also depicted fermented beer in 2,400 BC. Who knew beer was such a long-standing tradition? We told you everyone loves beer!
2. What’s the brewing process for beer?
Okay, let’s get a little technical. If you want to brew beer follow these steps: 1) convert grain to sugar 2) extract the sugar with water 3) ferment with yeast.
This fermentation process gives beer its alcoholic properties as well as the carbonation that makes beer so refreshing!
3. What country drinks the most beer?
Do you live in one of the top beer drinking countries? Check out this list of beer lovers.
Czech Republic (140.0 liters per year). Austria (107.8 liters per year) Romania (100.3 liters per year). Germany (99.0 liters per year). Poland (97.7 liters per year). It’s safe to say Europe has the most passionate beer drinkers!
4. Why does the Czech Republic love beer so much?
The main reason Czechs love beer is because they make some of the best beer in the world. Pilsner is originally from Czechia with their famous Pilsner Urquell being the first pale lager.
The Czechs have also been brewing beer since the Middle Ages. The oldest brewery in the country was established in 993 AD.
5. What are the best-selling beers in the world?
Here are the top 10 beer bestsellers by volume sold. Are any of your favorites on the list?
10: Coors Light (USA) 9: Corona (Mexico) 8: Yanjing (China) 7: Harbin (China) 6: Heineken (Netherlands) 5: Skol (Scotland) 4: Bud Light (USA) 3: Tsingtao (China) 2: Budweiser (USA) 1: Snow (China).
6. Backstroke in beer
Ready for one of the wackiest fun facts about beer we discovered? If you’re ever in the Austrian Alps you absolutely must visit Schloss Starkenberger Brewery.
The brewery is not only located in a castle, there’s also beer swimming pools for you to literally bathe in beer. Hey, we’ll try anything once!
7. The rise of craft brewing
We told you about the best-selling beers in the world, but more than likely you have your favorite local brew as well.
How’s this for one of the most astonishing beer facts: 15 years ago there were 1,400 craft breweries in the United States. Today there are over 10,000. Wow, talk about a growing industry!
8. What beer has the highest alcohol content?
Ready to ruin your night? No, we’re only kidding, but practice extreme caution when drinking this beer!
Snake Venom from Scotland’s Brewmeister is the world’s strongest beer with an alcohol-by-volume of 67.5%! For comparison, hard liquor like vodka is 40% and rum is 37.5%. It even comes with a warning label to limit yourself to one bottle.
9. The island with no beer
Believe it or not, beer was illegal in Iceland until 1989. Beer drinking was considered a personality trait of Denmark, the country Iceland was desperately trying to gain independence from.
Even with independence from Denmark in 1944, Icelanders were still prohibited from drinking beer for another 45 years!
10. How popular is drinking beer?
Did you know that beer is the third most popular beverage in the world? And no, we’re not talking about alcoholic beverages.
That’s right, only water and tea are more popular than beer. Now that’s one of the craziest beer facts!
11. The laborers who were paid in beer
We mentioned art in Egyptian tombs depicting beer, but did you know that the workers who built the Pyramids of Giza during the Egyptian Civilization were given a daily ration of beer as well? Each worker received four liters of beer for nutrition and refreshment.
12. The beer producing juggernaut
Anheuser-Busch InBev is far and away the largest beer producer in the world.
The Belgian corporation owns over 400 beer brands including the wildly successful Budweiser, Corona, Stella Artois, Beck’s and Leffe. In 2022, the corporation netted $54.3 billion in revenue.
13. What’s the largest beer festival in the world?
Oktoberfest is a beer drinker’s paradise! Taking place in September and October in Munich, Germany, over 6 million visitors down a cold brew from the iconic Oktoberfest beer steins.
In 2014, Oktoberfest set a record with over 7.7 million liters of beer served. We definitely need to add this festival to our bucket list!
14. Some interesting facts about Guinness
With tasting notes of malt, chocolate and coffee, you’d think the dark Irish beer Guinness would be chock full of calories. However, it has less calories than most beers, even Bud Light!
Another Guinness fun fact: 3 of the 5 Guinness breweries are located in Africa (Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon).
15. Why are some beer bottles brown?
Beer bottles are brown in order to protect the beer from harmful UV rays that can spoil the beer or make it go flat.
However, in recent years, more bottles have been going clear or green – both of which offer up no protection to the sun.
16. Drink a beer then run a lap
The Beer Mile is an annual 1-mile race that requires runners to drink a beer for every lap around the track. That’s 4 laps and 4 beers!
The fastest recorded beer mile is held by Corey Bellemore of Canada who ran and chugged to an impressive time of 4:28.1 in October 2021.
17. The presidential brew
Did you know that former president Barack Obama brewed his own beer at the White House?
With help from his senior adviser for nutrition policy, Sam Kass, they brewed a honey brown lager and a honey porter with honey from the bees in the White House garden.
18. Beer vs The Giant
Wrestler Andre the Giant is perhaps the most prolific beer drinker of all-time. The French superstar was said to have drunk 119 beers in 6 hours.
After this marathon drinking session Andre passed out in a hotel lobby. Since he was over 7’4 and 520 lbs, the hotel staff couldn’t move him, so they draped him in a piano cover and let him sleep it off.
19. Is beer healthy for you?
Believe it or not, drinking beer has many health benefits. Beer in moderate use can reduce the risk of kidney stones, coronary heart disease, and type 2 diabetes.
Let’s also not forget that beer encourages social interaction which combats loneliness and depression. Yay for beer!
20. What countries produce the most beer?
The global beer market size is valued at a whopping $680 billion (2021). The countries that are producing the most beer, and thus raking in the most cash are, China, Brazil, USA, Germany and Russia.
21. Beer at the golden arches?
If you’re living in France, Germany, Portugal or South Korea you can order a beer with your Big Mac and fries at McDonald’s.
In total, over 15 different countries have McDonald’s that serve beer. But if you had one too many, maybe stay out of the ball pit!
22. The beer built with AI
Whistle Buoy Brewery in Victoria, Canada used AI to design a new beer. The AI program picked out the name, ingredients, and also designed the label.
Robo Beer is a hazy pale ale bursting with tropical flavors and a smooth finish. And yes, the AI program Whistle Buoy used came up with those descriptions!
23. When is International Beer Day?
If you’re looking for the perfect day to drink a beer that isn’t just Friday evening at the pub with friends, look no further than International Beer Day.
Every year during the first Friday of August, more than 50 countries celebrate. Cheers to that!
Who wants more fun facts?
If you’re looking for some recommendations, these are a few of our favorite fact books to buy. We use these when planning fun trivia nights with family and friends!
We really hope you enjoyed all our fun facts about beer! Did you learn something new?
If there’s any beer facts we missed, you can let us know in the comments below and we’ll add them to this article!
