Crate Day – December 6, 2026

History of Crate Day

Bottled beer has existed for hundreds of years in various forms, but glass-bottled beer was not conceivable until glass-blowing methods developed and bottles could handle the pressure of carbonated beer without exploding. It was still not the favored take-home beer in the mid-nineteenth century due to the high cost of glass. Crate Day was created by The Rock radio station to celebrate the arrival of summer on the first Saturday in December. However, there are some guidelines to follow. Apart from drinking sensibly, Crate Day’s main commandment is to support the “Crate of Origin” — or consume beer wherever you are.

Beer is one of the oldest beverages ever created by humans. The first chemically confirmed barley beer was made in modern-day Iran in the 5th millennium B.C., and it was documented in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia’s written histories before spreading around the world. Beer crates were originally made of wood. Beer was first made in what is now Iran around 7,000 years ago. Beer may have been produced in Neolithic Europe as early as 5,000 years ago, and was mostly consumed at home.

Before the Industrial Revolution, beer was still brewed and sold on a home scale, albeit by the 7th century, European monks were also producing and selling beer. Beer production shifted from artisanal to industrial during the Industrial Revolution, and domestic production ceased to be by the end of the 19th century. The brewing industry is now a global enterprise, with numerous large international corporations and tens of thousands of smaller breweries ranging from brewpubs to regional breweries.