Welcome to our series sharing Unique Holidays: First Saturday in May: National Homebrew Day, I don’t know about you but if David had the time and space, I know David would enjoy creating his own Craft Beer. Once move I am going to find a class for David to take. Would you like to go with David?
National Homebrew Day
National Homebrew Day is on May 7th, and this is an annual event initiated by the American Homebrewers Association to celebrate the Art of Craft Beer creation. The Holiday serves as an opportunity for its members to share and learn new brewing techniques from the annual brewing event it hosts to observe the holiday.
Brewing, like baking, is one of the longest-standing hobbies! The holiday was officially launched to serve as a day to gather the community of Homebrewers and Craft Beverage enthusiasts together to expose attendees to the latest in the world of homebrewing.
HISTORY OF NATIONAL HOMEBREW DAY
National Homebrew Day was first observed on May 7th, 1988, after the U.S. Congress declared the date as National Homebrew Day. To celebrate that occasion, American Homebrewers Association created what is now known as the official event that marks the celebration of the Holiday, the Big Brew event. It takes place on the first Saturday in May, with homebrewers across the U.S. and the world participating in homebrew demos and new recipes.
Beer and other beverages have been brewed domestically for Centuries, beginning in the Neolithic period in modern-day Iraq, Egypt, and China. Although, not until 1857, when French Microbiologist Louis Pasteur explained the role of Yeast in Beer fermentation, did it become widely produced and sold around the world.
So much so that the volume of people’s desire for it in the United States caused a nationwide constitutional ban on the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages from 1920 to 1933 led by a government aimed to heal what they believed was an ill society plagued by alcohol-related problems such as alcoholism, family violence, and saloon-based political corruption.
Not until President Jimmy Carter signed the H.R. 1337 bill into law on October 14, 1978, did homebrewed beer without federal taxation become legal for the first time since the prohibition of 1920.
The law also kickstarted a period of interest in the art of homebrewing that led to different breeds of homebrewers, some of whom hold on to time-honored traditions and some who push the edge of flavor and experimentation.
NATIONAL HOMEBREW DAY ACTIVITIES
- To celebrate National Homebrew Day, enjoy you’re a Craft Beer or brew a Custom Beer with your favorite Beer-making recipe. You may learn how to do that on the American Homebrewers Association website. Once you do and have made magic, consider hosting a Party to share the outcome of your craft with friends.
- Take the Big Brew Pledge that comes with the annual American Homebrewer Association’s brewing event and commit to attending and take the pledge and attend the event.
- The annual #BigBrew event the American Homebrewers Association provides a rare opportunity for the brewers to get together to learn from each other. You should attend if you are a brewer or are interested in creating craft Beers. The association encourages participants to post #BigBrew pictures to Social Media, tag @HomebrewAssoc, and use #NationalHomebrewDay to post on Social Media.
5 FACTS ABOUT NATIONAL HOMEBREW DAY
- The official Big Brew recipes for its yearly brewing event can be found online and features techniques for beginners and experienced brewers.
- The American Homebrewers Association (AHA) recently celebrated a membership milestone of more than 40,000 homebrewers.
- =The AHA’s annual brewing event for 2020 that was moved online due to COVID was reported to have been attended by a record-breaking 7,000+ homebrewers across the globe.
- According to reports, over a million people are brewing their Beer every year in the U.S.
- Homebrewing was made fully legal by H.R. 1337, which became law on October 14, 1978.
WHY PEOPLE LOVE NATIONAL HOMEBREW DAY
- National Homebrew Day is important to celebrate the long culture of brewing Beers and other beverages at home. People choose to brew their own Beer for a variety of reasons. For some people, it is to avoid a higher cost of buying equivalent beverages. For others, it is for the freedom to adjust recipes according to one’s taste.
- One of the goals of the annual #BigBrew event the American Homebrewers Association holds is to provide the opportunity for the community of new craft Beer enthusiasts and the more experienced ones to share and learn new brewing techniques. The event aims to expose attendees to the latest in the world of homebrewing.
- One of the upsides of an event like the annual #BigBrew event is that it exposes craftspeople to the newer technologies to get the work done along with techniques. According to the American Homebrewers Association who organizes it as a way to celebrate National Homebrew Day, that is the goal of the event
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
