Homebrewing

Homebrewing is the brewing of beer or other alcoholic beverages on a small scale for personal, non-commercial purposes. Supplies, such as kits and fermentation tanks, can be purchased locally at specialty stores or online. Beer was brewed domestically for thousands of years before its commercial production although its legality has varied according to local regulation. Homebrewing is closely related to the hobby of home distillation, the production of alcoholic spirits for personal consumption, but home distillation is generally more tightly regulated.

History

has been brewed domestically throughout its 7,000-year history, beginning in the Neolithic period in Mesopotamia, Egypt and China. It seems to have first developed as thick beers; during this time meads, fruit wines and rice wines were also developed.
Women brewers dominated alcohol production on every occupied continent until commercialization and industrialization of brewing occurred. The tradition of brewing being in the domain of women stemmed from the fact that brewing was a by-product of gathering, and often considered a part of baking.
The Greeks and Romans cultivated both grape wine and beer, to a lesser extent. Roman women often directed production in larger households while the labor was performed by slaves.
By the Tang dynasty, homebrewing seems to have been a familiar domestic chore in China, albeit the lower classes had to make do with poorly-filtered mash. Laws against making alcohol were enacted and repealed between the Zhou and Ming dynasties.
The 18th century Industrial Revolution brought about such innovations as the thermometer and hydrometer. These tools increased efficiency to the point that mass production of beer was possible for the first time in history. In 1857, French microbiologist Louis Pasteur explained the role of yeast in beer fermentation, allowing brewers to develop strains of yeast with desirable properties such as efficiency converting sugar to alcohol and ability to handle higher alcohol content.
Throughout the first half of the 20th century, homebrewing in the UK was circumscribed by taxation: the Inland Revenue Act 1880 introduced a 5-shilling homebrewing licence. Chancellor of the Exchequer Reginald Maudling removed the requirement for a brewing licence in 1963. Australia followed suit in 1972 when Gough Whitlam repealed the law prohibiting the brewing of all but the weakest beers in one of his first acts as Prime Minister.
In 1920, Prohibition caused breweries across the United States to be closed down or to begin making malt for other purposes. The homebrewing of beer with an alcohol content higher than 0.5% remained illegal until 1978 when Congress passed a bill repealing federal restrictions and excise taxes, and President Jimmy Carter signed the bill, H.R. 1337, into law, legalizing homebrewing of beer in the United States. Within months of homebrewing's full legalization, Charlie Papazian founded the Brewers Association and American Homebrewers Association. In 1984, Papazian published The Complete Joy of Home Brewing, which remains in print alongside later publications, such as Graham Wheeler's Home Brewing: The CAMRA Guide.

Brewing culture

People choose to brew their own beer for a variety of reasons. Many homebrew to avoid a higher cost of buying commercially equivalent beverages. Brewing domestically also affords one the freedom to adjust recipes according to one's own preference, create beverages that are unavailable on the open market or beverages that may contain fewer calories, or less or more alcohol.
Some people join homebrewing clubs and enter homebrew competitions. The Beer Judge Certification Program is an American organization that oversees homebrew competitions, certifies judges, and offers categories for judging. Similar British organizations are The National Guild of Wine and Beer Judges,
and the National Association of Wine and Beermakers -, who have held an annual show since 1959.

