# One For Old-timers, Why Did Home Brewing Get Legalized?



## Steve Lacey (13/7/09)

Those who know me know that I live in Japan. Home brewing here is not exactly legal*, but that doesn't stop us. Still, the hobby bumps along below the radar because of the legal status because Japanese are reluctant to break the law and it is difficult to achieve the economies of scale to establish successful brewing supply shops.

So it gives cause to ponder how home brewing was legalized in Australia. I know it happened in 1972 in one of the first decisions of the new Labor government. But I don't know what political pressures or imperatives made it an important enough issue for the incoming government to act so quickly and decisively. I was only 9 at the time, so my memory of the events are not so clear :blink: Does anybody out there know why Gough legalized home brewing, or why he did it so quickly? I would like to know what lessons might be taken from this to help spur Japanese home brewers to organize themselves to lobby and campaign and otherwise achieve full legalization.

* It is legal to make fermented beverages as long as they do not exceed 1% ABV


----------



## warra48 (13/7/09)

Home brewing was always legal in Australia.
What stopped us prior to 1973 was that we were required to pay excise on the beer we produced.
The logic behind that was that by consuming home brew, the government missed out on the excise they'd collect from the commercial brewers.
The Whitlam government amended the Excise laws to remove excise from home brewed beer.

Can't remember just why they did it though. Maybe some election promise after 23 years in the wilderness in opposition?


----------



## Steve Lacey (13/7/09)

OK, thanks for the clarification. I actually think it might not be so different here. I mean, it is an excise thing. However even some police here believe it is fine as long as you don't sell the beer.



warra48 said:


> Can't remember just why they did it though. Maybe some election promise after 23 years in the wilderness in opposition?



Yes, that's what I'm really trying to get at. How much home brewing was going on and what kind of a song and dance were our ancestral home brewers making about the restrictive excise laws?

Actually, come to think of it, my uncle dabbled in a bit of a home brewing back in those days. I will have to Skype him and see if he can shed any light.


----------



## benny_bjc (13/7/09)

Steve Lacey said:


> Does anybody out there know why Gough legalized home brewing, or why he did it so quickly?



I'm not sure of the answer but I believe Gough really loved his beer... that could be a slight contributing factor!


----------



## mr_tyreman (13/7/09)

slightly OT but...


wasn't Bob Hawkee a champ yard glass drinker?


heres a quote i found...

*this countrys most famous drinking record was set by the legendary Australian Prime Minister Robert (Bob) Hawke in 1955. He drank 2.5 pints of beer in 11 seconds at University College, Oxford. Hawke recalls the incident as follows in The Hawke Memoirs (1994):*


----------



## Fermented (13/7/09)

My grandfather was home-brewing from sometime in the 1920s until somewhere around the mid-40s.

He was a country boy from around Blayney (near Orange). As I understand it, the relationship with the local law was generous and sensible. In other words, don't make waves in public and no one pays attention. A good way, then.

An exploding batch on a hot summer night in the 1940s in Strathfield caused my grandmother to bring a halt to his alcohol making shenannigans. 

Spoilsport.

He just had to go invest at the Catholic Club after that. 

Cheers - Fermented.


----------



## jonocarroll (13/7/09)

From the AWBCA website:



"AWBCA" said:


> An important early action of the Club was to join with others in 1973 to persuade the Government to permit the home brewing of beer of any strength; until then home brewing of beer over 2% alcohol was illegal.


which would imply that there was at least some public pressure. Well before my time.

And Hawkies drinking record is well documented



"wikipedia" said:


> His academic achievements were possibly outweighed by the notoriety he achieved as the holder of a world record for the fastest consumption of beer: a yard glass (approximately 3 imperial pints or 1.7 litres) in eleven seconds. In his memoirs, Hawke suggested that this single feat may have contributed to his political success more than any other, by endearing him to a voting population with a strong beer culture.


in other words, it had the same effect as Latham's "interactions with a taxi driver" :huh:


----------



## benny_bjc (13/7/09)

mr_tyreman said:


> slightly OT but...
> 
> 
> wasn't Bob Hawkee a champ yard glass drinker?
> ...



