Making beer and wine at home: what US law allows

Distilling spirits at home is a federal felony, but brewing beer and making wine at home are legal hobbies. Here is what the federal rules allow, where states add limits, and where the line is.

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The federal rules

• Who may make it: any adult, meaning someone 18 or older, or older where local law sets a higher minimum age for buying beer or wine.^[3,4]
• How much: up to 200 gallons per calendar year for a household with two or more adults, or 100 gallons for a one-adult household. Beer and wine are covered by separate sections of the law, each with its own limit.^[1,2]
• No sales, ever: the exemption covers beer and wine made "for personal or family use and not for sale."^[3] Selling requires a licensed brewery or winery.
• Leaving the house: homemade beer and wine may be taken out for personal or family use, including organized events such as tastings, contests and competitions, but may not be sold or offered for sale.^[5,4]
• Only individuals: partnerships, corporations and associations cannot use the exemption (apart from narrow exceptions in the rules).^[3,4]

State and local law still applies

The federal exemption "does not authorize the production of beer for use contrary to State or local law," and the wine rule says the same.^[3,4] Homebrewing has been legal in all 50 states since July 1, 2013, when Mississippi's law took effect; Alabama had legalized it weeks earlier.^[6] Some limits remain: in 2013 many states still barred taking homebrew to club meetings or competitions, and making it was still illegal in some "dry" counties.^[7] Check your state's rules before you start.

How it became legal

For decades federal law let only the registered head of a family make up to 200 gallons of wine a year, and made no allowance for beer. Public Law 95-458, signed on October 14, 1978 and in effect from February 1, 1979, opened both beer and wine to any adult.^[2,8] The full story is on our history page.

What the exemption does not cover

It covers fermenting only. Distilling beer or wine into spirits is not covered: federal law still prohibits producing distilled spirits at home, and using a still to do it in a home is a felony, outside the narrow protection of the court order described on where the law is heading.^[9,10] Why the difference? See why home distilling is illegal.

Getting started

A small kit is the easiest way to try it. These are popular starting points:

• Craft A Brew beer making kit: a one-gallon kit with the equipment and ingredients for a first batch.
• Master Vintner Fresh Harvest one-gallon fruit wine kit: a small-batch starter kit for fruit wine.
• A triple-scale hydrometer: measures the sugar in beer or wine before and after fermenting, which tells you how strong it turned out.
• How to Brew by John Palmer and The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian: two long-standing homebrewing guides.
• The Joy of Home Wine Making by Terry Garey: a beginner's guide to making wine at home.

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