Friday marks the annual International Beer Day, a global celebration of one of the world’s oldest and most widely enjoyed alcoholic beverages. Brewing and consuming beer spans cultures and continents, with each country adding its own unique traditions and contributions to the beverage’s history.

Although it remains primarily popular in China, Snow Beer holds the distinction of being the best-selling beer brand worldwide, with an annual production of approximately 10 billion litres since its launch in 1993. In terms of consumption per capita, the Czech Republic leads the world, with residents averaging around 250 pints annually. The country is also known for its beer spas, where visitors can bathe in beer as part of a unique wellness experience.

Scotland produces what is considered the strongest beer globally. Beithir Fire, brewed by 88 Brewery, contains 75% alcohol by volume (ABV) and is named after a mythical serpent. Bottles retail for about £46. In Denmark, Nobel laureate and physicist Niels Bohr was granted lifelong access to free beer on tap after being gifted a residence near the Carlsberg Brewery.

Traditional and cultural events often revolve around beer. In Finland, the World Wife-Carrying Championships offers the winners a prize equal to the woman’s weight in beer. Meanwhile, Germany hosts Oktoberfest, the largest beer festival internationally, celebrating Bavarian brewing heritage. Notably, Germany’s Weihenstephan Brewery, established by monks in 1040, is recognized as the world’s oldest continuously operating brewery.

Beer has also influenced architecture and customs. In Thailand, the Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew Buddhist temple is famously constructed from over 1.5 million recycled Heineken and Chang beer bottles, a project initiated by monks who collected the bottles over time. Iceland has its own distinctive brewing tradition, producing beer from whale testicles smoked over sheep dung, despite beer only becoming legal there in 1989.

Belgium stands out for its remarkable diversity, producing approximately 1,500 different beer varieties. The Delirium Café in Brussels offers tastings of around 2,400 global beer brands. Austrian enthusiasts have made significant contributions to beer culture through extensive collections; Leo Pisker has amassed over 152,000 beer mats, while Rudolf Heindl holds a record of more than 13,000 beer glasses from across the world.

Beer has occasionally intersected with unusual social occurrences. In 2007, an Australian barmaid was fined for entertaining customers by crushing beer cans between her bare chest. In a more whimsical case, a beer-drinking goat named Clay Henry was elected mayor of Lajitas, Texas, in 1986.

Cultural beliefs and traditions also shape drinking practices. Greek philosopher Aristotle once distinguished the effects of wine and beer on intoxicated individuals, while Hungarian custom dictates not clinking beer glasses, a practice rooted in historical animosities related to Austrian generals.

Finally, the English village of Beer in Devon is home to three pubs, including one known as The Barrel of Beer, highlighting the longstanding communal and social role beer plays worldwide.