Sorry I was muddled... Yes it was Bob Hawke.


----------



## Steve Lacey (14/7/09)

QuantumBrewer said:


> which would imply that there was at least some public pressure. Well before my time.



Thanks, that's the kind of thing I was looking for. I will email them and see if they can shed some further light on the matter. Their web site also contradicts Warra48's claim that, "Home brewing was always legal in Australia." Not that it is especially important to the point i am pursuing. Their had to be some kind of law change and what I am trying to get at is what kind of organized lobbying efforts were going on to cause it.


----------



## Steve Lacey (14/7/09)

Steve Lacey said:


> I will email them and see if they can shed some further light on the matter.



oops, no I won't. Their "Contact Us" page has four names, two phone numbers and zero email addresses


----------



## jonocarroll (14/7/09)

Steve Lacey said:


> oops, no I won't. Their "Contact Us" page has four names, two phone numbers and zero email addresses


Yeah, you've got to fill out the contact form to send mail. Meh.

I'm not certain that anyone actually has any relevant information on the matter, but I can sus it out at the next meeting for you. I know of at least a couple of members who are 25+ years in the club, and they may at least know who better to contact.

It's a political thing, right? There's got to be some documentation somewhere, and hopefully that has a little more info for you.


----------



## Steve Lacey (14/7/09)

Ah, the old web form trick. For some reasons the names were not activating when I moused over them, but I finally got it after your tip made me look a bit harder. Message sent to the president.
Cheers!


----------



## tcraig20 (14/7/09)

Sorry to take things OT, but apart from a few die-hard hobbyists, why would anyone in Japan home brew?

If you could afford the space to brew, you would have enough money to drink whatever you like!


----------



## tcraig20 (14/7/09)

Back on topic, here's an extract from my 1975 copy of Kieth Liden's 'Brewing Beer at Home'

"Until 1973 it was illegal to brew beer, if unlicensed, to an alcoholic content of 2% or more proof. However the Australian Government amended the Exice Act to bring Australia into line with countries such as Britain and New Zealand where unlimited home-brewing of beer for private consumption is permitted. The Government still obtains revenue from home-brewers because many ingredients and most equipment are subject to sales tax."

Im not sure if thats helpful or not.


----------



## bum (14/7/09)

JamesCraig said:


> Sorry to take things OT, but apart from a few die-hard hobbyists, why would anyone in Japan home brew?
> 
> If you could afford the space to brew, you would have enough money to drink whatever you like!



That idea might mean something in Tokyo perhaps but I doubt it'd hold true for the entire nation.


----------



## Steve Lacey (14/7/09)

JamesCraig said:


> ...apart from a few die-hard hobbyists...If you could afford the space to brew, you would have enough money to drink whatever you like!


Would you? I'll have to ask my die-hard hobbyist mates about that. While there is a grain of truth in your statement, the situation is, not surprisingly, many times more complex. You would be surprised at how little space you can get away with. My apartment is 63 m2 and I have a wife and three teenage sons ... and a home brewery :icon_drunk: You would also probably be surprised to learn that the affordability of such apartments (and bigger) these days, even in Tokyo, are on parity with (admittedly somewhat larger) homes in much of urban Australia. And the average apartment here has a gas range powerful enough to do a 30L boil. No need for NASA burners or sheds to house them. A balcony for the kettles, a bit of cupboard space, a small second fridge for the serving keg, an understanding family, and away you go. 

Another thing is that your whole statement seems to be premised on the false assumption that anybody who is not a "die-hard hobbyist" home brews only to save money. Do you really think that's true? Or that it applies to everybody? I just read the following post on one of our brewing forums for people living in Japan. Maybe it will give you some insight to why there are quite a few of us who brew, even some who would not be described as "die-hard hobbyists".



> *Why I homebrew in Japan*
> When I lived in the states (San Diego, home of Stone), I had access to some of the best west coast style craft brews in the form of microbrews and brewpubs. A bottle of Arrogant Bastard Ale was less than $3.50! and the Stone Brewery was less than 30 minutes away. I did not appreciate the land of plenty back then. Even still, I had a few friends who were homebrewng and I had a casual interest in the hobby. Enough so that I bought (or someone bought for me) a Mr. Beer kit (cue the laughter icon_geek) and I tried it.
> 
> Even then, I knew I could not stick to the canned hopped malt extract and the "booster" that came with the kit. I replaced the "booster" with 1 lb of DME and added 1 oz of cascade hops to my first batch of Mr. Beer and it came out a pretty good hopped pale ale. But I wasn't hooked entirely yet. Living in the San Diego land of plenty didn't give me too much incentive to brew my own.
> ...


----------



## tcraig20 (14/7/09)

Steve Lacey said:


> Another thing is that your whole statement seems to be premised on the false assumption that anybody who is not a "die-hard hobbyist" home brews only to save money. Do you really think that's true? Or that it applies to everybody? I just read the following post on one of our brewing forums for people living in Japan. Maybe it will give you some insight to why there are quite a few of us who brew, even some who would not be described as "die-hard hobbyists".



I really didnt mean to cause any offence, so sorry if I have. 

People homebrew for two basic reasons: the craft of it (and its results), and to save money. Most of us take a little from each column. I enjoy making beer. I especially enjoy making (and consuming!) beers to a style that I wouldnt otherwise be able to afford. If I were Bill Gates, I wouldnt bother brewing at all. 

Your example gives a fellow who has moved to Japan from San Diego: from plentiful, good, cheap beer to expensive, bad beer (in his opinion). So he turned to home brewing to make a more enjoyable product at an acceptable price. Im sure, with the right amount of money, he could import San Diego craft beer directly, but, again, the cost would be prohibitive. 

If there is a bad assumption in what I said, its the cost of Japanese real estate. Seeing as Im an unsophisticated Gaikokujin (or Nanban if you prefer), Im sure you will excuse me.


----------



## Steve Lacey (14/7/09)

Hi Craig thanks for your post. I suppose I felt a little bit offended by the sense that I was being branded in some way, but at the same time I did understand that there was some truth in what you said, and that I should try very hard not to feel offended :mellow: . So please forgive me in turn for my irascibility.

I suppose the best way of characterizing the situation is that, yes, the brewers do indeed tend to be die-hard hobbyists who are very into good beer and don't want to pay the earth for it. But many of us also love the actual process of brewing. It is hard to say what we like more, the brewing or the drinking. Some guys both have healthy incomes and limited space, yet they brew. So yes, cost is certainly a strong factor woven through our motivations, but I guess the thing I did want to correct the most was your assumption that if you had enough space to brew, then you must be so rich that cost couldn't be a factor. Some wealthy fellows who can afford to drink craft beer every night do brew, and some who have limited space and limited incomes also brew. If home brewing were legal here, I can assure you that a hell of a lot more people would do it. Perhaps with some modifications (like more compact systems with smaller batch sizes), but they would do it.

And yes, I will forgive you for being an unsophisticated Namban-jin; after all, I am one too. (second from right in the banner, making the double V)


----------



## tcraig20 (14/7/09)

Steve Lacey said:


> Hi Craig thanks for your post. I suppose I felt a little bit offended by the sense that I was being branded in some way, but at the same time I did understand that there was some truth in what you said, and that I should try very hard not to feel offended :mellow: . So please forgive me in turn for my irascibility.
> 
> I suppose the best way of characterizing the situation is that, yes, the brewers do indeed tend to be die-hard hobbyists who are very into good beer and don't want to pay the earth for it. But many of us also love the actual process of brewing. It is hard to say what we like more, the brewing or the drinking. Some guys both have healthy incomes and limited space, yet they brew. So yes, cost is certainly a strong factor woven through our motivations, but I guess the thing I did want to correct the most was your assumption that if you had enough space to brew, then you must be so rich that cost couldn't be a factor. Some wealthy fellows who can afford to drink craft beer every night do brew, and some who have limited space and limited incomes also brew. If home brewing were legal here, I can assure you that a hell of a lot more people would do it. Perhaps with some modifications (like more compact systems with smaller batch sizes), but they would do it.
> 
> And yes, I will forgive you for being an unsophisticated Namban-jin; after all, I am one too. (second from right in the banner, making the double V)



No worries mate. At least we are genuine 'southern barbarians', unlike the Poms and Dutchmen the Japanese mistook for southerners :icon_chickcheers: 

Im still having trouble visualising it though - I tend to take over half the (avg. Australian) house on brew day with various bits of kit.


----------



## muckanic (14/7/09)

Steve Lacey said:


> I would like to know what lessons might be taken from this to help spur Japanese home brewers to organize themselves to lobby and campaign and otherwise achieve full legalization.



With many of these sorts of issues IMHO, the ostensible reason for the government posture is frequently some sort of public health concern, whereas the real reason is financial, ie, tax and excise. As the book quote shows, we followed the Brits nearly 10 years after they changed their laws, and I assume the argument would have been some combination of evidence of no harm done and aligning ourselves with the laws of respected other countries. I think the US followed about 10 years later, but of course they were carrying a heap of prohibition mentality baggage. We still can't distill (despite it being legal in NZ) and can't grow all sorts of evil plants. At least in Japan you wouldn't face a religious counter-lobby, unlike the situation in the middle east.

I remember Dad brewing with the curtains drawn and fears about hop aromas wafting out into the street. I was also worded up not to shoot my mouth off at school and the local church. Health food stores sold a heck of a lot of liquid malt extract in the 60s! I can't remember where the hops and yeast came from - probably the same place. It was a bit like walking into your LHBS today and facing a whole lot of distilling gear whose users remain mysterious. Or walking into a head shop ...


----------



## FNQ Bunyip (14/7/09)

Steve , I was thinking that Hansard  Might be a good place to look for record of proceding but only electronic from '81 on ... Maybe a manual search somehow avaliable ??? 

Cheers


----------



## Henno (14/7/09)

Fermented said:


> My grandfather was home-brewing from sometime in the 1920s until somewhere around the mid-40s.


 :icon_offtopic: 


I'm interested in how the boys used to do this back then. Was there malt extract available? I gather they wouldn't be all grainers?

My dad got into it, like many others I suppose, in the 70s when the laws changed. He did it in the garage in a plastic garbage bin with a tap in the bottom. Even though he was a megaswill boy till the day he died he freely admitted his homebrew was crap and only ever produced 2 or 3 batches with a few bottle bombs detonating in the garage which was next to my bedroom in the middle of the night!


----------



## Steve Lacey (14/7/09)

Yes, I did wonder about parliamentary records; maybe if I ever get a chance to get back home and visit the library.

The malt in health food shops is an interesting observation. My first awareness of home brewing was when I was about 15 and the local home brew shop sold Brigalow kits. I bought one for the old man and ended up using it myself  ... but anyway, it shows that there was obviously a strong enough underground movement and probably the pressure was exerted though petitions and the likes organized by people like the SA club named earlier in the thread and maybe a few other similar groups dotted around. I think that is the hypothesis I will work with in imploring the Japanese guys to get off their butts, because at the end of the day, they will have to drive the process, not us noisy foreigners.



> With many of these sorts of issues IMHO, the ostensible reason for the government posture is frequently some sort of public health concern, whereas the real reason is financial, ie, tax and excise.



In this case I think it is just inertia. Japan is extremely conservative, especially about any change that has social implications. And a little bit like JamesCraig said, the need for the law change would be totally incomprehensible to a Japanese politician. How could anybody who lives on daily lashings of Asahi Super Dry (and would not be aware that any other brand exists), top quality _sake_, _shouchu _and top-shelf whiskey even begin to imagine why Taro Suzuki would want to muck around making his own beer or wine? The imagined loss of taxes probably does present a formidable obstacle as well. But it can't really be an obstacle if nobody is even pushing for the change, and that is the situation we have because nobody wants to bring attention to themselves as being a law-breaker.


----------



## orac (14/7/09)

This site only goes to the fifties but its worth a look:

http://ndpbeta.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/search?s...=home+brew+beer


----------



## clatty (14/7/09)

JamesCraig said:


> People homebrew for two basic reasons: the craft of it (and its results), and to save money.



Just be careful of that last one... the saving money one... I would rephrase it to "People _*start *_to" but in my case it is not!  

However the results are superb :chug: 

Cheers
clatty


----------



## Steve Lacey (14/7/09)

orac said:


> This site only goes to the fifties but its worth a look:
> 
> http://ndpbeta.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/search?s...=home+brew+beer



That is a cracker of a site orac, thanks mate. I liked the one on the most modern match I could find (The Canberra Times, Tuesday 20 January 1953):



> MADE BEER; MAN
> FINED 50
> 
> SYDNEY, Monday.
> ...



I think the proof system means that those numbers are about double, or a bit more than double, the actual ABV. Isn't it great that the journo saw fit to mention the name of Mr Read's potent potion :lol: :lol: 

Even though that site lacks the articles from the 60s and early 70s, it certainly goes to show that there was a long history of people making sly grog, and what's more, being prosecuted for it! So politicians knew about it, by the end of the Liberal's reign there must have been a real sense of living in the dark ages, and Labor was out to make sweeping social reforms; so probably this was an easy target. A bit different to the situation in Japan, but still an important reference point.

Edit: added newspaper name and date.


----------



## Sammus (14/7/09)

sounds like he was a no chiller too 



> enough beer wort
> to make another 45 gallons were
> found.


----------



## Daniel.lear (14/7/09)

Steve Lacey said:


> In this case I think it is just inertia. Japan is extremely conservative, especially about any change that has social implications. And a little bit like JamesCraig said, the need for the law change would be totally incomprehensible to a Japanese politician. How could anybody who lives on daily lashings of Asahi Super Dry (and would not be aware that any other brand exists), top quality _sake_, _shouchu _and top-shelf whiskey even begin to imagine why Taro Suzuki would want to muck around making his own beer or wine? The imagined loss of taxes probably does present a formidable obstacle as well. But it can't really be an obstacle if nobody is even pushing for the change, and that is the situation we have because nobody wants to bring attention to themselves as being a law-breaker.



Interesting you say that about social implications and being conservative. I couldn't help but notice the difference in drinking culture when I was in Japan earlier this year for the first time in Hirafu. (OT enjoying the wonderful powder snow, and had a few quite nice beers. The Saporro Yebisu Black sp? was quite good.) When not up in Hokaido I did spend some time around Tokyo and Kyoto. When traveling around on the Metro especially on the Shinkansen I noticed that it was not uncommon to see businessmen drinking Sake-one-cup with their Bento Box first thing in the morning. Although i must admit i did not see one excessively drunk local once while i was there.

Leary


----------



## Steve Lacey (15/7/09)

Yes, Leary, there is definitely a different drinking culture, which by US and even to some extent Australian and UK standards, would be regarded as progressive. And thank God for it. Last Sunday I actually spent the afternoon wandering from Shinjuku to Shibuya, buying beer from convenience stores to drink as we walked and talked. I often have a beer on the train on my way home from work. Yes, generally it is a society in which people know how to show self-restraint and act within certain norms, not like us yobs, so there is a slightly more relaxed approach to alcohol consumption. That doesn't mean you don't see drunks on the train late at night or meandering their way home after day break.

But my what I meant about being conservative was in relation to social change that has often happened long ago in the West. Only one party has ruled the country since WWII (though that _may _be about to change). And attitudes to organ transplants, contraception, mental health management, gender equity, immigration...these are all things that they seem very reluctant to meddle with. So too it is with the home brewing law.


----------



## barry2 (15/7/09)

From

http://www.hss.adelaide.edu.au/centrefoodd...es0comment.html

"Finally, prior to 1973 home brewing was effectively illegal in Australia, effectively because it had to contain less than 1.15% alcohol by volume to avoid the payment of license and excise fees. In 1973 the federal parliament passed changes to the Excise Tariff Act that exempted home-brewed beer of all strengths from the payment of excise, provided it was for private consumption. Notably, this legalisation drew the protests of the big brewers at the time."

I imagine the big brewers in Japan would protest too.


----------



## muckanic (15/7/09)

Steve Lacey said:


> it certainly goes to show that there was a long history of people making sly grog, and what's more, being prosecuted for it! So politicians knew about it, by the end of the Liberal's reign there must have been a real sense of living in the dark ages, and Labor was out to make sweeping social reforms; so probably this was an easy target. A bit different to the situation in Japan, but still an important reference point.



It's all coming back to me like a bad dream, with images of dried Vierka yeast and other scary stuff. :huh: In Melbourne, I seem to recall the brew shop in Poath Rd, Hughesdale operating before the advent of Gough. They used to have these recipe sheets describing how to make 5 galls of normal brew, but then they would add the qualifier that they recommended you dilute by an extra 20 galls in order to comply with the law! Nudge, nudge, wink, wink. I might still have a copy of those recipes somewhere, which are kind of a classic of their genre. Basically, the law was unenforceable, and that may have been a factor in its demise. Just imagine you're sitting there with a beer at home and you get a knock on the door from the alco-cops wanting to test the strength of your brew. Although something roughly similar was also done with TV licences. It was legal to own a TV without a licence, but you just had to make sure that a man in a van didn't come and park outside your house and extract a confession that you were actually tuned in to a station. And currently there are all sorts of seeds, equipment, etc, that it is legal to own but illegal to do much with. Makes you wonder why those sorts of openings are allowed in the first place ...

Don't underestimate government concern for its revenue base. That's what allows politicians to continue to bribe voters and remain in power. Alcohol and cigarettes are two major areas which are almost guaranteed to be slugged every budget. I assume that the Brit experience was that home brewing didn't collapse their revenue stream, and that would have been a positive in Oz. And now that I think about it, the US may have followed less than 10 years after us - the Carter government maybe? I'm too slack to look it up.


----------



## barry2 (15/7/09)

From

http://www.australianbeers.com/history/history7.htm

"On the homefront, there were shortages of beer throughout the war. Publicans charged exorbitant prices and only US servicemen were said to be able to afford bottled beer. Home brewing was still illegal but become very popular and its prevalence continued to grow after the war. Cyril Pearl describes the semi-clandestine acts of civil disobedience in Beer, Glorious Beer:

"[T]he shortage of beer during and for some years after World War II led to a big revival of home-brewing in Australia. Kerosene-tins, of four gallons capacity, were the standard vessel for brewing in, and the wash-house or garage (with the door discretely closed) the most popular site for the operation. It was said that the smell of hops and malt which hung perpetually and pervasively over the [Sydney] peninsula was so strong that ferry-boat captains crawling up the Harbour on dark nights could navigate by it. This boom in home-brewing led to a great demand for the vital ingredient, malt. [M]ost wash-house brewers, including myself, compromised with malt extract, a commodity stocked by chemists, and intended, I understand, to promote the health and happiness of infants. It certainly promoted the happiness, if not the health of my neighbours. Astonished chemists were unable to keep up with the increasing demand for tins of malt extract, a demand which at first they attributed to a surprising rise in the local birth-rate. In the early days of home-brewing, it was possible to buy a billycan of brewers yeast [from the breweries]. This, is like malt extract, was allegedly consumed therapeutically. It was said to be a specific against eczema, pimples, blackheads, acne and other unpleasant and anti-social skin conditions. The breweries must have become suspicious when streams of young men and women, all with radiantly healthy complexions, queued up day after day for their shillings worth of therapeutic yeast."


----------



## Nitraz (15/7/09)

My Dad (now 79) remembers being sent to the brewery for a billy-can of yeast for my Grandfather's home brew. I don't think he remembers any other details.

Where did they get hops? Or was the beer medieval in character (bittering herbs, no bittering)?


