National Homebrew Day Date in the current year: May 4, 2024

Homebrewing is just what its name suggests: it is the brewing of beer, cider, mead or other alcoholic beverages at home on a small scale. The main difference between homebrewing and craft brewing is that craft breweries sell their products, whereas homebrewers brew beer for personal, non-commercial purposes.

The history of homebrewing is as long as the history of beer itself because people brewed beer and mead domestically for thousands of years before their commercial production. Once commercial production of beer became possible due to industrialization, homebrewing was transformed from a chore to a hobby, which in some parts of the world was hindered by local laws.

In the United States, homebrewing was declared illegal in 1920 due to Prohibition. The homebrewing of beer with an alcohol content higher than 0.5% remained illegal even after the repeal of Prohibition. It wasn’t until 1978 that the United States Congress legalized homebrewing beer in the United States. Today, thousands of people across the nation brew beer at home for a variety of reasons ranging from saving money to finding an outlet for their creativity.

National Homebrew Day was created in 1988 by the American Homebrewers Association (AHA), a division of the Brewers Association that unites homebrewers of beer, cider and mead across the nation. It was first celebrated on May 7, 1988, when the United States Congress made a declaration regarding the day.

The central National Homebrew Day event is the Big Brew. Every year, American homebrewers take their equipment to parks and other public spaces to participate in communal brew-ins and get people interested in homebrew. The AHA usually provides the official Big Brew recipe that homebrewers are encouraged to make, but they can choose any recipe they wish. Big Brew events are held all over the country, and anyone is welcome to participate: homebrewers, those who want to learn how to brew, and those who simply enjoy good beer and company.

You can join the celebration by attending your local Big Brew event or even organizing an event of your own, enjoying homebrewed beer, cider or mead, reading a book on homebrewing or watching homebrewing tutorials online, buying a homebrewing kit and trying your hand at homebrewing, getting together with other homebrewers to share your love and knowledge of homebrewing, joining a homebrew association or society, and posting about the holiday on social media with the hashtags #NationalHomebrewDay, #HomeBrewDay and #BigBrew.

National Homebrew Day isn’t the only holiday dedicated to brewing. For example, International Women’s Collaboration Brew Day is observed annually on March 8, coinciding with International Women’s Day. It was created to raise awareness of women working in the brewing industry, which has been traditionally male-dominated since industrialization and commercialization of brewing occurred, and raise money for various charities.