"Relax. Don't Worry. Have a Homebrew"

On July 1st, thanks to the tireless efforts of the grassroots organization Raise Your Pints, it's countless members and other Mississippians, and with the support and lobbying of the American Homebrew Association, the homebrewing of beer by Mississippians officially becomes legal. The bills to earn these rights for Mississippians were authored and championed by various Representatives and Senators through the last several years, and after passing in this year's legislative session, were signed into law by our Governor Phil Bryant.


The 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, enacting prohibition in 1919, made homebrewing in the U.S. illegal. The 21st Amendment repealed prohibition in 1933, however, the implementing legislation that went with the repeal of prohibition mistakenly left out the legalization of home beer making (home wine making was legalized at that time).

On October 14, 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed H.R. 1337, which contained an amendment sponsored by Senator Alan Cranston creating an exemption from taxation for beer brewed at home for personal or family use. This exemption went into effect in February 1979.

The 21st Amendment predominantly leaves regulation of alcohol to the states. Therefore, even though homebrewing is federally legal, it is still up to individual states to legalize homebrewing in state codes. Prior to the bill being passed and signed into law, Mississippi and Alabama were the only two states that did not allow homebrewing. Now, all 50 states have legalized homebrewing.

The list of folks that have helped achieve this victory are far too numerous to list, and I wouldn't want to do a disservice of not properly recognizing someone.

Thanks from the bottom of my pea-pickin' heart.

Cheers!, and in the words of Charlie Papazian, founder of the American Homebrew Association, "Relax. Don't Worry. Have a Homebrew."

As good a time as any for a blog ressurection

To quote Everlast from a House of Pain song, "I'm back from the dead, with a shaved head." Man, I loved me some House of Pain.


But let me get back on track. I looked at this blog and realized that it'd been well over 2 years since I've posted on here. I can't even qualify as a part time blogger with that kind of record. I had the best of intentions when I started this thing, I really did. Maybe 2013 will be a better year for blogging about beer and homebrewing and just random stuff in general. We'll see... Keep your fingers crossed just as a precaution though.

A lot has happenend in my life since those last posts. Seems like ages ago. There's been babies born to family and to friends and there are babies on the way. There's been loss; my grandmother and one of my oldest friends. Our house flooded (again) and we've begun a fairly massive renovation of the place. We bounced around ideas of moving and finally made the jump. Life happened.

But, through it all, I've stayed busy with brewing. It has progressed way beyond a quirky little hobby that I picked up and tinkered with, much to Jessica's personal displeasure... Brewing has become a passion to me. Actually, it's become more of an obsession to me. And secretly, Jessica does everything she can to support me in my hobby. She feigns interest, pats me on the back, hell, she even knows that I love IPAs. Not to shabby for a gal who's not a beer drinker.

Everyone close to me knows how I get with a hobby. I tend to invest myself fully into it. Once I decide I'm going to do something, I take it as far as I can manage. Always have, always will. Brewing is no different. Actually, it is different. I've been steady at it since late 2008 and it shows no sign of slowing. Those close to me seem to think that this brewing thing isn't going away. I don't either.

With all that brewing came success and failure. There were contests, awards, bitter defeat, ruined batches, epic wins, anger, high fives, excitment, comraderie, and most of all, good beer.

I'll keep this post short. My intention is to try and update this blog at least once a week. I make no promises. I tend to overload myself with projects, home life, and all things in between. Hopefully, the more I do this, the easier it will get, and then it'll be an unconscious effort to update. We'll see...

In the meantime, cheers. Hope to have a beer with you all soon.



Kris