New Beer's Eve

New Beer's Eve is an unofficial holiday in the United States celebrated on April 6, the night preceding the day the sale of beer became legal again in the United States, on April 7, 1933.

The beginning of the end of Prohibition in the United States occurred as a result of the Cullen–Harrison Act and its signing into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on March 23, 1933. This led to the Eighteenth Amendment being repealed on December 5, 1933, with ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. ^[1]

Upon signing the legislation, Roosevelt made his famous remark, "I think this would be a good time for a beer."^[2][3] Sales of beer in the U.S became legal on April 7, 1933, in states that had enacted their own law allowing such sales. The beer had to have an alcohol content less than 3.2% by weight (4% by volume), compared to the 0.5% limit of the Volstead Act, because 3.2% was considered too low to produce intoxication. On the evening of April 6, people lined up outside breweries and taverns, waiting for midnight when they would be able to legally purchase beer for the first time in over 13 years. Since then, the night of April 6 has been referred to as "New Beer's Eve" and April 7 is known as "National Beer Day"^{[4] [5] [6] [7]}

References

1. W. Paul Reeve. "Prohibition Failed to Stop the Liquor Flow in Utah". Utah History to Go. Retrieved 2013-11-07. (First published in History Blazer, February 1995)
2. "Post". fdrlibrary.tumblr.com. Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
3. Smith, Jean Edward (2007). F.D.R. New York, N.Y.: Random House. pp. 305, 316. ISBN 978-0-8129-7049-4. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
4. "New Beer's Eve: Happy days were here again". CNN. April 7, 2008. Retrieved February 3, 2010.
5. Wolters, Larry (1933-04-02). "W-G-N To Report Festivities On New Beer'S Eve". Pqasb.pqarchiver.com. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
6. Rasmussen, Frederick N. (2008-04-13). "When Baltimoreans Hailed `New Beer'S Eve'". Pqasb.pqarchiver.com. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
7. Burkhart, Jeff (April 2, 2008). "Barfly: a toast to the end of a 'noble experiment,' Prohibition.". Marin Independent Journal. Retrieved February 3, 2010.