Good News! Homebrewing Is Finally Legal Everywhere!
Although you probably didn’t even know it was ever illegal to begin with!
Photo by iStockphoto
There’s a special place in Maxim’s heart for the intrepid homebrewer – a profession that’s a mix of famer, chemist, and alcoholic – so it was with great pleasure that we learned the venerable craft has now been made legal in all 50 states! Legal under federal law since 1978, homebrewing still fell under the purview of the more puritanical states, many of which felt it was not a citizen’s place to manufacture intoxicants out of his woodshed (for some reason, rhino-strength meth is also frowned upon). Mississippi and Alabama, those bastions of forward-thinking, were the last remaining holdouts in this personal prohibition, but both states finally passed legislation legalizing it last month.
Now, just because it’s legal doesn’t mean you can go ahead and set up shop pumping out “cudweisers” to your friends. There are still some strict regulations on homebrewing that vary from state to state. In California, for example, the limit an individual brewer can produce is one hundred gallons (800 pints). For the laws governing this hoppy hobby in your state, click here. If you’ve been waiting for Uncle Sam to back off before starting your operation, here’s a great starter’s kit to get going. And remember the most important rule of homebrewing: have fun! And the second most important rule of homebrewing: watch out for exploding bottles hurling glass into your eyes!
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