Homebrewing

For other meanings, see Homebrew.

Homebrewing fermentation vessel with fermentation lock.

Homebrewing typically refers to the brewing of beer and similar alcoholic beverages (and sometimes soft drinks) on a very small scale as a hobby for personal consumption, free distribution at social gatherings, amateur brewing competitions or other assorted generally non-commercial reasons.

History of homebrewing

Main article: History of beer

Early restrictions: from 1900

Alcohol has been brewed domestically throughout its 7000-year history.

Throughout the first half of the twentieth century, the history of homebrewing was circumscribed by taxation and prohibition, largely due to lobbying by large breweries that wished to stamp out the practice. One of the earliest, modern attempts to regulate private production that affected this era was the Inland Revenue Act of 1880 in the United Kingdom; this required a 5-shilling home-brewing license. In the US, 33 states had prohibited the production of alcohol by 1920. These laws were famously only repealed in 1933 after a period of bootlegging and illegal manufacture gave rise to organised crime. Following the privations of World War II, the cost of the license to citizens still on rationing severely restricted the pursuit of home-brewing as a pastime in the UK.

Liberalisation: post 1960

Liberalisation began in English-speaking countries in April 1963, when UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Reggie Maudling removed the need for the 1880 brewing license. Australia followed suit in 1972, when Gough Whitlam repealed Australian law prohibiting the brewing of all but the weakest beers and wines as one of his first acts as Prime Minister.

In the US, when prohibition was repealed with the 21st Amendment, home wine-making was legalised. Homebrewing of beer should have also been legalised at this time, but a clerical error omitted the words "and/or beer" from the document which was eventually passed into law. Thus, the home-brewing of beer remained illegal for several decades.

In November 1978, Congress passed a bill repealing Federal restrictions on the homebrewing of small amounts of beer. Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States, signed the bill into law in February 1979, and many states soon followed suit. However, this bill left individual states free to pass their own laws limiting production. For example, homebrewing is still illegal in the state of Alabama.

Development of the craft

The opportunity to produce alcoholic beverages at home was seized upon enthusiastically, although brewing cultures developed differently with trends dictated by the legal and commercial situation of the legalised territories at the time.

In the United Kingdom, many pioneers were home winemakers owing to the greater availability of information and ingredients. These included C.J.J. Berry, who founded wine brewing circles in Hampshire and three other English counties; began producing Amateur Winemaker magazine and eventually published First Steps in Winemaking. Perhaps the most vocal proponent of home beer making was Dave Line, who after also writing for Amateur Winemaker wrote The Big Book of Brewing in 1974.

The United States, having an established home winemaking culture, moved rapidly into the brewing of beer; whilst in Australia, Coopers, an Adelaide beer-brewing supplier acted to provide immediately for demand, again bringing home beer production to prominence. Within months of legalization, Charlie Papazian founded the Association of Brewers. In 1984, Papazian published The Complete Joy of Home Brewing.

This and Line's work remain popular texts to this day alongside later publications such as Graham Wheeler's Home Brewing: The CAMRA Guide.

General information

Basic principles

Brewing relies on the conversion of sugars into ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide by yeast through fermentation. Fermentable sugars are typically obtained by steeping malted grain (malt) in hot water during a process known as mashing. When malt is mashed at temperatures between about 60-70°C, natural enzymes in the grain break down large starch molecules into both smaller non-fermentable starch-like molecules known as dextrin and into fermentable sugar molecules. Dextrins typically provide mouthfeel and sometimes sweetness to the final beer, while the sugars are converted to alcohol. The resulting solution, known as wort (pronounced wert) is run off from the mash during a process known as “sparging” and contains the sugars, dextrins, proteins and other molecules, many of which are carried into the final beer. The wort is boiled with hops (which adds flavor and a preservative effect) then cooled to near room temperature and yeast are added to begin the fermentation process.

Concentrated wort or malt extract is commercially available and can be used alone or in combination with grain homebrewing. Homebrewing kits are also available and they usually provide a malt extract (infused with hops for flavor) which can be fermented upon dilution with water and in many cases, the addition of some sugar or some other kind of basic, fermentable carbohydrate.

Yeast

The home producer must then decide whether to introduce a yeast culture; or wait either for airborne yeasts, or yeasts from the original fruit or grain to infest the must or wort. The latter is known as lambic brewing. Traditionally, "wild" yeast was the only type available, but since Louis Pasteur's discovery of the yeast microorganism, many specific types have been isolated in laboratory conditions.

At the home level, the introduction of a yeast culture is often preferred in order to save time and avoid possible infection by undesirable bacteria. One major exception is cider as apple skins retain significant amounts of naturally occurring yeast: as such in the UK, there has been a longstanding tradition of making farmhouse scrumpy by simply pressing apples and leaving the must to stand.

As with many disciplines within homebrewing, some practitioners are very interested in the choice of zymology. There are strong proponents of lambic brewing as well as enthusiasts who seek out and re-culture yeasts from favorite or local breweries. Choice of yeast is very important in the character of the final beverage. For example, homebrewers seeking to produce authentic lagers may choose lagering yeasts, which require lower temperatures for the most effective fermentation. On the other hand, a good champagne yeast tolerates the broader range of temperatures used in the champagne production process.

Hops

Modern beers (including ales) are typically flavored with the flowers of the hop plant (Humulus lupulus), a type of climbing vine. Use of the hop plant to flavor beer began in Europe, possibly in Flanders, and replaced Gruit. The bitter acids in hops help flavor the beverage and also help extend shelf life, especially in the centuries before refrigeration. Hops will vary widely in flavor and acid levels depending on the hop variety and environmental conditions. Famous varieties include Hallertau (German), Cascades (American), and Kent (English).

Hops are generally added to a wort in two parts: the bittering hops are boiled for around an hour to an hour and a half, and the finishing hops are added toward, or after, the end of the boil. The cones contain resins, which provide the bittering and take a long boil to extract, and oils, which provide flavor and aroma but evaporate quickly. Generally speaking, hops provide the most flavoring when boiled for around 15 minutes, and the most aroma when not boiled at all (i.e., added after the boil, a process called dry hopping).

Hops generally come in four forms: whole, pellet, plug, and oil. Whole hops are simply the flattened, dried cones (flowers), sometimes mistakenly called "leaf hops" (you don't want to brew with the leaves). Pellets are formed by crushing the cones into small cylindrical shapes resembling rabbit food. Plugs are also cylindrical, but are much wider (about 1" diameter). Hop oil is used as an easy way of dry hopping. Whole hops tend to appeal to brewers who like an "authentic" feel to their beer, but they tend to age quickly since they have a much greater surface area than other forms; whole hops left in the freezer for extended periods are better for bittering than for flavoring or (especially) aroma. Hop pellets and plugs have a much greater shelf life and are often preferred by brewers who want the freshest hops available (especially plugs). Pellets often come in the greatest variety in homebrew supply stores, since they take up the least space and store very well; unfortunately they break up into very small particles and can be hard to filter out of the wort. Plugs don't seem to have that problem, but are harder to find than pellets or whole hops.

Preparation time

Preparation of a must or wort for brewing can take under an hour when working with concentrates. However, producing a fermentable wort from malted grains can take six or more hours before it is ready for pitching yeast. Both fermenting and maturation times are typically shorter for beer than for wine. However enthusiasts in either branch of the craft can make very drinkable beers, wines or ciders in about 4-6 weeks.

Contrary to some of the myths about homebrewing, it does not necessarily require a large amount of space or produce unpleasant odors. However, the boiling of beer worts does produce a malty smell and some home enthusiasts prefer to undertake this part of the process outdoors.

Alcohol Content

Alcohol content (with hydrometer)

Homebrewer using a hydrometer (floating in the wort) and thermometer (clipped to the rim of the bucket)

Alcohol content is determined by measuring the specific gravity before and after fermentation by use of a hydrometer. Using a hydrometer, the original gravity (OG) of the wort is measured at 60°F before the admixture of yeast. After fermentation, a second reading is taken for final gravity (FG). These values are used in the following expressions to determine alcohol by weight (ABW) and alcohol by volume (ABV):

$\%ABW=76.08*{\frac {OG-FG}{1.775-OG}}$

$\%ABV=ABW*{\frac {FG}{.794}}$

Specific gravity adjustments for different temperatures:

Temperature	50°F	55°F	60°F	65°F	70°F	75°F	80°F	85°F	90°F	95°F	100°F	105°F
Offset	-0.0006	-0.0003	.000	.0006	.0012	.0018	.0026	.0033	.004	.005	.006	.007

offset = 1.313454 - (0.132674 * Temperature) + (.002057793 * Temperature²) - (.000002627634 * Temperature³)

Many homebrewing hydrometers offer a scale, in addition to specific gravity, called potential alcohol, which makes it much easier to estimate the alcoholic strength of the finished product. Potential alcohol represents what percentage would be in the brew if all the sugar were fully fermented. The homebrewer simply takes a before and an after reading, and notes the difference between them as the alcohol by volume.

Without Hydrometer

When using a typical malt extract home brew kit, plus sugar, the maximum possible ABV can be calculated, with the rider that if some sugar is left unfermented, the ABV will be lower.

$MAX\%ABV={\frac {(S+.8M)*11.39}{W}}-.5$

Where S = Weight of sugar in Kg

M = Weight of malt extract in Kg

W = Volume of wort in gallons

Domestic batch sizes

Typical US batches of homebrewed beer are five US gallons (19 L) in volume. This makes roughly enough for two cases — or 48 12-ounce (355 mL) bottles — of beer. In Britain and Australia homebrew is typically produced in 5 Imperial gallon (23 L) batches, although more experienced brewers often progress to larger batch sizes.

Wine batch sizes vary considerably; from small, 1-gallon, brews to 5-gallon bins, depending on the brewer.

Equipment

Basic equipment

Equipment and books may be purchased through local home brew shops or online. Most equipment available through homebrewing suppliers tends to reflect the basic batch sizes of the country concerned; this is partly dictated by the batch sizes that local homebrew kits are designed to produce.

In the United States, typical equipment costs are approximately $75 - $99 plus the cost of a large kettle (about $35-$50). Ingredients for a typical 5 gallon batch range from $27 to $45 depending on beer style, using dry or liquid yeast and the store's pricing. Additional costs such as bottles (about $10-$14 per case of 24 12 oz bottles) (which may be reused with adequate cleaning) and sanitizers should also be anticipated. It is possible to produce beers using domestic kitchen equipment, but as it is reasonably inexpensive, most enthusiasts quickly buy some specialist equipment.

Minimum equipment

Many home brewers choose to have a broad variety of equipment on hand; however, good results can be achieved for all types of beverages with very little equipment. It is necessary to have a good quality sterilisation solution and something in which to store the finished product.

Typical minimum equipment requirements for different homebrew techniques

	Getting Started	Trying Own Recipes	Working with Ingredients	Advanced Methods
Beer	Kit	Extract	Partial Mash	Full Mash
	Fermentor, Syphon Tube.	Boiler / Large Pan Fermentor, Syphon Tube, Hydrometer.	Boiler, Fermentor, Syphon Tube, Secondary Vessel, Thermometer, Hydrometer.	Boiler, Mash Tun, Fermentor, Syphon Tube, Secondary Vessel, Thermometer, Hydrometer.
Cider	Kit	Concentrate	Juice	Pressed Apples
	Fermentor, Syphon Tube.	Fermentor, Syphon Tube, Secondary Vessel, Hydrometer.	Fermentor, Syphon Tube, Secondary Vessel, Hydrometer.	Fermentor, Syphon Tube, Secondary Vessel, Hydrometer, Cider Press.
Wine	Kit	Concentrate	Juice	Pressed Fruit
	Fermentor, Syphon Tube.	Fermentor, Syphon Tube, Secondary Vessel, Hydrometer.	Fermentor, Syphon Tube, Secondary Vessel, Hydrometer.	Fermentor, Syphon Tube, Secondary Vessel, Hydrometer, Fruit Press.

Custom Equipment

Owing to the expense of having even the simplest custom brewing equipment built, there is a considerable subculture of homemade equipment building. For boiling, the use of gas burners and large cooking pots can provide for both larger quantities and a more controllable brewing process. For cooling, wort chillers can be made from ice chests and picnic coolers. For primary and secondary fermentation, investing in larger plastic or glass fermentation containers, whether carboys or demijohns, is a typical upgrade. For storage and dispensing some brewers use plastic; while PET plastic is popular, it should be considered that plastic has a limited shelf life and that, during degradation of polymers, monomers [known to be carcinogenic] are released. Also consider that the brew will take on some taste properties from plastic, usually to an ill-effect. The use of stainless steel storage or glass equipment is the best option. There are both second-hand and brand new stainless steel kegs available for this purpose.

The process

Main article: Homebrewing beer

The homebrewing process can be broken down into the following steps:

1. Making wort or must
2. Fermentation
3. Clarification
4. Conditioning
5. Packaging (in bottles, kegs or casks)

Beer

Beer prior to fermentation is called wort, which is made from hops & liquor extracted from crushed grains/reconstituted malt extract. The wort may be made by a commercially processed extract available in dry or liquid form or by mashing grains. After brewing, once the yeast is added to the wort, it is now beer.

Liquor

Perhaps the most important ingredient of beer is water which, once purified by boiling, is referred to as liquor. This is not to be confused with the liquor that is commonly available at the local bar and pub.

Kits

1.5/1.8kg Homebrewing kits.

No-Boil Kits contain hopped liquid malt extract that, when reconstituted with water, produces wort. They are the easiest method available since the basic varieties typically don't require boiling or other preparations. The quality of beer produced by these kits can sometimes be very good. This is also known as 'Kit and Kilo' brewing, because the typical recipe used with these kits involve the kit itself and approximately a kilogram of fermentable sugars. For sanitation purposes it is recommended that these kits be boiled at least for a few minutes to kill off any unwanted bacteria. If it is boiled for too long, though, hop aromas will be lost.

Extract brewing

Homebrewing malt extracts: liquid in a can and spray dried.

Having mastered no-boil kits, homebrewers can experiment with extract and grain kits or with their own recipes by boiling water, malt extract and hops together in a large kettle or boiler then cool the resulting wort before fermenting.

Extract brewing still saves considerable time against any mashed brewing processes; an extract brew can be completed from start to finish in around two and a half hours. As such it remains a popular home-brewing method.

Many homebrewers achieve excellent results with extract recipes. Boiling a quality extract with hops can produce good facsimiles of many classic brews. However, some brewing adjuncts, (other grains added to beer), need to be converted by enzymatic reactions involved in mashing to be useful in brewing; therefore some homebrewers use a method called partial mashing

Partial mash

The next step up from extract brewing is to use a diastatically active malt extract to convert starches from other beer adjuncts, such as flaked and torrifed (malted?) barleys, flaked wheat, and wheat flour, into fermentable sugars. Adjuncts used to add flavour and color such as roasted barley and crystal malt can also be used.

Partial mashes are also popular amongst extract brewers as they do not require any investment in mashing equipment and add only a short time to the wort preparation process.

Full mash

The most advanced method is to manufacture extract from crushed grains by mashing the grain in hot water. The bulk of the grains must contain a malted grain, typically barley. Mashing requires a vessel known as a mash tun. This method is typically known as full mash or all-grain brewing.

Once the mash is complete, the grains (or malted barley) must then be rinsed to extract even more sugars. This process is called sparging, and is typically done in another vessel called a lauter tun, which often has a rotating arm that sprinkles hot water over the grain, which sits on top of some type of screen, or false bottom, that allows the sweet liquid (wort) to flow through but not the grain itself.