----------



## barry2 (15/7/09)

From

http://www.avdgs.org.au/nlissue03.html



"Geoff and Nancy's house at 229 Whites Road, Lota became a renowned meeting-place. Here every visitor was treated with respect and honour, and greeted with a "bamboo, " a home-made bamboo mug full of the finest home brew. Inexpensive home brewing on a large scale was an important part of Geoff's philosophy: it was the only way he could afford to extend appropriate hospitality to the large number of guests who appeared there. In 1968 Geoff was actually busted for home brewing, which was still illegal at that time. He was so outraged at this unjust law that he rang leftwing Labor senator George Georges, but they had to wait until the election of the Whitlam government to see it reversed."


----------



## Steve Lacey (15/7/09)

Amazing stuff, Barry, than you very much. Without wanting to associate you too closely to the subject line, I was kind of hoping that you might bob up and help out with this.  

Are you still winning all the comps or is it getting a bit crowded at the top these days?

Cheers

Steve


----------



## crundle (16/7/09)

FNQ Bunyip said:


> Steve , I was thinking that Hansard  Might be a good place to look for record of proceding but only electronic from '81 on ... Maybe a manual search somehow avaliable ???
> 
> Cheers



I wouldn't wish manually searching Hansard on my worst enemy! *shudders at the thought of having to do that ever again*


Crundle


----------



## DJR (16/7/09)

Steve Lacey said:


> Amazing stuff, Barry, than you very much. Without wanting to associate you too closely to the subject line, I was kind of hoping that you might bob up and help out with this.
> 
> Are you still winning all the comps or is it getting a bit crowded at the top these days?
> 
> ...



I'm not sure this barry is the Barry you are thinking of.

Interesting stuff for sure.

I had read a version of the history in a homebrew in Australia book, saying that basically the cops got sick of enforcing the law as it was a timewaster, so they legalised it. Amongst other gems as "don't attempt to filter your beer", "don't bother racking beer" and other things about heater belts and 25C fermentations.


----------



## pcmfisher (16/7/09)

So how does one get home brew supplies in Japan?


----------



## bum (16/7/09)

Same as everyone else, probably - from Ross h34r:


----------



## Henno (16/7/09)

barry3 said:


> From
> 
> http://www.australianbeers.com/history/history7.htm
> 
> ...




That is fantastic stuff! Makes me all proud and melancholy at the same time. The photo of the boys in uniform with the VB made out of bottles is a cracker as well. I wonder what VB tasted like back then?

I still wonder where the home brewer of that era got his hops from though. Any ideas guys?


----------



## Tony M (17/7/09)

Henno said:


> I'm interested in how the boys used to do this back then. Was there malt extract available? I gather they wouldn't be all grainers?


I can only go back to 1963 when I used 5 ingredients. The recipe was 2lb cane sugar, 2lb Fauldings malt extract (cheaper at the grocers than the chemist), 2oz hops, a tablespoon of dried "brewers yeast" and four gallons of water. I'm damned if I can remember boiling anything (it was many thousands of drinks ago). I think I just mixed everything in a couple of buckets with a teatowel covering to keep some of the flies out. It was bloody awful, but we drank it and said it was beaut!


----------



## barry2 (17/7/09)

Steve Lacey said:


> Amazing stuff, Barry, than you very much. Without wanting to associate you too closely to the subject line, I was kind of hoping that you might bob up and help out with this.
> 
> Are you still winning all the comps or is it getting a bit crowded at the top these days?
> 
> ...



Mistaken identity Steve.I have been homebrewing for about three years and brew a few kits and more partials to 23 litres and all grains to 13 litres which is about the limit for my 12 litre stovetop stockpot and 15 litre esky.
This thread and links have provided fascinating reading
The removal of the restriction on brewing higher alcohol beer did not get a mention in Whitlam's 1972 policy speech although the removal of the wine excise tax did.

http://whitlamdismissal.com/speeches/72-11...39;s-time.shtml

The joint Whitlam/Barnard cabinet made many decisions in their few weeks with no mention of beer but the wine excise tax was removed

http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=1391

With the removal of the wine excise tax and people such as Geoff Wills who is mentioned in an earlier link giving lots of reasons ,why people should be allowed to brew higher alcohol beer , to their contacts in the new Labour goverment that Government apparently decided it was time.I don't know if the brewing industry was applying any pressure against brewing of higher alcohol beer but then they may not have been supporters of the Labour party.

