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Just three companies control approximately 80 percent of the beer
industry in the US. Brewing beer at home is one way to counter this
corporate monopoly. However, Mississippi, Kentucky, Alabama and
Oklahoma still outlaw the craft. Recently, a victory for homebrewers
was scored in Utah, when on February 19th the State Senate legalized homebrewing, bringing the state out of the shadows of prohibition.
Just three companies control approximately 80 percent of the beer
industry in the US. Brewing beer at home is one way to counter this
corporate monopoly. However, Mississippi, Kentucky, Alabama and
Oklahoma still outlaw the craft. Recently, a victory for homebrewers
was scored in Utah, when on February 19th the State Senate legalized homebrewing, bringing the state out of the shadows of prohibition.
Three Republican Senators voted against the bill, including Senate
Majority Assistant Whip Gregory Bell. "I'm not comfortable with home
brewing," Bell said to the Deseret News. "It seems fraught with
mischief to me. Maybe I don't understand it."
Why doesn't Bell understand this delicious an empowering craft?
Perhaps because corporations have taken over an industry than used to
be rooted in the kitchens of the world.
It was in Mesopotamia,
modern day Iraq, where first emerged the trade of beer and barley,
according to Fermenting Revolution: How To Drink Beer and Save the
World by Christopher O'Brien. The need to cultivate crops for this
important product may have been the initial reason for the settlement
of the world's first large-scale community. In Babylonia, where beer
was safer to drink than the canal water, barley and beer were used as a
form of currency. The foundations of modern society appear to be built
on, well, beer.
At the time of the American Revolution, rebels encouraged boycotts
against English beer, chanting the phrase, "Homebrewed Is Best." George
Washington brewed his own beer in a house designated for the craft in
his backyard. At Monticello, Thomas Jefferson gave his friends beer
brewing lessons. In 1872, there were 3,421 breweries in the US.
According to the New Yorker, during the Civil War, a member of the
United States Sanitary Commission said beer was a "valuable substitute
for vegetables." Now there are more than 1,400 breweries, and over one
million homebrewers in the US.
Yet during Prohibition, home brewers naturally took a hit. After
Prohibition was lifted, wine was allowed to be produced legally at
home, but beer was not. In 1978, NY Congressman Barbar Conable
sponsored a bill that would legalize homebrewing. When introducing the
bill to Congress, Conable said that Americans should not have to "rely
on the beer barons" for their brew. It wasn't until 1979, when
President Jimmy Carter signed the Cranston Act, that home brewing was
legalized in many states. At the time of the law's passage, only forty
four breweries were in operation the US.
However, the Cranston Act still allowed individual states to prohibit the production. Before the Utah Senate legalized homebrewing a few days ago, those who brewed at home had to get a license and post a $10,000 bond. Utah
Senator Steve Urquhart said of the new law's passage, "We're dealing
with adults and this simply isn't a big deal. That's the argument that
persuades me." Utah Governor Jon Huntsman now
needs to sign the bill into law for it to be applied. Pending this
passage, homebrewers will be able to brew legally starting on May 12.
This homebrewers' victory in Utah is in part
thanks to two years of grassroots activism and lobbying on the part of
the American Homebrewers Association and Gary Glass, the Association's
director. Glass spoke to the Beer Examiner about the process. "Much
thanks to all of the Utah craft brewers who
have helped us in the effort to legalize homebrewing over the past
couple of years... The huge response we've had from Utah
homebrewers and beer enthusiasts contacting their legislators had a
major impact. I was present and testified at the legislative committee
hearings and was encouraged to hear from many legislators that they
were surprised at the number of contacts from voters urging them to
support the measure."
Homebrewing is a wonderful pastime that can also help build
community. In Burlington, Vermont my friends and I recently pooled our
money together to buy brewing equipment, and started a collective which
shares the equipment, recipes and the beer with other locals around
town. In this way, homebrewing has built community and allows us to cut
out the corporate middle man.
Similarly, the homebrewers' victory in Utah is one step close to enabling the beer drinkers of the world to take back their brew from the corporations of the world.
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Just three companies control approximately 80 percent of the beer
industry in the US. Brewing beer at home is one way to counter this
corporate monopoly. However, Mississippi, Kentucky, Alabama and
Oklahoma still outlaw the craft. Recently, a victory for homebrewers
was scored in Utah, when on February 19th the State Senate legalized homebrewing, bringing the state out of the shadows of prohibition.
Three Republican Senators voted against the bill, including Senate
Majority Assistant Whip Gregory Bell. "I'm not comfortable with home
brewing," Bell said to the Deseret News. "It seems fraught with
mischief to me. Maybe I don't understand it."
Why doesn't Bell understand this delicious an empowering craft?
Perhaps because corporations have taken over an industry than used to
be rooted in the kitchens of the world.
It was in Mesopotamia,
modern day Iraq, where first emerged the trade of beer and barley,
according to Fermenting Revolution: How To Drink Beer and Save the
World by Christopher O'Brien. The need to cultivate crops for this
important product may have been the initial reason for the settlement
of the world's first large-scale community. In Babylonia, where beer
was safer to drink than the canal water, barley and beer were used as a
form of currency. The foundations of modern society appear to be built
on, well, beer.
At the time of the American Revolution, rebels encouraged boycotts
against English beer, chanting the phrase, "Homebrewed Is Best." George
Washington brewed his own beer in a house designated for the craft in
his backyard. At Monticello, Thomas Jefferson gave his friends beer
brewing lessons. In 1872, there were 3,421 breweries in the US.
According to the New Yorker, during the Civil War, a member of the
United States Sanitary Commission said beer was a "valuable substitute
for vegetables." Now there are more than 1,400 breweries, and over one
million homebrewers in the US.
