Avoid the Hombrew Tax
It’s May 7th. That means one thing: It’s national homebrew day. Actually, there are a few other holidays today as well, such as lemonade, roast leg of lamb, infertility survival, national tourism day, barrier awareness, package design, and national paste up day. But, to beer drinkers None of that really matters today. Home brewing was the standard way to make beer until the 19th century. But, once mass production of beer took over, home brewing was restricted, taxed, and/or outlawed depending where you lived. Thankfully, President Jimmy Carter signed legislation in 1978 re-legalizing home brewing in the USA. Of course, there are state by state variances on the law. But, most of us can Avoid the Hombrew Tax. It depends on how much you make, and where you are.
It’s hard to believe that politics made it so hard to do what people have done for about 8,000 years. The earliest archeological evidence of beer dates back to around 6,000 BC in what is now Iran. Ancient Egyptians, Romans, and other cultures have a long history of brewing, most of it home brewing. In fact, the mass production of beer. We talked about Gambrinus, the King of beers, here recently. So, about 500 years ago, mass produced beer as we know it became a thing. But, it wasn’t until Louis Pasteur taught us about different strains of yeast, and preservation methods and the industrial revolution that mass produced beers flooded the market. The powers that be decided to tax the home brewer to make commercial beer economically viable.
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There were penalties for those who tried to Avoid the Hombrew Tax
Since governments can tax commercially sold beer, they didn’t want to lose out on revenue. So, in 1880, the British parliament introduced a homebrewer’s license fee, that would be on the books until the 1960’s. And, here in America, when prohibition started in 1920, home brewing and home distilling became a crime. If caught, you faced fines of $1,000 or more. So, it wasn’t worth the potential cost to make your own. Even though prohibition was repealed in the 1930’s, the home brewing and distilling laws stayed on the books until 1978, when Carter signed the bill removing the crime on a federal level. You would think that solved the problem. But, no. Each state could make their own laws. And, Alabama and Mississippi kept the bans in place until 2013. And, Alaska, and some other states still give local jurisdictions the right to restrict home brewing.
So, for those of you in favor of “states rights” have a think on that one for a minute. We fought a war in the 1860’s to retain our county as a centrally governed republic. The Confederates who believed in “state’s rights” lost. Why should I be able to brew my own beer in Boston, but not in Huntsville? I remember when I first learned about home brewing in the 1980’s. To me, it seemed natural, and an easy way to save money and make the kind of beer I wanted to drink. It never dawned on me that this was outlawed in areas across the country. And, to this day, there are still restrictions on how much you can brew. The federal regulation is 100 gallons per year per adult. But, Alabama only allows 15 gallons per quarter per household.
Why so many restrictions?
We are not alone in restricting home brewing. There are still countries where it is illegal like the Faroe Islands, Malaysia, and even Ukraine. But, among countries where it is legal, we have the most complicated laws because of the local jurisdiction clause. Again, we see an illusion of a free country with local dictatorships. So, because the sheriff or Mayor in some Midwestern town has a problem with drinking, your right to make a batch of beer at home is voided or restricted. And, the wording is so convoluted in some of these laws.
Some people cite moral reasons for their opposition to alcohol in general, or home brewing specifically. But, we had a giant backlash against moralistic reasoning that resulted in the overturning of prohibition. Therefore, morals can’t play into the restriction of a right. So, what is the real reason? It’s the almighty dollar. the government can directly control a commercial brewer. They require licensing, permitting, inspections, and taxation on sales and income. To regulate very Tom, dick, and Sally brewing small batches of beer in their home would take too many resources for minimal income. Although, some jurisdictions do require home brewers to get a permit. But, as some people say, “It’s all about the Benjamins”. Corporate taxation is so much easier, with a higher ROI.
Maybe if women were in charge.
The fact that we have to deal with restrictions and taxation on home brewing is ludicrous given the history of brewing. The whole thing is completely backwards. Historically, women were the brewers. Before mass production, every household brewed their own beer. And, in hunter gatherer societies, Women were part of the gatherer class. The men, generally, were the hunters. So, while the men sat in a bush somewhere, waiting for some animals to come along, the women were growing the food that they ate everyday. And, they made the beer. Even after society moved toward urbanization, women continued to be the de-facto brewers.
With the commercialization of the industry, as is the case in many industries, men took over. So, today, we have a male dominated industry. In fact, Beer is synonymous with manliness in modern society. Men outnumber women 3 to 1 in the industry. But, there is a movement to get more women brewing again. Maybe, if women were in charge, it wouldn’t be such a dull industry on the commercial side. The biggest selling beers are some of the simplest, most boring ones. And, if you look at advertising, you find that “light” beers are targeted toward women. Maybe if women were in charge, we’d have a better quality, and variation in styles and flavor.
And, this revolution needs to begin at home. So, unless you live in a jurisdiction that restricts home brewing, start developing some home brew recipes that you can scale up for commercial production. Or, at least, stick it to the man by brewing at home, cutting into corporate sales.
Home Brewing has many benefits
When you buy commercial beer, you support a bloated bureaucracy and line the pockets of already obscenely rich people. And, you perpetuate the stereotype of bad beer for an obnoxious, predominantly male audience complacent with the status quo. But, if everyone reading this tells two friends, and they tell two friends to start home brewing, before long, we’ll have a mass movement away from dependence on commercial beer. I restarted home brewing during the height of the pandemic. And, I have only bought beer from local artisan breweries on occasion. By brewing a batch once or twice a month, I have a closet full of beer, and a wide variety to choose from. Plus, the beer is superior to most commercial beers on the market. I can’t remember the last time I bought beer in a liquor store.
