Celebrate Your Right To Drink Beer

By Rachelle Bowden in Miscellaneous on Apr 21, 2005 6:47PM

This is WAY last minute, but any excuse to drink mass quantities of beer is a good excuse to drop other plans.

Tonight beginning at 4pm at Berghoff's, beer lovers are getting together to commemorate the sesquicentennial anniversary of the Great Chicago Beer Riot of 1855. April 21, 1855 marked Chicago's fist civil disturbance.. and it resulted in 1 death and 60 arrests.

Basically the fight involved an Irish Chicago a "know-nothing" Mayor sticking it to the Germans and Irish via beer. He increased the liquor license fee by 600% and started to strictly enforce a previously ignored ordinance requiring saloons and taverns to close on Sundays. On the first Sunday after the enforcement about 200 people were arrested and a hearing was set for April 21, 1855.

On the day of the trial about 300 barkeepers, brewers and beer-lovers (that's us!) showed up to protest at and around the courthouse. Shooting broke out between the mob & the police and a bunch of people on both sides were injured. By nightfall the mayor recinded the license fee increase and relaxed the enforcement of the No Booze on Sunday law.

So .. as proud Chicagoans who love our beer so much we'll fight for it, go out tonight to honor this event. We hear a bagpiper is reserved, protest signs are available, and a city permit for peaceful procession has been secured!