Yet during Prohibition, home brewers naturally took a hit. After
Prohibition was lifted, wine was allowed to be produced legally at
home, but beer was not. In 1978, NY Congressman Barbar Conable
sponsored a bill that would legalize homebrewing. When introducing the
bill to Congress, Conable said that Americans should not have to "rely
on the beer barons" for their brew. It wasn't until 1979, when
President Jimmy Carter signed the Cranston Act, that home brewing was
legalized in many states. At the time of the law's passage, only forty
four breweries were in operation the US.
However, the Cranston Act still allowed individual states to prohibit the production. Before the Utah Senate legalized homebrewing a few days ago, those who brewed at home had to get a license and post a $10,000 bond. Utah
Senator Steve Urquhart said of the new law's passage, "We're dealing
with adults and this simply isn't a big deal. That's the argument that
persuades me." Utah Governor Jon Huntsman now
needs to sign the bill into law for it to be applied. Pending this
passage, homebrewers will be able to brew legally starting on May 12.
This homebrewers' victory in Utah is in part
thanks to two years of grassroots activism and lobbying on the part of
the American Homebrewers Association and Gary Glass, the Association's
director. Glass spoke to the Beer Examiner about the process. "Much
thanks to all of the Utah craft brewers who
have helped us in the effort to legalize homebrewing over the past
couple of years... The huge response we've had from Utah
homebrewers and beer enthusiasts contacting their legislators had a
major impact. I was present and testified at the legislative committee
hearings and was encouraged to hear from many legislators that they
were surprised at the number of contacts from voters urging them to
support the measure."
Homebrewing is a wonderful pastime that can also help build
community. In Burlington, Vermont my friends and I recently pooled our
money together to buy brewing equipment, and started a collective which
shares the equipment, recipes and the beer with other locals around
town. In this way, homebrewing has built community and allows us to cut
out the corporate middle man.
Similarly, the homebrewers' victory in Utah is one step close to enabling the beer drinkers of the world to take back their brew from the corporations of the world.
Just three companies control approximately 80 percent of the beer
industry in the US. Brewing beer at home is one way to counter this
corporate monopoly. However, Mississippi, Kentucky, Alabama and
Oklahoma still outlaw the craft. Recently, a victory for homebrewers
was scored in Utah, when on February 19th the State Senate legalized homebrewing, bringing the state out of the shadows of prohibition.
Three Republican Senators voted against the bill, including Senate
Majority Assistant Whip Gregory Bell. "I'm not comfortable with home
brewing," Bell said to the Deseret News. "It seems fraught with
mischief to me. Maybe I don't understand it."
Why doesn't Bell understand this delicious an empowering craft?
Perhaps because corporations have taken over an industry than used to
be rooted in the kitchens of the world.
It was in Mesopotamia,
modern day Iraq, where first emerged the trade of beer and barley,
according to Fermenting Revolution: How To Drink Beer and Save the
World by Christopher O'Brien. The need to cultivate crops for this
important product may have been the initial reason for the settlement
of the world's first large-scale community. In Babylonia, where beer
was safer to drink than the canal water, barley and beer were used as a
form of currency. The foundations of modern society appear to be built
on, well, beer.
At the time of the American Revolution, rebels encouraged boycotts
against English beer, chanting the phrase, "Homebrewed Is Best." George
Washington brewed his own beer in a house designated for the craft in
his backyard. At Monticello, Thomas Jefferson gave his friends beer
brewing lessons. In 1872, there were 3,421 breweries in the US.
According to the New Yorker, during the Civil War, a member of the
United States Sanitary Commission said beer was a "valuable substitute
for vegetables." Now there are more than 1,400 breweries, and over one
million homebrewers in the US.
Yet during Prohibition, home brewers naturally took a hit. After
Prohibition was lifted, wine was allowed to be produced legally at
home, but beer was not. In 1978, NY Congressman Barbar Conable
sponsored a bill that would legalize homebrewing. When introducing the
bill to Congress, Conable said that Americans should not have to "rely
on the beer barons" for their brew. It wasn't until 1979, when
President Jimmy Carter signed the Cranston Act, that home brewing was
legalized in many states. At the time of the law's passage, only forty
four breweries were in operation the US.
However, the Cranston Act still allowed individual states to prohibit the production. Before the Utah Senate legalized homebrewing a few days ago, those who brewed at home had to get a license and post a $10,000 bond. Utah
Senator Steve Urquhart said of the new law's passage, "We're dealing
with adults and this simply isn't a big deal. That's the argument that
persuades me." Utah Governor Jon Huntsman now
needs to sign the bill into law for it to be applied. Pending this
passage, homebrewers will be able to brew legally starting on May 12.
This homebrewers' victory in Utah is in part
thanks to two years of grassroots activism and lobbying on the part of
the American Homebrewers Association and Gary Glass, the Association's
director. Glass spoke to the Beer Examiner about the process. "Much
thanks to all of the Utah craft brewers who
have helped us in the effort to legalize homebrewing over the past
couple of years... The huge response we've had from Utah
homebrewers and beer enthusiasts contacting their legislators had a
major impact. I was present and testified at the legislative committee
hearings and was encouraged to hear from many legislators that they
were surprised at the number of contacts from voters urging them to
support the measure."
Homebrewing is a wonderful pastime that can also help build
community. In Burlington, Vermont my friends and I recently pooled our
money together to buy brewing equipment, and started a collective which
shares the equipment, recipes and the beer with other locals around
town. In this way, homebrewing has built community and allows us to cut
out the corporate middle man.
Similarly, the homebrewers' victory in Utah is one step close to enabling the beer drinkers of the world to take back their brew from the corporations of the world.