Yes, I know that just about every other beer blog in the country is reporting this, but as a recent convert to the cult of homebrewing, I’m excited that our brothers and sisters in Utah can now proudly, and legally, show off their skills with barley and hops. There are an estimated 7,000 homebrewers in the state.
On March 24, 2009, Governor Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. of Utah signed into law legislation (HB 51) that makes homebrewing beer legal. The ‘Exemption for Alcoholic Beverage Manufacturing License’ was sponsored by Representative Christine A. Johnson and made Utah the 46th state to legalize homebrewing. The US Government made homebrewing legal on a federal level in 1978. Since then all but four states; Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Oklahoma have made homebrewing legal.
‘Home-brewing is a healthy and vibrant hobby in Utah as evidenced by the outpouring of support HB 51 received in the 2009 Legislature,’ commented Rep. Christine A. Johnson. ‘Many thanks to the American Homebrewers Association for thorough education, great committee testimony and association members who flooded elected officials with emails of support.’
Utah is the only state to have legalized homebrewing in the last decade, but hopefully it will not be the last. There is currently an active movement to legalize homebrewing in Alabama, and the AHA has heard from homebrewers in Kentucky, Mississippi, and Oklahoma who are interested in starting movements in each of those states.
BeerAdvocate.com has the full article.