For lovers of all brews everywhere, the years of 1920 to 1933 were incredibly sad times. This was the period of the Prohibition in the United States, where any and all forms of alcohol were verboten. Thankfully in 1933, the United States government came to their senses, and President Roosevelt decided that this frothy brew should once again flow freely in the taverns and bars of the country.
On this date in 1933, people lined up around the block at the doors of their favorite public house to prepare to imbibe the first legal brews in 13 years. Ever since that night, this day has been referred to as ‘New Beer’s Eve’, a precursor of ‘New Beers Day’. It was said that at 12:01 on 1933, Roosevelt stated “I think this would be a good time for a beer.” For such an auspicious patron, Anheuser-Busch pulled out all the stops, delivering the beer with their Clydesdale draw carriage directly to the Commander in Chief. The first 24 hours of the end of the prohibition saw an estimated 1.5 million gallons of beer consumed.
As of 2014 the US was 17th in consumption of beer, with the Czech Republic almost double that.
This is a list of countries ordered by annual per capita consumption of beer.
| Rank | Country | Consumption per capita [1] (litres) |
2013–2014 change (633–ml bottles) |
Total national consumption (106 L)[A] |
Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Czech Republic |
142.6 | -7.3 | 1879 | 2014 |
| 2 |  Seychelles |
114.6 | 7.8 | 11 | 2014 |
| 3 |  Austria |
104.8 | -1.7 | 894 | 2014 |
| 4 |  Germany |
104.7 | 4.4 | 8441 | 2014 |
| 5 |  Namibia |
104 | -7.2 | 250 | 2014 |
| 6 |  Poland |
97.8 | 0.1 | 3776 | 2014 |
| 7 |  Ireland |
97 | -0.5 | 454 | 2014 |
| 8 |  Lithuania |
96.6 | 10.7 | 282 | 2014 |
| 9 |  Belize |
93.8 | -8.8 | 33 | 2014 |
| 10 |  Estonia |
93.5 | -5 | 123 | 2014 |
| 11 |  Gabon |
88.9 | 22.3 | 150 | 2014 |
| 12 |  Romania |
85.9 | 8.3 | 1689 | 2014 |
| 13 |  Spain |
80.6 | 5.9 | 3729 | 2014 |
| 14 |  Finland |
78.5 | -2.7 | 430 | 2014 |
| 15 |  Latvia |
78.2 | 4.6 | 156 | 2014 |
| 16 |  Panama |
76.6 | 5.1 | 296 | 2014 |
| 17 |  United States |
75.8 | -0.3 | 24172 | 2014 |
| 18 |  Slovenia |
75 | 0.8 | 155 | 2014 |
| 19 |  Australia |
74.2 | -0.9 | 1753 | 2014 |
| 20 |  Slovakia |
74.1 | 0.3 | 402 | 2014 |
| 21 |  Croatia |
72.5 | -3.9 | 309 | 2014 |
| 22 |  Belgium |
72 | 0 | 810 | 2014 |
| 23 |  Netherlands |
71.4 | 2.6 | 1205 | 2014 |
| 24 |  Venezuela |
70.8 | 1.2 | 2173 | 2014 |
| 25 |  Bulgaria |
69.8 | -5.1 | 503 | 2014 |
| 26 |  Russia |
68.9 | 10062 | 2014 | |
| 27 |  Brazil |
68.3 | 5.2 | 13146 | 2014 |
| 28 |  United Kingdom |
67.7 | 2.4 | 4375 | 2014 |
| 29 |  Republic of the Congo |
66.6 | -1.3 | 300 | 2014 |
| 30 |  Angola[2] |
64.2 | 1160 | 2012 | |
| 31 |  Hungary |
63.3 | 1.9 | 626 | 2014 |
| 32 |  New Zealand |
62.7 | -2 | 282 | 2014 |
| 33 |  Montenegro |
62.1 | -7.2 | 39 | 2014 |
| 34 |  Denmark |
61.9 | 1.9 | 350 | 2014 |
| 35 |  Botswana |
61.8 | 46.6 | 137 | 2014 |
| 36 |  Iceland |
61.8 | 1.9 | 20 | 2014 |
| 37 |  Ukraine[2] |
61.6 | 2760 | 2012 | |
| 38 |  Serbia[3] |
60.3 | 43.2 | 2013 | |
| 39 |  Canada[3] |
60.3 | 212.0 | 2013 | |
| 40 |  Mexico[2] |
59.9 | 6890 | 2012 | |
| 41 |  South Africa |
58.4 | -2 | 3150 | 2014 |
| 42 |  Switzerland[2] |
58.3 | 460 | 2012 | |
| 43 |  Bosnia and Herzegovina[2] |
56.1 | 220 | 2012 | |
| 44 |  Sweden[2] |
52.7 | 480 | 2012 | |
| 45 |  Argentina[4] |
49 | 1980 | ||
| 46 |  Republic of Korea |
45.8 | 6.5 | 2292 | 2014 |
| 47 |  Japan |
42.6 | -0.8 | 5407 | 2014 |
| 48 |  Vietnam[5] |
42 | 3788 | 2016 | |
| 49 |  China[2] |
32 | 44683 | 2012 | |
| 50 |  Italy[6] |
29 | 1772 | 2011 | |
| 51 |  Israel[7] |
14 | |||
| 52 |  Turkey[8] |
13 | |||
| 53 |  Kenya[9] |
12 | |||
| 54 |  Uzbekistan[10] |
11 | |||
| 55 |  Tanzania[9] |
8 | |||
| 56 |  Uganda[9] |
6 | |||
| 57 |  Sri Lanka[11] |
2 | 50 | ||
| 58 |  India[12][13] |
2 | 1400 | 2008 |
Sources:
