These days, it’s common to head down to the local liquor store and grab yourself a case of your favorite lager, but it takes dedication to learn the techniques required to brew a beer at home that you enjoy as much, if not more.
Alcohol was first discovered and brewed over 7000 years ago and for most people over their lifetime, the only choice was to brew their own at home.
Commercial breweries began to pop up in the 1800s to capitalize on the popularity of alcohol, adding the convenience of buying it already brewed and bottled. Although you would think that this kind of service would completely wipe out the thought of brewing bottled beer yourself at home, it remained a popular trend amongst both hobbyists and connoisseurs.
Once the breweries spread and became the norm, the governments taxed the home brewing kits and supplies heavily in order to maximize the profits for the commercial breweries. However, this all came to an end when prohibition came about, leaving home brewing (albeit illegal) the only way to obtain alcohol. Brewing your own alcohol during the prohibition was very risky, but popular up until it was lifted in 1933 (due to it enabling organized crime).
At first, after the prohibition, only wine was legal to brew at home, until several decades later when beer brewing was again made legal because of an error written in the law.
Obviously, commercial breweries made a major comeback and became a huge business. These days, home brewing is mostly for the dedicated hobbyists and connoisseurs who find pleasure in creating their own recipes. There are many who swear that no commercial beer could ever come close to the taste of a properly brewed beer at home.
Recently, there has been a dramatic rise in interest again with materials and home brewing kits readily available at very affordable prices. There also seems to be a rise in beer brewing communities and general camaraderie on the Internet which may be a contributing factor to it’s regrowth in popularity.
