User:Jeffhos/Cranston Bill

=Cranston Bill=

The Cranston Bill is the common name used for the piece of legislation that legalized the homebrewing of beer. It is named after Alan Cranston of California, who introduced it in the senate. It allows a single person to brew up to 100 gallons of beer per year for personal use (or 200 gallons for a two-person household). The bill was signed into law on October 14, 1978 by President Jimmy Carter and went into effect on February 1, 1979.

The legislation was originally introduced into the House of Representatives by Barber Conable of Rochester, New York. The bill passed the house on a voice vote on March 14, 1978.

Note: the information below is unverified:

When Prohibition was repealed in 1933, congress also passed a law to legalized homebrewing of both wine and beer. But when the law was printed in the Federal Register, the copyist left out the words "and/or beer," and this was the version that remained on record.

This left homebrewing in a legal gray area. Homebrewing shops did exist prior to 1979, but they kept a low profile until the Cranston bill explicitly legalized the activity.

Other Potential Sources

 * Hieronymus, Stan. American homebrewers: Setting the pace. RealBeer.com
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