Mr. President, I am pleased the Senate is passing a resolution I introduced along with Senators Collins, Wyden, Gardner, and Bennet to commemorate the American Homebrewers Association's (AHA) 40th…
Mr. President, I am pleased the Senate is passing a resolution I introduced along with Senators Collins, Wyden, Gardner, and Bennet to commemorate the American Homebrewers Association's (AHA) 40th ``birthday''. Since its founding in 1978, the AHA--whose mission is to promote the community of homebrewers and empower homebrewers to make the best beer in the world--has had a tremendous impact on America, both within and well beyond the scope of beer. After then- President Jimmy Carter signed the momentous legislation (Public Law 95- 458) to legalize homebrewing at the federal level, the AHA worked ceaselessly and successfully to extend that legalization to all 50 States and the District of Columbia.
Today, the AHA has over 46,000 dues-paying members and works on behalf of more than 1.1 million homebrewers in our Nation. While the AHA was established in 1978, homebrewing has been an important part of our Nation's life from its inception. The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock because they were running out of beer, which was safer to drink than water (each adult on board had a ration of one gallon of beer per day). Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison were all homebrewers who enjoyed crafting their own libations. In 2011, President Obama introduced a honey ale which became the first beer known to have been brewed in the White House.
Homebrewing isn't just a wonderfully delicious hobby; however. Home- brewing has an important economic impact, creating thousands of jobs and adding hundreds of millions of dollars to the economy. There are more than 700 homebrew shops nationwide, and scores of small businesses that fabricate the brewing, fermenting, and packaging equipment homebrewers use. Homebrewers also support American agriculture, with their demand for domestic malts, hops, yeast, and other ingredients. In the aggregate, American homebrewers produce 1.4 million barrels of beer each year. That production level puts homebrewers between the Boston Beer Company and the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, which are the second and third largest craft brewing companies in America, respectively.
Homebrewing is collaborative and social. The AHA hosts major events that bring thousands of people together, including the National Homebrewers Conference, the National Homebrew Competition, the Big Brew for National Homebrew Day, Learn to Homebrew Day, and the Hill Staff Homebrew Competition, which encourages bipartisan participation in celebrating home-brewing and its rich history in the United States. Thirty years ago, Congress designated May 7th as National Homebrew Day and the AHA celebrates that anniversary each year with the Big Brew for National Homebrew Day on the first Saturday each May. The AHA initiated Learn to Homebrew Day, which is held in November, in 1999 to encourage homebrewers to introduce their non-brewing family members and
friends to the hobby. Nearly 4,800 people from 45 States and 11 other countries participated in Learn to Homebrew Day last November.
The ``big daddy'' of the AHA-hosted events is the National Homebrew Conference, which attracts as many as 3,400 participants. In 2016, ``Homebrew Con,'' as it is affectionately known, was held in Baltimore and I enjoyed speaking to the group and sampling some of the best beer in America. This year, the 40th Homebrew Con will be held in Portland, Oregon--also known as Beervana--starting this Thursday. Homebrew Con also features the final round of the National Homebrew Competition each year, the largest beer competition in the world. Over 143,000 homebrews have been entered and judged in this competition since the first one was held in Boulder, Colorado, where the AHA is headquartered, in 1979.
Since its inception, the AHA has successfully created community, camaraderie, competition, and, of course, great beer. Today, the hobby of homebrewing unites Americans from coast to coast of all backgrounds, life experiences, and political beliefs. Just as important, the AHA and its diverse members have played a key part in the rise of the craft brewing industry, which is larger today than it has ever been in the country's history. The United States is now home to over 6,000 small and independent craft breweries, most of which were started by homebrewers. Craft beer now accounts for $26 billion in sales and 23 percent of the U.S. beer market. More than 80 percent of Americans age 21 and up live within 10 miles of a brewery, and these breweries are reinvigorating local economies and creating good local jobs that won't go overseas. Collectively, they are adding $68 billion to the economy and donating over $70 million to charitable causes. Beer isn't just good to drink; it's good for the economy.
