Three cheers for beer

It’s the CN&R’s annual Beer Issue. That means it’s time for some beer trivia, which could come in handy the next time you’re ordering a brewsky at your favorite watering hole. Drink up the knowledge!

• Back in 1935, when the first beer was canned in the United States (by the now-defunct G. Krueger Brewing Co.), 25 percent of beer was packaged in cans and bottles. Now, that number is closer to 90 percent.

• D.G. Yuengling & Son is the oldest brewery in the country, having opened its doors in Pottsville, Penn., in 1829. Perhaps more impressive? It’s still owned by the Yuengling family.

• At least one story behind the saying “Mind your P’s and Q’s” has it based in British pub-speak. Since Brits order their beer by the pint or quart, when a customer became unruly, they’d be asked to, you know, “mind your P’s and Q’s.”

• A Mayflower passenger attributed the ship’s landing at Plymouth Rock—rather than sailing farther south—to having run out of beer onboard.

Sources: BeerHistory.com, beerchurch.com