Australian beer lovers should ‘hug’ a brewer today in celebration of International Brewers Day.

The sticker that inspired a day to celebrate brewers

International Brewers Day was suggested two years ago by US beer writer Jay Brooks and is designed to celebrate good beer by thanking the men and women who make it.

Australian beer lovers are encouraged to celebrate the day by hugging an Australian brewer. If you don’t have one handy, the ‘hug’ can be a symbolic one – drinking a beer from a local brewery and thanking the brewer with a toast as you do. If you’re a Twitterer let the world know you’re sharing the beer love with a #Hug hashtag.

The day is designed to encourage Australians to think a little more about the beers they drink to encourage the idea of drinking less but drinking better.

Australian Brews News has championed the celebration and supported the idea behind International Brewers Day since its inception as an important way to recognise that the best beer doesn’t come from factories and brewed down to a price, but is the product of the passion of the men and women who brew it.

Australia is gradually changing in the way we look at beer. We are becoming more adventurous about the beer that we drink and becoming more interested in where these beers are from, what goes into them and how they are made.For a long time beer was just a light-flavoured libation best characterised as a weapon of mass-consumption. These days the enjoyment of beer for its best quality – flavour – is starting to take hold. Across Australia new breweries are opening and we are fortunate to be able to enjoy more beer styles now than ever before from more breweries than at any time in a generation. Today is a day to thank the people who make these beers.

July 18 has been chosen for the international celebration of brewers as it marks the feast of St Arnold of Metz, the most well-known of brewing’s patron saints and the patron saint of brewers.

Concerned about the dangers of drinking polluted water Saint Arnold is supposed to have warned his parishioners “Don’t drink the water, drink beer”. He believed that the polluted water caused illness, while the boiled and processed water used for beer was a safer and more nutritious alternative.

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