Join us and Celebrate Oregon Beer for Pub January, encouraging everyone to see friends, meet new people and support their fave local businesses during the first month of the year.
As Celebrate Oregon Beer states:
January has always been a tough year for breweries. People drink the most beer in the summer and the least in the winter–and January is the worst month of all. The holidays are over, but the weather remains bad and the nights are long. But in the past decade, a social movement called “Dry January” has gained momentum. Inspired to develop a more balanced relationship with alcohol–admirable, indeed!–people spend the first month of the year on an alcohol fast. For breweries, however, it’s unfortunate timing, corresponding to that month when the fewest people come into their pubs and taprooms.
We have a solution: Pub January!
The truth is, January is the month you should be trying to get out of the house. We have fewer hours of daylight, and the hours we do have are often dimmed by clouds. The lack of daylight has a physiological effect: call it the winter blues or Seasonal Affective Disorder, but the effect is a low-grade depression. Because the weather isn’t nice, we have far fewer activities in January. And because we’re not out already and we’re feeling sluggish and depressed, we tend to hole up.
This is exactly the wrong instinct. Social isolation is the worst thing for the winter blues. When we are connected with other people, we enjoy a wide range of mental and physical health benefits. To battle the winter blues, we need to be scheduling activities and interacting with other people. What better time to visit a pub?