Quick cooling and isolation from the ambient atmosphere is needed to prevent early bacterial contamination or oxidation of the wort. Often, cooling is hastened by the use of thermal heat exchangers, informally, wort chillers, which often consist of copper tubing immersed in the wort, through which cold water flows. For larger volumes of wort, a counter-flow chiller can be used, in which the hot wort flows through copper tubing which is jacketed by a second tube (often garden hose) through which cold water is run in the opposite direction from the wort's flow. In addition, a plate chiller, typically consisting of several stainless steel plates welded together, offers a large surface area for heat exchange and offers comparable performance in a compact package. A more primitive and less effective method is to immerse the pot in a sink full of ice water.

Fermentation

The wort is prepared for fermentation by cooling it down to pitching temperature, typically near room temperature. Refer to yeast specifications for individual pitching temperatures.

Homebrewing fermentation vessel with fermentation lock.

The cooled wort is poured into the primary fermenter in an aggressive manner, so as to aerate the wort; sufficient oxygen is vital for the yeast's growth stage. Advanced homebrewers may further oxygenate the wort by bubbling filtered air or even pure oxygen through the cooled wort. The yeast is then pitched (sprinkled or poured) into the wort. If a dried yeast is used, some brewers rehydrate it first to reduce 'lag time', or the time taken before the yeast starts working. Although more expensive than dry yeasts, a number of liquid yeasts are also available, offering a range of flavor characteristics that allow the brewer to more closely approximate various beer styles.

Primary fermentation takes place in a large glass or plastic carboy or food-grade plastic bucket, nearly always sealed, but traditionally can be left open. When sealed, the fermenter is stoppered with a fermentation lock, which permits the escape of carbon dioxide, without introducing oxygen and airborne bacteria to the brew. During this time, temperatures should be kept at optimum temperature for the fermentation process. For ale this temperature is usually 65-75°F / 18-24°C, and for lager it is usually much colder, around 50°F / 10°C. A vigorous fermentation then takes place, usually starting within 12 hours and continuing over the next few days. During this stage the fermentable sugars (maltose, glucose, and sucrose) in the wort are consumed by the yeast, while ethanol and CO₂ are produced as byproducts by the yeast. A layer of sediment, the trub, appears at the bottom of the fermenter, composed of heavy fats, proteins and inactive yeast. A sure sign that primary fermentation has finished is that the head of foam (krausen), built by bubbling of CO₂, falls.

Conditioning

Often, the beer is then racked (siphoned) into another container, usually a carboy or keg, for aging or secondary fermentation. Fermentation is actually complete, so the term secondary fermentation actually refers to conditioning. Racking is done to separate the batch from the afore-mentioned trub so that it is not used as food by remaining yeast, as this can give the beer an off-flavor. Racking also helps separate the beer from sediment, making it less likely to find its way into the finished product. During secondary fermentation some chemical byproducts from the primary fermentation are digested, which considerably improves the taste. Secondary fermentation can take from 2 to 4 weeks, sometimes longer, depending on the type of beer. Additionally, lagers are aged at this point at near freezing temperatures for 1-6 months depending on style. This cold aging serves to reduce sulfur compounds produced by the bottom-fermenting yeast and to produce a cleaner tasting final product with fewer esters. Some homebrewers will keep the batch in the primary fermenter, called single stage fermentation, for the entire process. The potential drawbacks include added sediment in the finished product and a greater risk of off flavors. If fresh, viable yeast are used, however, off flavors should not be a concern. The tradeoff is this eliminates the need for a second container, reduces labor, and reduces the likelihood of contaminating the batch with bacteria, or oxidizing it, during transfer to the second container. This is a good beginner strategy, especially for those not skilled with racking.

A homebrew bottling operation in a home kitchen.

