This beer quiz is fun to take. How well can you do on it? And how well can your friends do on it?

The answers to the beer quiz are at the bottom of the page. Hope you do better than your friends. But it’s not fair to peek at the answers!

Beer Quiz

1. The oldest brewing company in the U.S. is

a. Anheuser-Busch.
b. Yuengling.
c. Coors.
d. Sam Adams.

2. The best way to get rid of the foam on top of beer (the head) is to

a. blow puffs of air into it.
b. shake the beer.
c. sprinkle a small amount of salt on it.
d. stick your fingers into it.

3. How does beer rank as a beverage in popularity around the world?

a. Most popular.
b. Second most popular.
c. Third most popular.
d. Fourth most popular.

4. The famous Babylonian Code of Hammurabi (around 1750 B.C) called for the death penalty for retailers guilty of

a. watering down beer.
b. permitting customers to become intoxicated.
c. over-charging.
d. Any of the above.

5. Munich declared Oktoberfest an official celebration in

a. 1710.
b. 1810.
c. 1910.
d. 2010.

U.S. Presidents:

6. Who owned a private brewery?

a. Jimmy Carter and his brother, Billy
b. FDR
c. Abraham Lincoln
d. George Washington

7. Salted peanuts dropped into in a glass of beer will

a. float.
b. quickly sink.
c. slowly sink.
d. “dance.”

8. A barrel of beer in the U.S. holds

a. 21 gallons.
b. 31 gallons.
c. 41 gallons.
d. 51 gallons.

9. Early recipes for beer sometimes included

a. mushrooms and poppy seeds.
b. butter, bay leaves, and aromatics.
c. honey and bread crumbs.
d. All of the above.

10. Beer was first available in bottles in

a. 1850.
b. 1889.
c. 1892.
d. 1901.

11. A labeorphilist is a collector of

a. beer can openers.
b. beer mementos (advertising trays, etc.)
c. books about beer.
d. beer bottles.

12. Beer cans with tab openers came on the market in

a. 1939.
b. 1947.
c. 1962.
d. 1978.

13. Ales include all but which one of the following?

a. Browns
b. Porters
c. Stouts
d. Bocks

14. A Vienna is

a. an amber.
b. a dark lager.
c. a pale.
d. a stout.

Books for Fans of Beer Trivia

Anon. Beer-Topia. NY: Portable, 2015.

Bickerdyke, J. The Curiosities of Ale and Beer. An Entertaining History. London: Hardpress, 2013.

Bull, D. Beer Trivia. 500 Questions and Answers about the World’s most Popular Drink. NY: Beaufort,1985.

Carey, Drew. Dirty Jokes and Beer. NY: Hyperion, 2000.

Eames, A. Secret Life of Beer. Pownal, VT: Storey, 2013.

______. Beer Legends, Lore and Little-known Facts. Pownal, VT: Storey, 2013.

LeBow, J. The Beer Devotional. A Daily Celebration of the World’s Most Inspiring Beers. Adams, 2010.

Palmer, L. How To Win Your Pub Quiz. Your Only Guide to Ultimate Victory. NY: Pavilion, 2013.

Peyton, J. Beer O’Clock: Craft, Cask and Culture. Chichester, Eng: Summersdale, 2013.

Robbins, T. B is for Beer. NY: Ecco, 2009.

Answers to the Beer Quiz

1. Yuengling was established in 1829 in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. The first brewery in North America began in 1642 in Hoboken, NJ. But the first beer brewed on the continent was in Sir Walter Raleigh’s colony in Virginia. The year was 1587.

2. The best way to get rid of the foam on top of beer (the head) is to stick your fingers into it. The natural oil on your fingers breaks the surface tension of the bubbles. This collapses them.

3. Beer is the second most popular beverage in the world. Tea is the most popular. But beer is the most popular beverage in England and Ireland.

4. Around 1750 B.C., the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi called for the death penalty for retailers guilty of watering down beer.

5. Munich declared Oktoberfest an official celebration in 1805. That’s many beers ago.

Not taught in history:

6. President George Washington built his own brewery at Mount Vernon. He was also the new nation’s first large distillery. It’s a popular attraction.

7. Salted peanuts dropped into in a glass of beer will “dance” about in the bubbly beverage.

8. A barrel of beer in the U.S. holds 31 gallons. This is enough to fill about 330 twelve-ounce bottles or cans.

9. Early recipes for beer sometimes included mushrooms, poppy seeds, butter, bay leaves, sugar, aromatics, honey, and bread crumbs.

10. Beer was first available in bottles in 1850. However, the bottles were hand-made and expensive. Automatic bottle-making machines weren’t available foe another half century. Beer was first available in cans in 1935.

11. A labeorphilist is a collector of beer bottles and/or beer bottle labels. The latter is implied by the word itself.

12. In 1962, tab opening beer cans came on the marketed. Eight years later over 90% of all beer cans sold had tab openings.

13. Bocks are not ales.

14. A Vienna is an amber. For more about beer and ale styles see the chart at Everything You Need To Know About Beer, In One Chart.

Hope you did well!