With America On Tap coming to the Jersey Shore in a few weeks, you’re probably going to need some conversation starters to talk about if you decide to sample more than 100 craft brewery releases. While it’s true that beer is both the greatest and most interesting beverage in the world, here are 15 weird beer facts courtesy of factslides.com:

  • 1

    Washed Away

    A 388,000-gallon beer wave flooded London in 1814 after a huge vat holding it ruptured.

  • 2

    No Light, No Light

    Even though light is considered to be better than darkness, light exposure is the main reason why beer goes bad.

  • 3

    God Bless the U.S.A.

    It’s no secret that Americans love beer, but did you know that the first United States president, George Washington, had his own brew house on the grounds of Mount Vernon?

  • 4

    A 4,000-Year Delicacy

    The Sumerians created the oldest known beer recipe more than 4,000 thousand years ago. This means more than 190 generations of 21-year-olds grew up since it was created.

  • 5

    Paid In Full

    Egyptian pyramid workers were paid with one gallon of beer every workday. Beer was actually the national currency in the land of the Pharaohs of Egypt.

  • 6

    Safer Than Water

    If you remember hearing about the Bubonic / Black Plague in history class, beer was consumed more than water during the Middle Ages because its alcohol content made the liquid safer to drink.

  • 7

    Heart Healthy

    Beer can keep both your heart and brain healthy because it’s been claimed to help prevent cardiac disease and cognitive decline.

  • 8

    Empty Glass Syndrome

    Cenosillacaphobia is the fear of an empty beer glass — and really, is there anything scarier than that?

  • 9

    Drinkable Snake Venom

    The strongest beer in the world is “Snake Venom,” which boasts an impressive 67.5 percent alcohol by volume. This rate is very high considering how beer typically has an alcohol content below 10 percent.

  • 10

    Takin' Care of Business

    Alcoholics can get paid in beer to clean the streets in Amsterdam. A day’s work can be compensated with five beer cans, tobacco and 10 euros. Time to quit your day job and move to Amsterdam!

  • 11

    Political Drinking Games

    In Argentina, political parties have their own brands of beer. Whoever ends up being the 2016 presidential nominees need to get on the bandwagon.

  • 12

    Non-Alcoholic to Russians

    As strange as it sounds, Russians did not consider beer to be an alcoholic beverage until 2013.

  • 13

    Sorry Scotsman

    A Scotsman endured an impressive four weeks of torture and set a record for the longest hangover ever after he drank 60 pints of beer.

  • 14

    Alcohol In Africa

    While Guinness is certainly an Irish beer, more Guinness beer is consumed in Nigeria than Ireland.

  • 15

    It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere

    At any given time, 0.7 percent of the world is drunk. So there are always 50 million people who are drunk, including right now.

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