15 Totally Toastable Fun Facts About Craft Beer

Did you know that most Americans live only 10 miles away from a craft brewery, or that President Barack Obama is among the many U.S. home-brewers? Raise a glass with all your beer-loving friends and enjoy these wonderfully boozy fun facts about your favorite ales.

1. Craft brewers currently provide an estimated 424,000 jobs in the U.S., including serving staff in brewpubs.
2. Craft breweries make up 98 percent of all U.S. operating breweries.
3. For the best flavor, craft beer should never be tasted from a shaker pint.
4. Adding some beer to your marinade is supposed to soften the meat. The acids in the beer go to work on the proteins in the meat, whether it’s cooked or uncooked.
5. The first ever beer brewers were all women. In ancient Peru, breweries were operated by ‘women of the elite’.
6. The thirstiest country in the world, per capita, is Czech Republic. The Czechs consume an average of 148.6 liters per year each, or about 418 12oz bottles per person.
7. Store your beers upright, in room temperature, and in the dark to keep them fresh.
8. In 2010, the world’s oldest drinkable beer was found on a Baltic Sea shipwreck. The ship is believed to have sailed over 200 years ago.
9. Cenosillicaphobia is the fear of an empty glass. A good reason to keep a well-stocked fridge!
10. Craft Beer is good for your bones because it has high levels of silicon.
11. The United States is the second largest hop producer in the world (behind Germany).
12. Hops are poisonous to pets so keep an eye on your furry friends if you’re homebrewing.
13. In medieval Europe, the average person drank 220-250 litres of beer a year! As it had undergone fermentation, it was cleaner and safer to drink than the water.
14. The term ‘rule of thumb’ – originates from brewers who would stick their thumb into the mix to see when the temperature was right for adding the yeast.
15. Slugs and snails love beer! If you’re looking to rid your garden of these pests, put some beer in shallow containers at night.

If you want to continue brushing up on your beer knowledge we can think of no better place to do so then at The Half Wall Beer House. Our extensive selection of 76 draft beers and over 100 bottles will teach you everything you need to know and make you the beer trivia expert at your next game night.