14/09/2026
Myth or fact?
When you homebrew b**r you are not just practicing a hobby but contributing to history!
Fact: Homebrewing is directly linked to the foundations of human civilization. Long before it became a weekend hobby, brewing was a vital community necessity, a form of kitchen science, and a driving force behind agriculture in many regions. In ancient times women were noted for being bread bakers and the brewsters. They did the body of brewing which was considered essential in those times. As time moved along it became more male oriented. Anthropologists have long debated whether society progressed because of the need for bread or the need for b**r. In Australia the introduction of the Federal Government Protectionist Party 1901 Excise Act made home brewing illegal if over 1.00% ABV. Australian Prime Minister Whitlam drove the legalisation of home brewing b**r in Australia in 1973. This law change meant no excise taxes on home brewed b**r for personal consumption and the ABV strength limits of home brewed b**r were changed. It also drove the creation of a home brew supplies marketplace.
The first use of hops in b**r was recorded as an edict by Abbot Adelhard, a Benedictine monk, in France around 822AD, when he proposed the local millers were exempt from some duties but were required to provide hops to the monastery porter, who was responsible for supplying the monastery with b**r. It is believed from these collected hops a portion was for making b**r. Around 300 years later German Hildegard von Bingen reinforced the idea of hops in b**r in her medical text, and the use of hops for bittering soon became wide spread across Europe. Eventually to be formalised by Bavarian Duke Wilhelm IV, who introduced Reinheitsgebot the German B**r Purity Law in the 1500's. It stated b**r can only contain: water, barley, and hops. Wheat was only permitted under royal approval. Brewer's yeast had not been discovered yet. German brewers invented a process called Krausening which did not use additional sugars to carbonate b**r! B**r purity laws still exist but updated by the German Provisional B**r Law (Vorläufiges deutsches Biergesetz), which allows wheat, yeasts, and limited sugar use.
People's love of b**r has not changed. B**r is now the third most consumed drink on the planet. There is a debate at what comes next whether it is w**e or Baijiu, a Chinese distilled spirit. It is not a surprise to discover noble hops such as Spalt, Tettnanger, Hallertau Mittelfrüh, and Saaz have a very long history in European b**r making. There are now around 400 new-world hop cultivars available for hop production. Hops are grown in: Australia, Czech Republic, England, Germany, New Zealand, Slovakia, the USA, and with regular new releases. So the flavour landscape has exploded for home brewers. You can feel absolutely proud when you brew your next b**r batch. You are participating in a living, evolving global tradition spanning more than a millennium!
(Written by Warwick's Brewing Supplies September 2026)
(Video image courtesy: Conte Public; AI courtesy: Canva)