You can do the same. And, it’s not as hard or expensive as you think. There is an initial investment in equipment that is not very steep. The average starter kit will run you about $100 to $200. Of course, you can get into state of the art, fancy stuff that can run in the hundreds to thousands. But, for simple home brewing, all you need is a couple buckets, a pot, a bottle capper, Straining materials, some tubes and a siphon. Ingredients are now more expensive than they used to be, but, still, affordable. You can buy individual ingredients or get a kit with everything you need for a specific type of beer. For a 5 gallon batch expect to pay between $20 and $60 for ingredients. That’s 2 1/2 cases of high quality beer. So after a few batches, your initial investment has more than paid for itself.
And, since it’s small scale production you can Avoid the Hombrew Tax.
Save money and Avoid the Hombrew Tax
Plus, it’s not that hard, especially for beginner or intermediate brewing. Advanced brewers can do all grain brewing where you need to carefully control temperatures through additions of hot water at certain temperatures, and running your beer through a wart chiller. And, you can regulate the fermentation environment, etc. But, for basic home brewing, isn’t that complicated. As mentioned above, you can get pre-measured brewing recipe kits. Many of the kits emulate a certain commercially available beer or tested recipes. Some are called Clone recipes like More Beer’s Cali Mountain (Sierra Nevadad clone).
If you are new to brewing, these kits are a great place to start. They come with all you need to make a batch, plus instructions. Once you learn the brewing procedure, feel free to branch out and buy individual ingredients to develop your own recipes. You can save even more money buying in bulk. I buy grains, hops, and extracts by the pound. And, nowadays, I even keep a few packs of yeast in the freezer, so I don’t have to constantly re-order. And, if you are worried about where you can get ingredients, don’t fret. There are still some home brew stores in some states. But, many closed due to the internet. The smart ones opened internet stores before they closed the B and M stores.
Shop around. You can get most supplies on Amazon. But, there are plenty of smaller companies out there. And, they each have some sort of specialty. Beware, though, that there are often high thresholds for free shipping. I usually buy enough ingredients to make a few batches to save on shipping, etc.
Start the revolution and Avoid the Hombrew Tax
Remember, you can brew 100 gallons per person (unless your in Alabama). So, if there are 2 adults that’s 200 gallons. And, most beer batches are about 5 gallons. How much beer are you really drinking? Even if you share with friends, you’re not going to be get up to 1,000 gallons. And, if you tell 2 friends, etc, everyone will be brewing, and before long, we’ll have a home brew nation on our hands. And, if everyone is home brewing, we can demand legislation to change the laws on home brewing. Call your congress person, and let them know, beer is simple. The laws should be too.
We need a national unified law that allows us the freedom to decide what we want to drink and put in our own bodies. Should we continue to do the bidding of corporate America, or do we do away with all the excessive taxation and make our own choices of what comes and goes from our own bodies? It starts with you. So, start brewing today! Summer is right around the corner. Here is a recipe to get you primed, and get the courage to stand up to the government and the corporate beer interest lobby.
Cheers! and Happy Home Brew Day!
Grasshopper Pale Ale
Equipment
- Car boys, bottling equipment, air locks, and basic brewing equipment
Ingredients
- 6 Gallons Water
- 1 Lb Pale ale Malt
- 1/4 Lb Marris otter Malt
- 1/2 Lb Dingemans Malt
- 9 Lb Golden Malt extract
- 1 oz Crystal Hops
- 2 oz Cascades Hops
- 2 oz Centennial Hops
- 2 oz Helga Hops
- 2 Oz Columbus Hops
- 1 each whirlflock tablet for clarification
- 11.5 Grams Safe ale s-04 Dry ale yeast
- 3 oz Cascades hops for Dry hopping
- 1 Cup Priming sugar
Instructions
- Clean and sterilize all your brewing equipment.
- Bring 3 gallons of water to a boil. Place the whole grains into a brewing bag. Simmer for 30 minutes. Then remove them from the water.
- Whisk in the malt extract and return to a boil. Stir as needed to prevent sticking and scorching.
- Add in the first 3 hops and continue boiling. Stir as needed to keep from bubbling over. Boil for 30 minutes.
- Add the helga and columbus hops, plus the floculation tablet or Irish moss to help with clarification. Boil for another 15 minutes.
- Strain the liquid well to remove all sediment. Use sparging bags and cheesecloth if available. Transfer the liquid to a carboy and add cold water until you get about 5 1/2 to 6 gallons in the carboy. You will lose 1/2 to 1 gallon when particles settle out during fermentation.
- Place a rubber stopper with a bolowout tube on the carboy and put the end of the tube in a container with a little water so the extra krausen can blow off. Leave this on for about 3 days. At this time, the activity level will be quite high. Check it daily to empty the receptacle if it overflows and check the activity level.
- After about 3 days, the activity should be under control. At this point, add in the dry hop pellets. Place an airlock on the carboy and allow to ferment for another 11 days.
- After 2 weeks in the carboy, it is ready to bottle. Sterilize your bottling equipment. Carefully siphon the liquid to a racking tub. Dissolve priming sugar in hot or boiling water and whisk it into the beer. Bottle and cap the beer and place in a dry dark place for another 2 weeks.
- After 2 weeks in the bottle, it is ready to drink. You can age it longer if you want.