Homebrew History

Man has been brewing beer for thousands of years. We do know that the slaves who built the Egyptian pyramids drank beer. We also know that the Romans drank beer. They called it 'cerevese'. The Anglo Saxons were beer drinkers, swilling from their cattle horns. Beer over the last few centuries was traditionally brewed by women and was drunk by the whole family, including children. A thin light ale would be drunk in the morning and a heavier darker brew in the evening.

 

The first known tax imposed on beer was in the twelfth century. Sadly, it still exists today. Then in the fifteenth century, brewing began to move away from the home to small local breweries, a process which continued until the eighteenth century when some of the big brewing names of today started out in business.

 

Then, in 1880, an Act was passed requiring home brewers to obtain a licence and to pay duty on their beer. This brought an end to home brew which continued right up until the early 1950s. Then there was an interest making fruit wines at home which led to a revival of homebrewing. In 1963 the repeal of the 1880 Act stimulated much interest and companies such as Boots The Chemist and other firms began to sell home brew kits.

 

Home brewing began to take off. These new kits made it easy to make beer and wine at home although some more experienced home brewers contine to brew from a plain malt extract and hops or direct from the grains to this day.