Hi beer fans, happy Friday! Come in and have a cold one with us!
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In all the coverage of the passing of former President Jimmy Carter, the story most significant to FNBB is that Carter signed the legislation that legalized home brewing in the U.S., which led to people like Ken Grossman learning to brew and then turning pro, which led to today’s craft beer industry with >9000 breweries and $29 Billion annual sales. More than one article has therefore labeled Carter as “Father of Craft Beers”, and while this isn’t completely wrong, it’s not the whole story. Someone in Congress had written and pushed the bill, and I had to read about 8 stories before I found out who.
This is a classic Washington story of how the legislative sausage is made. H.R. 1377 was introduced in 1977 by Rep. William Steiger (R-WI), and it was about changing the taxation of truck and bus chassis. There was no beer involved in it. But the version passed by the Senate in 1978 had magically acquired 4 more sections including the one we care about:
Allows any adult (formerly only heads of families) to produce wine and beer for personal and family use and not for sale without incurring the wine or beer excise taxes or any penalties for quantities per calendar year of: (1) 200 gallons if there are two or more adults in the household and (2) 100 gallons if there is only one adult in the household.
How did it get there? None of the news media stories bothered to look, but the National Museum of American History has the answer:
In 1976, a group of homebrewers in California, where homebrewing had become popular, lobbied Senator Alan Cranston for federal legalization. After two years of failed attempts, Cranston was finally able to incorporate the legislation into a transportation bill to avoid scrutiny.
I don’t have many good thoughts about Alan Cranston, who was one of the senators connected with financial fraudster Charles Keating, but he may have a better claim than Carter to be the Father of Craft Beer. Here’s to Jimmy anyway, may he rest in peace.
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I’ve got Maui Waui IPA. What are you drinking? Anyone brewing?
