One-Day Sale and Homebrewing Freedom

As of midnight this morning, Mississippi's bill to allow homebrewing became law. With this final step, everyone in the United States of America can now brew beer at home without fear of the beer cops. WOOHOO!

"Excuse me sir, I'm gonna need you to drop the hops."

No joke. This was totally legally feasible in our country until today.

Wait...what? I bet most of you find this fact surprising. You thought your country was the land of the free. Well, not so much! Following Prohibition--our favorite WTF event in American history--the federal government had some new laws to write. In 1933, it technically allowed brewing at home IF AND ONLY IF the homebrewer paid alcohol's excise taxes as well as a penal bond like any other brewer. Yet wine making at home wasn't subject to any taxes. Which is ridiculous. It took 46 more years for us to realize this was ridiculous, when Jimmy Carter finally made brewing beer in small quantities for personal consumption free from taxes by 1979. Coincidence that the 1980s were the start of the Great American Beer Revolution? I think not.

But the federal homebrewing law still left room for the states to decide. Not everyone jumped on the bandwagon. But through lots of grass-roots efforts and awesome organizations like Alabama's Right to Brew, people nation-wide have slowly yet surely convinced their legislatures to legalize this great American tradition (yep: GW and TJ homebrewed, as did almost every colonial wife). Oklahoma took until 2010 to convince, and up until this year, Alabama and Mississippi remained the final bastions of the 1930s. NO MORE!

Mississippi passed its bill on March 18 to go into effect today, and Alabama's governor signed his state's bill on May 9, 2013. Today's the end of an era (a stupid era). And it's the birth of a new one! We're a new nation, conceived in responsible consumption and dedicated to the proposition that all beers are not created equal. Americans everywhere are standing up and demanding good-tasting, well-crafted beer.

Hatching a new generation

But the fight's not over, my friends, not by far. Some states make it illegal to consume your homebrew away from your home (I really have no idea what justifies this), thus making homebrew clubs and competitions criminal. And then there's South Carolina, which says you're illegal if you're brewing beer over 5%. And don't even get me started on alcohol laws in general! I fondly remember the 9 pm lock-down on beer at Wisconsin grocery stores. And why is it that I always need to go to the liquor store on Sunday? And then there was the time I was in Oklahoma, and all the grocery-store beer was "beer water" reduced to 4%: what the--?

Imprisoned.

The beer cops are still out there. 

Find out about your state's homebrewing laws here, and consider becoming an advocate for sane alcohol laws in your state. Seriously. Advocacy works! Texas recently had a major triumph for small brewers (who can now sell their beers on site, can you imagine?), thanks to craft beer drinkers like you coming together in groups like Open the Taps.

Tomorrow's another fight, but today, let's celebrate this moment. It's your moment, the homebrewer's moment, so we're giving you 10% off all orders of 50 custom caps or more ALL DAY TODAY until 12 am Pacific Time. Order one cap for each legal state, and celebrate!

Why? Because nothing's more American than a sale, of course! WAY TO GO, HOMEBREWERS OF AMERICA! (And our international friends? You can join the party, too.)

10% OFF 50+ CUSTOM CAPS TODAY ONLY
COUPON CODE: homeofthebrew