I like to think that when it comes to beer, I’m a pretty smart guy.

Algebra, geography and how to use a hyphen, maybe not so much, but beer - now there something I know a thing or two about.

After all, I spent a significant part of my adult beer-drinking life in Seattle, Wash. — a city widely considered one of the beer-brewing capitals of the country. In Seattle, the only thing more abundant than coffee shops and 19-year-old Microsoft millionaires are breweries. So while I was sitting around one recent Sunday afternoon at a local watering hole — OK, actually It was late one Sunday morning — drinking one of my favorite Seattle-brewed beers that only recently became available in my Midwest area, the bartender ask me if I had any big plans for National Beer Drinking Day.

I was shocked! I had never heard of National Beer Drinking Day, so eagerly I pressed for more information and ordered another pint.

According to my bartender, National Beer Drinking Day was just around the corner. Move over Mother’s Day, there’s a new holiday in town. With only a couple of weeks to prepare for this newly discovered holiday, I finished my pint and hustled home.

The following day, I excitedly informed our features editor of my discovery and asked if I could write a story for the Let’s Eat section singing the praises of all things beer. Maybe I would someday wind up the grand marshal of the National Beer Drinking Day parade. A boy can dream, can’t he?

The editor reluctantly agreed, and my search for more information about the sudsy holiday was on. That’s when things took a disturbing turn.

I sat down at my computer and started Googling away, searching for any sign or link to learn more about National Beer Drinking Day, but no luck.

I had — it seems — been had. Could National Beer Drinking Day be another legend like Big Foot, the Spook Light or the Loch Ness Monster. I decided I needed someone to help with my quest. The truth is out there, as they say, and I needed a beer expert to help me find it.

I dropped by May’s Drug Warehouse, 1410 E. Seventh St. and asked to see their beer guy.

Darren Hardaway, an admitted “beer nut” and the store’s liquor department supervisor, was happy to help me out.

“Beer’s my thing,” Hardaway said. “I love it.”

Although Hardaway had never heard of the elusive National Beer Drinking Day, he did suggest a few brands that would add a little cheer to some other upcoming holidays that we know are really holidays.

Get your Irish on