Once this secondary fermentation is finished, the beer is ready for carbonation. There are two methods of carbonation. The first method does not require much capital expenditure per batch but is more time consuming. About 3/4 cup of corn sugar (dextrose) or other fermentable sugar is added to the beer, which is then transferred to bottles and then capped, or placed in a keg. The fermentation of the priming sugar in the closed container by left-over yeast suspended in the beer creates carbon dioxide which then dissolves into the beer. This takes 1-2 weeks. The second method involves pressurizing carbon dioxide into the beer in a special type of keg - either a Cornelius keg, the kind used in restaurants for soda storage, or a pressure barrel. Canisters of carbon dioxide, or soda chargers, can be released into the pressure barrel directly. Carbon dioxide equilibration will then be complete in 5-7 days, depending on temperature. Several methods exist for speeding carbonation up, from simply shaking the keg periodically to gas injection, which requires additional equipment.

Using the first carbonation method, sediment will remain at the base of the bottles after completion. At this point it is referred to as the dregs, and an experienced homebrewer learns how to decant the beer, with minimal contribution to the taste of the beer in the mug. Some wheat beers, however, demand the sediment be rotated through the beer before it is served.

When using natural carbonation, the fermentation process restarts, although in a much smaller scale. The yeast must ferment the sugar, then clean up the byproducts of fermentation as in the secondary phase. Because the yeast population is much smaller, the process can take up to and beyond two weeks before full carbonation. Once the bottle/keg conditioning phase ends, the beer begins aging. Aging typically rounds out any rough edges in the beer and can remedy many imperfections. Some beers such as wheat beers are considered best with little to no aging, while bigger, higher alcohol beers can benefit from age for years.

During all stages attention to sanitation is essential. All items that come in contact with the wort or brew, must be soaked in a sanitizing solution and thoroughly rinsed, or immersed in boiling water.

When using malt extract, additional steps can be taken to add different flavors. Specialty grains are malted grains that do not require mashing. They are commonly steeped to add flavor, body and color at the beginning of brews. Sometimes hops are added at later stages for aroma and flavor, or dry hopped, (added just after secondary fermentation). Malto-dextrin, oak chips, and numerous other flavoring can also be experimented with.

There are several instruction books available. Some are more detailed than others, but homebrewing can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. The basic process does not require a great deal of technical knowledge, and the results are very much under the control of the brewer.

Packaging

Although bottling has traditionally been the most popular form of packaging, the latest trend is for a homebrewer to buy or build a kegerator. A kegerator is a fridge that can dispense draft beer. Another popular packaging method, at least in the US, is Cornelius kegs; they caught on quickly when Coca-Cola and Pepsi stopped using them to distribute their soda syrup, and dumped them on the market around 1994.

Brewing culture

Sometimes referred to as craft brewing, the culture surrounding homebrewing has many strands In the US, homebrew radio stations and brewpubs have become popular over the last 20 years; both have a tradition of promoting live, unpasteurised beers. In the UK, the Campaign for Real Ale and homebrew circles have helped to promote the craft and cask-conditioned ale over pasteurised keg beers. This having been said the vast majority of beer consumed on both sides of the Atlantic is keg beer.

Patience is required in homebrewing. The whole brewing process can take from two weeks to several months or even years, depending on the style of beer. Some enthusiasts brew beer in far larger quantities than the typical 5-gallon batch, sometimes as a prelude to commercial production. It is not unusual for a homebrewer to have several batches in different stages of completion to permit the dispensing of quality homebrew at short notice.

People homebrew for a variety of reasons. Homebrewed beer can be cheaper than commercially equivalent brews; however most homebrewers customize their recipes to their own tastes, which tends to be more expensive. For instance, hopheads, or fans of beer with prominent hop flavors, can hop their beer far beyond what would normally be considered excessive. Dark beer enthusiasts can create beers, such as Russian Imperial Stout. or Porter, that are the antithesis of the paler style that is commercially dominant, particularly in the US. Additionally, homebrewers are able to create ‘specialty’ beers that are either extremely rare or entirely unavailable on the open market. Moreover, homebrewers have complete control over the amount of alcohol produced (based on the amount of fermentables placed into the wort), allowing for the production of beers containing very low amounts of alcohol or very high amounts of alcohol.

