Jimmy Carter Signs the Federal Homebrewing Exemption

On October 14, 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed H.R. 1337 into law as Public Law 95-458. The legislation amended the Internal Revenue Code by exempting beer produced at home for personal or family use, and not for sale, from federal excise tax. The homebrewing amendment had been advanced by Senator Alan Cranston of California and Representative William Steiger of Wisconsin. The law permitted a household with one adult to produce up to 100 gallons of beer per calendar year and a household with two or more adults to produce up to 200 gallons. The exemption took effect on February 1, 1979, removing the federal barrier to homebrewing within those limits. State alcohol laws continued to apply independently, and homebrewing did not become legal in every state until Alabama and Mississippi changed their laws in 2013.