The date of June 15 was chosen for National Beer Day as it was the day the Magna Carta was sealed in 1215.
Clause 35 of the Magna Carta established standard measures for wine, ale, corn and cloth.
The only drinks in the world that are drunk in greater quantities than beer are water and tea.
Czech adults drink more beer per capita than any other nation, averaging 250 pints a year each.
The UK comes only 28th in its beer drinking at less than half the Czech rate of consumption.
Egypt was the first country to have a beer tax, imposed by Cleopatra in the first century BC to discourage public drunkenness.
In ancient Babylon, tavern keepers could be drowned if caught selling short measures of beer.
“Beer, if drunk in moderation, softens the temper, cheers the spirit and promotes health,” (Thomas Jefferson, third US President).
Beer has had a number of goddesses including Ninkasi (Sumerian), Dea Latis (Celtic), Nephthys (Egyptian) and Siris (Mesopotamian).
“Give my people plenty of beer, good beer, and cheap beer, and you will have no revolution among them,” (Queen Victoria)
