Pittsburgh-area breweries celebrate National Beer Day
National Beer Day marks the anniversary of a law effectively repealing Prohibition in America.
On April 7, 1933 a law signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt weeks earlier, the Cullen–Harrison Act, went into effect allowing the sale of beer and wine with a low alcohol content. For beer it allowed for brews with an alcohol content of 3.2% (by weight) to be sold. The belief was you wouldn’t easily get intoxicated with beers with lower alcohol.
When he signed the law, Roosevelt made the famous remark, “I think this would be a good time for a beer.”
The Cullen–Harrison Act lead the way to the ratification of the 21st Amendment later in 1933, which was a repeal of the 18th Amendment, which made Prohibition the law of the land from 1920 to 1933.
To mark the day many Pittsburgh-area breweries shared celebratory tweets. Here are a few:
Penn Brewery, in the Deutschtown neighborhood of Pittsburgh has a deal to mark the day:
Cheers, today is #NationalBeerDay! 85 years ago President Roosevelt took the first step to ending prohibition? Grab a cold one and celebrate today ?
We're also offering our Beer & Cheese sampling platter on special for just $10 (reg $18). pic.twitter.com/dwTAUFrkc1
— Penn Brewery (@PennBrewery) April 7, 2019
East End Brewery in the Larimer neighborhood in Pittsburgh:
Southern Tier Pittsburgh on the city’s North Side:
Stuck inside all Winter? Tired of the same ol' same old? Spring has sprung and it's time to celebrate so grab your favorite Southern Tier beer and get outside! #GhostYourGoTo #NationalBeerDay pic.twitter.com/vlEbJeiVE3
— Southern Tier Beer (@stbcbeer) April 7, 2019
Grist House Brewery in Millvale:
Happy #NationalBeerDay pic.twitter.com/FuCjtC4jka
— Grist House (@GristHouse) April 7, 2019
Spoonwood Brewing in Bethel Park:
Yuengling, from Pottsville, Pa., has a contest for a vending machine:
We’re celebrating #NationalBeerDay by giving away a custom Yuengling vending machine to one of our superfans. Show us how you’re our biggest fan in a pic/video with #YuenglingSuperfan to enter. Rules: https://t.co/27H2ivGWUc pic.twitter.com/93EO4U2ObK
— Yuengling Brewery (@Yuengling_Beer) April 7, 2019
Budweiser shared a message from 1933:
#NationalBeerDay marks the beginning of the end for Prohibition.
Today in 1933, August A. Busch Jr. took to the airwaves to celebrate. Busch’s message of unity remains: from past to present and person to person, beer builds bridges. ? pic.twitter.com/God8bmJE3c
— Budweiser (@budweiserusa) April 7, 2019
Frank Carnevale is the TribLive multimedia editor. He started at the Trib in 2016 and has been part of several news organizations, including the Providence Journal and Orlando Sentinel. He can be reached at fcarnevale@triblive.com.
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