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
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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 These laws were famously only repealed in 1933 after a period of bootlegging and illegal manufacture gave rise to organised crime.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 Australia followed suit in 1972, when Gough Whitlam repealed Australian law prohibiting the brewing of all but the weakest beers and wines as one of his first acts as Prime Minister. The poem 'One Percent Lament' published in the first and widely distributed Australian home brewing book 'Making Beer' by B Hayes is believed to have triggered the decision. It lampooned Government policy. Olinda Home Winemaking and Brewing, of which Hayes was founder and managing director, introduced the first beer packs and ancillary products which initiated the Australian industry in 1970. In order to circumvent the legal restrictions, pack directions advised brewers NOT to add 3 lbs of sugar and double the concentration of the brew as this would make (illegal)commercial strength beer. Victoria Police pursued a policy of surveiling retail outlets, recording car registrations of kit buyers, and raiding homes in search of illegal strength home brew, until defeated by public reaction.
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