MUKILTEO – David Williams loves to drink beer.

Williams, 23, of Everett, has sipped suds at countless bars, and he works behind the counter at his favorite watering hole, the Diamond Knot Pub &Brewery in Mukilteo.

On Saturday, he and beer lovers across the country tipped their glasses to commemorate an important anniversary – April 7, 1933 – the end of prohibition on beer.

“It’s awesome,” Williams said during a smoke break outside the brewery. “It’s cool that it happened. I actually drink myself.”

The Diamond Knot Pub &Brewery was among the many bars nationwide that held a “Brew Year’s Eve” celebration to honor the anniversary. The Mukilteo pub sold soup and $2 pints of brew.

The full repeal of Prohibition came on Dec. 5, 1933. However, the Volstead Act was modified earlier to legalize beer with 3.2 percent alcohol by weight. The first public delivery of beer went to President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House.

Bruce Samuels, 52, of Shoreline stopped by Diamond Knot with his wife, Nancy. He could think of another day worth celebrating – Oct. 14, 1978, when President Jimmy Carter signed a bill to legalize home brewing.

“I’m glad we don’t have prohibition,” said Samuels, a home brewer who specializes in porters and stouts, and who is experimenting with adding chocolate to his suds. “But I also know people who don’t do well with alcohol.”

Mukilteo residents Jerry Arnold, 50, and Helen DiPaola, 56, are regulars at Diamond Knot. They stopped by Saturday to mark Brew Year’s Eve.

“The insanity of the world needs to be recognized, and this is a good way to do it,” Arnold said.

Williams, who tends the bar, said he’s thankful Prohibition didn’t last.

Without beer, life wouldn’t be the same, he said.

“We wouldn’t have our way of life,” Williams said. “Thank God that it happened.”

Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.