Did you know many of the United States’ founders were homebrewers? George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were both homebrewers (although, in the case of Jefferson, his wife Martha did more brewing than he did). Homebrewing is the brewing of beer, wine, sake, mead, cider, perry and other beverages through fermentation on a small scale as a hobby for personal consumption.

Homebrewing has had a rich history in the United States, both prior to Prohibition and following its Repeal.  In 1978, the U.S. legalized homebrewing on the federal level, and since then, every state except Alabama and Mississippi have passed statutes allowing brewing at home for personal use.  Utah legalized homebrewing three years ago, and Oklahoma followed suit a year later, bringing the total number of states in which homebrewing is legal to 48.  Today, homebrewing is very popular across the country.  In fact, a White House chef made a homebrewed batch of White House Honey Ale, which the President served to his guest at his Super Bowl party last year.  Another batch of White House homebrew was recently served to a Marine Medal of Honor recipient when he met with the President on the Oval Office patio before the ceremony.

Some interesting facts: There are an estimated 1,000,000 homebrewers in the United States. There are more than 30,000 American Homebrewers Association members and over 1,000 homebrew clubs exist in the United States. There are 300+ homebrew competitions scheduled to be held in the United States annually. In 2011, 1,900 people attended the 2011 AHA National Homebrewers Conference in San Diego, CA. 6,996 entries were judged in the 2011 AHA National Homebrew Competition. The American Homebrewers Association (AHA) educates home brewers, protects and promotes one of the coolest hobbies in the world—homebrewing!

Mac’s Home Brew, located at 836 North 5th Street, is pleased to now be open serving home brewer’s in Quincy and the surrounding area. Mac’s Home Brew has secured exclusive distribution rights for the area with North America’s largest home brew supplies distributor, LD Carlson. As the leading U.S. wholesale distributor, LD Carlson offers everything our customers want and need to make the very best wine and beer.