I would be seriously remiss if I were to fail to mention the one individual most responsible for the creation of the AHA, the growth of homebrewing as a hobby, and the reemergence of American craft beer: Charlie Papazian. Charlie, along with Charlie Matzen, founded the AHA in 1978 in Boulder. Charlie Papazian is rightfully known as ``the godfather of homebrewing''. As for the AHA's successes and the growth of the domestic craft beer industry, we can credit Charlie and his passion, enthusiasm, creativity, and commitment.
In 1972, Charlie graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in Nuclear Engineering. After working as a kindergarten teacher, his passion for beer--and for the art and science of its creation--led him to swap hydrogen for hops. In 1978, he founded the AHA and published the first issue of Zymurgy magazine, announcing the new organization, publicizing the federal legalization of homebrewing, and calling for entries in the AHA's first National Homebrew Competition. In 1984, he published The Complete Joy of Homebrewing, which to this day remains one of the definitive guides to creating quality beer at home. Charlie's reassuring motto--``Relax. Don't worry. Have a homebrew.''--spawned an American movement that is now spreading abroad.
In 1983, Charlie founded the Association of Brewers, which included the AHA under its umbrella as well as the new Institute for Fermentation and Brewing Studies, which served the needs of the small, but growing, microbrewing industry. The Association of Brewers later merged with the Brewers Association of America to become today's Brewers Association (BA). I was honored to work with the BA and its members as the lead sponsor of the Small Brewer Reinvestment & Expanding Workforce (Small BREW) Act, which intended to cut the federal excise small, independent, domestic craft brewers pay. That bill was incorporated in the Craft Beverage Modernization & Tax Reform Act, which Congress passed last year.
Charlie launched a number of popular events, including the World Beer Cup and the Great American Beer Festival, which today gathers over 60,000 attendees annually. Beyond beer, Charlie also founded National Pie Day--which takes place each year on his own birthday, January 23rd--as an annual celebration of America's favorite dessert.
Charlie is a true trailblazer, pioneer, and entrepreneur. His irrepressible enthusiasm, sense of humor, and joie de vivre have endeared him to millions of people. The original wooden spoon he used to stir his mashes now resides at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. Charlie purchased the spoon for $1 in a hardware store. ``I was walking down an aisle in the store,'' he recalls, ``and that spoon spoke to me. It said, `Give me a try, I'm special.' That was the start of our affair.'' He used the spoon when he started teaching homebrewing in 1973 out of a series of houses he rented in Boulder. From 1973 to 1982, he taught five semesters per year, five classes per semester, with 20 people per class. According to Charlie, ``Students had to get their hand on the spoon. They gave it a turn and got the ingredients going in the pot. It was an important part of the class and a lot of people touched that spoon.'' As Charlie puts it, ``It makes for a stirring tale, doesn't it? The spoon has been a witness to the evolution--and the revolution--of homebrewing and craft beer. When you hold it in your hand now, it kind of vibrates a little bit. It's got so much mojo in it.''
Come January 23, 2019, on his 70th birthday, Charlie will be exiting the AHA and its parent organization, the Brewers Association, where he served as president from 1978 to 2016. He is currently spending his time completing an array of projects, including a craft brewing history archive. This week, he will deliver the keynote address at Homebrew Con in Portland. He is often asked, ``Charlie, did you ever imagine that beer would become all of this?'' His answer is always yes.
At St. Paul's Cathedral in London, Sir Christopher Wren's epitaph reads, Si monumentum requiris, circum-spice--``If you seek (his) monuments, look around you.'' Charlie Papazian's monuments are all around us--from homebrewers making a chocolate stout in their kitchens or garages to the craft brewery down the street. From President Obama's ``beer summit'' to the neighborhood bar, beer is the beverage that refreshes us and brings us together. We can thank Charlie Papazian for being able to choose from the best beers brewed in the history of civilization to quench our thirst and warm our hearts. I would ask all of my colleagues to join me in celebrating the 40th anniversary of the American Homebrewers Association, and thanking Charlie Papazian for his seminal and lasting contributions to homebrewing and the craft beer renaissance and wishing him all the best as he completes his final year at the AHA and begins the next chapter in a life that serves as an inspiration to all of us.