Legality

Country	Homebrewing	Home distillation
Australia	Legal for individuals to produce beer and wine for personal use.	Illegal to distil alcohol without an excise manufacturer licence. Permission is also required from the Australian Taxation Office to own, possess, dispose of, buy, sell, import or manufacture a still of over 5 litres capacity, whether it is being used to produce alcohol or not.
Austria	Legal for personal use only, not for sale.	Legal to distill alcohol with a permission or license.
Canada	Legal in most Canadian provinces. Liquor laws are regulated provincially, while the federal government has laws about taxation and importation of beer, wine and other liquors.	Legal with a license to distill granted by the government.
Czech Republic	Legal. 2000 Litres per household per year of beer for personal use, including notification of the customs office. 2000 litres of wine per household per year.	Not permitted although every household can distill fermented fruit only, up to 30 litres per year in a local distillery, for personal use only.
Denmark	Legal. No limit per household per year of beer, given that it is for personal consumption.	Not permitted - Distillation licenses not available for persons.
Eritrea	Legal.
Estonia	Legal.	Illegal. Distillation licenses not available for persons.
Ethiopia	Legal.
Faroe Islands	Illegal.	Illegal.
Finland	Legal for personal use only.	Illegal. Only a commercial manufacturer can apply for a manufacturing permit.
Germany	Legal. 200 litres of beer per household per year may be produced without taxation, but notification of the local customs office is necessary. Larger quantities are taxed according to law. From 2025, the German government wants to allow 500 liters tax-free; the obligation to register is to be abolished.	Illegal. Distillation licenses not available for persons.
Hong Kong	Legal.	Legal with a license, otherwise punishable by fine and/ or forfeiture.
Hungary	Legal. 1000 litres of beer per person per year may be produced without taxation, but notification of the local customs office is necessary. Larger quantities are taxed according to law.	Legal. 50 litres of palinka per person per year may be produced without taxation, but notification of the local customs office is necessary. Larger quantities are taxed according to law.
Iceland	Legal up to 2.25% alcohol by volume only.	Illegal except for officially licensed and regulated distilleries.
India	Legal for personal use in certain states. No national law exists that specifically prevents brewing. Some states ban alcohol completely.	Illegal.
Iran	Illegal	Illegal.
Ireland	Legal for personal use. Illegal with intent to sell or if sold for profit.	Illegal except for officially licensed and regulated distilleries.
Italy	Legal only for personal use.	Illegal
Japan	Legal up to 1% alcohol by volume only; suppliers sell homebrewing equipment and kits, leaving it up to the customer to brew within the law.	Illegal.
Malaysia	Illegal. Exemption is given to natives in Sabah and Sarawak for their own consumption.	Illegal.
New Zealand	Legal for personal use, not for selling without a license.	Legal since 1996 to distill spirits for personal consumption, not for selling without a license.
Netherlands	Legal for personal use only.	Illegal except for officially licensed and regulated distilleries.
Norway	Legal for personal use only.	Illegal. Owning a still or important parts of one illegal.
Poland	Legal for personal use only, not for sale.	Illegal
Portugal	Legal in unlimited quantity for domestic consumption only, not for sale.
Russian Federation	Legal for personal use only.	Legal for personal use.
Romania	Legal for personal use only.	Legal with payment of excise tax, up to 50 liters per year.
Singapore	Legal up to 30 litres per household per month. Brewers must be 18 years of age or older, and the brewing process must not "degrade the environment". The product must not be sold.	Illegal without a license. License fees are only practical for commercial distilleries.
South Africa	Legal for home brewed beers in unlimited quantities for personal use only, not for sale or barter, without any required permits or licenses. Registration as a "manufacturer not for commercial use" at the South African Revenue Service is required to produce wine at home.	Registration and a permit are required to own, operate, or have a still in one's possession. Producing distilled spirits at home is limited "for own use" only and products may not be sold, or used for bartering. As of 2010 "agricultural distilling" permits are no longer available. Commercial operations require a micro-manufacturing license, and various other permits are required. For larger quantities, a full manufacturing license and various permits are required.
Spain	Legal
Sudan	Legal
Sweden	Legal for personal use only, not for sale.	Illegal. Owning a still or important parts of it illegal.
Taiwan	Legal for personal use only, not for sale.
Turkey	Legal up to 350 litres for personal use.	Illegal
Ukraine	Illegal	Illegal
United Kingdom	Legal in unlimited quantity for domestic consumption only. Fermented products for sale must include payment of alcohol duty and registration with HM Revenue and Customs.	Legal with a license to distill granted by the government.
United States	Legal in all states. Individual states remain free to restrict or prohibit the manufacture of beer, mead, hard cider, wine and other fermented alcoholic beverages at home. Until 2013, Alabama and Mississippi were the only states with laws prohibiting the homebrewing of beer. Alabama and Mississippi both legalized home brewing in their respective 2013 legislative sessions. Although all state governments have legalized homebrewing, some states retain local options that permit local governments to make homebrewing illegal under municipal law. Alaska is one such state where the local option is currently exercised. Most states permit homebrewing of of beer per adult per year and up to a maximum of per household annually when there are two or more adults residing in the household. Because alcohol is taxed by the federal government via excise taxes, homebrewers are restricted from selling any beer they brew. This similarly applies in most Western countries. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed into law a bill allowing home beers, which had not been permitted unless the excise taxes were paid as a holdover from the prohibition of alcoholic beverages, which had been repealed in 1933. This change also exempted home brewers from posting a "penal bond" which had the prohibitive effect of economically preventing brewers of small quantities from pursuing their hobby.	Regulated at the National level under USC Title 26 subtitle E Ch51. Production of distilled alcohols for consumption carries an excise tax and numerous requirements must be met to legally produce. Owning or operating a distillation apparatus without filing the proper paperwork and paying the taxes carries federal criminal penalties.