Some homebrewers strive for perfection of specific styles of beer and enter their products in competitions. Others simply brew to have styles of beer on hand to drink and share that are otherwise commercially unavailable, or in an unacceptably poor state when they are available. Others, with access to extremely large quantities of bio-materials (grains, rice, beets, potatoes, etc.), produce their own alcohol fuel for powering farm equipment, as well as cars and trucks, at a considerable cost-savings relative to paying for fuel at the pump.

One of greatest draws of homebrewed beer is the opportunity to enjoy beer that is 'live'. Since almost every beer available is pasteurized, it is almost impossible for the average beer drinker to enjoy beer in its natural state. Pasteurization requires the beer to be cooked, which results in the disappearance of any carbonation. Commercial brewers collect the boiled off alcohol, mix it with the pasteurized beer and force carbonate the brew. The disadvantage of this is the fact that all of the yeast is killed in the process. Therefore, the beer tastes considerably dissimilar from ‘live’ beer (that is, beer containing live yeast). Moreover, the beer will not age without live yeast. Homebrew is never pasteurized, therefore the carbonation present is naturally produced by the yeast, the taste is a more natural flavor, and the beer will age, changing in taste, texture and color over time. Without homebrew, the general public would not be able to enjoy beer in its natural state. The one exception is a type of beer occasionally offered by pubs and breweries known as ‘cask conditioned’ beer, which, like homebrew, is not pasteurized.

Legality

Sweden

You are allowed to brew your own beer as long as it's only made for personal use and not for sale.

USA

Many homebrewing related articles and books mistakenly claim that, in 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed into law a bill explicitly allowing home beer and winemaking, which was at the time illegal as a holdover from the prohibition of alcoholic beverages (repealed in 1933). In fact, the U.S. Congress passed an Act in 1978 exempting a certain amount of beer brewed for personal or family use from taxation. President Carter signed the Act, which addressed other issues as well.

States remain free to restrict, or even prohibit, the manufacture of beer, mead, hard cider, wine and other alcoholic beverages at home. For example, Ala. Code § 28-1-1 addresses the illegal manufacture of alcoholic beverages in Alabama, and no other provision of Alabama law provides an exception for personal use brewing.

Ala. Code § 28-1-1 - "In all counties of the state it shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to have in his or its possession any still or apparatus to be used for the manufacture of any alcoholic beverage of any kind or any alcoholic beverage of any kind illegally manufactured or transported within the state or imported into the state from any other place without authority of the alcoholic control board of the state, and any person, firm or corporation violating this provision or who transports any illegally manufactured alcoholic beverages or who manufactures illegally any alcoholic beverages shall, upon conviction, be punished as provided by law."

Interestingly, several homebrew stores operate in the state, so while the law does appear facially to fail to exempt homebrewing, its current legal status appears to be unclear.

However, most states permit homebrewing, allowing 100 gallons of beer per person over the age of 21 per household, up to a maximum of 200 gallons per year. Because alcohol is taxed by the federal governments via excise taxes, homebrewers are restricted from selling any beer they brew. This similarly applies in most Western countries.

UK

In the United Kingdom one may produce an unlimited quantity of fermented beverages. They are not however permitted to distill or sell their products.

Australia

In Australia individuals may manufacture their own alcohol provided that they do not employ the use of a still. Stills owned by Australians must be no bigger than 5 litres in size and may not be used to distill alcohol (they are intended to be used for distilling water and other products such as essential oils).

New Zealand

New Zealand lifted the ban on home distilling in 1996, and it now legal to distill spirits for your own consumption. It is still illegal to supply or sell any alcoholic beverage without the appropriate license.

External links

• Homebrewing Discussion Forums
• General malt extract homebrewing procedure
• Craft Brewing Association - The UK home brewing organisation
• Free and comprehensive 'how to' home brew beer information John Palmer's "How to Brew" book (1st Edition) is online and free.
• The Virtual Organic Home Brewing Class A great virtual class with lots of pictures.
• DIY Kegerator Project Includes detailed costs, research, and lessons learned.