Pitcher This: Help for brew-it-yourselfers
There are food fans who turn their noses up at anything that comes from a box, can or jar.
Pre-packaged spaghetti sauce? Give 'em a few ripe tomatoes and fresh basil — plus, for the hardcore, flour and eggs for the pasta — and they'll make you forget Paul Newman's known for anything but Cool Hand Luke.
And there are those who feel the same way when it comes to beer.
Buy it in bottles? Bah. Give 'em some malted grain, a handful of hops and a few weeks for yeast to work magic and you'll wonder why commercial brewers even bother.
Well, naturally, they bother because not everyone shares the passion homebrewers do for crafting it on their own.
Roughly half a million Americans make their own beer, according to the American Homebrewers Association, which itself has about 1,500 members.
While plenty of those folks are here in Alabama, by practicing their hobby they're unfortunately breaking state law. Making beer or any alcohol without a license from the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board is banned.
As usual when it comes to alcohol laws, Alabama is in a tiny minority of states that still restrict homebrewing. Congress made it legal in 1978 (it was allowed before Prohibition) and let states take it from there. To date, according to the AHA, you can brew without fear in 45 states.
Of course, plenty of people are brewing here. While most aren't doing it in total, fearful secrecy, many still worry, though the state hasn't enforced the law broadly in decades, according to John Little, founder of the Auburn Brew Club.
"They shouldn't have to worry, because really, we're not doing anything wrong," says Little, whose club claims 25 brewing members and another 40 who are interested in learning the art.
Little and others are advocating for a bill in the Legislature that would allow home beer, wine and cider production for personal use. So far, the Senate Tourism & Marketing Committee hasn't touched the proposal.
Little began brewing just over three years ago. He says he's never brewed the same style twice, and has made his way through nearly 70 of the 80-or-so beer styles recognized by the Beer Judge Certification Program. His goal is to brew them all. (He describes himself as "very compulsive.")
Little says he's drawn to the creative and scientific aspects of making his own. Those points draw lots of professional types to brewing, according to Little. He's an attorney. The Auburn club claims engineers, biologists, pharmacists and others.
Little is hopeful legislators will learn that such folks are the typical homebrewers. Irresponsible drunkards won't invest the money or time most homebrewers put into homemade beer, he says.
"It's not like you're producing cheap beer," he says. "It's a very expensive hobby."
Of course, if you're worried about the cost, there's always the stuff that comes in bottles.