The Amateur Winemakers and Brewers Club of Adelaide at

www.adelaideferment.org.au

state

"An important early action of the Club was to join with others in 1973 to persuade the Government to permit the home brewing of beer of any strength; until then home brewing of beer over 2% alcohol was illegal."

They have a contact address on their website so they may be able to find some of their persuasion arguments in their archives


Happy brewing

Barry


----------



## floppinab (17/7/09)

barry3 said:


> it was time.



:lol:


----------



## Steve Lacey (17/7/09)

barry3 said:


> Mistaken identity Steve.I have been homebrewing for about three years and brew a few kits and more partials to 23 litres and all grains to 13 litres which is about the limit for my 12 litre stovetop stockpot and 15 litre esky.



Ah sorry. Jumped the gun, I did. I'm sure Barry C, the most winningest home brewer in the land c.1998 to 200? is on this forum somewhere. Hope he is still around and in good form.



> This thread and links have provided fascinating reading



I agree. I really appreciate the input everybody has given. I got lost for a couple of hours in that site with all the old newspaper clippings.



> The Amateur Winemakers and Brewers Club of Adelaide ... have a contact address on their website



Yes, I contacted them and received a nice reply and they are referring it around the club to see what they can dig up.




pcmfisher said:


> So how does one get home brew supplies in Japan?



There are a few ways. (1) As one respondent suggested, we import directly by mail order, though more often from the States than Australia, and this mainly applies to bulk hop orders that we split up. We also did a bulk order of yeast from White Labs once, but Japanese customs nearly cooked it and we had to get a replacement lot sent (2) Hand carry back from OS trips, especially for bulkier equipment. I have had a friend bring me a Beerbelly plate chiller, and one bloke here has a Mashmaster malt mill. (3) We have found a wholesaler for malt from whom we can buy 25 kg bags of Weyermann, Crisp, or Great Western malt for around 4,500 yen (~A$55) plus $10 for delivery for 1-2 bags (this is actually pretty darn cheap!) -- ordering in Japanese only! (3) Like distilling goods in Oz, it is not illegal to sell the ingredients, so there are a couple of on-line suppliers, but after covering freight costs at the small volumes they import in, the prices are difficult to swallow. But good for smaller orders, perishables and so on.


----------



## caleb (17/7/09)

JamesCraig said:


> Sorry to take things OT, but apart from a few die-hard hobbyists, why would anyone in Japan home brew?
> 
> If you could afford the space to brew, you would have enough money to drink whatever you like!



You have a very cliched and inaccurate view of Japan...  

My Japanese father-in-law just gave me a 1/4 acre of "spare" land to build a house on. It was being used as a rice paddy but he was saving it for his daughter in the long term.

The builder apologized profusely that it used to take 1 day to get building approval for a house, but now the laws have become much more difficult and it could take up to 1 or 2 weeks to get approval... h34r: Try THAT in Australia...

Japan is actually mostly wilderness and forest still! (Or at worst timber plantations). It's just up in the mountains, where no-one wants to live, except a few ancient villages consisting of about 5 self sufficient 80 year old mushroom farmers!

But, yes, Japanese are VERY law abiding and generally don't see the need to question existing laws, so in some ways the place seems very progressive, eg, beer vending machines and drinking a beer on the train, but in others can seem like a conservative 1950's style nightmare where the 60's never actually happened... e.g. marijuana culture is virtually non-existant over there, and prohibition strictly enforced, yet at the same time you can buy a 1kg bag of hemp seeds from the pet shop for around 200 yen (about 2-3 dollars).

As I will be living in Japan iin about 6 months too, I am also interested in home brewing over there... technically breaking the law... but it seems to be in the "dilute your final brew down with 50 litres of water to make it legal, wink wink" category at the moment. Supplies ARE available, at least...

As for change, that would be great, but Japan DOES seem to have a great deal of "cultural inertia" and they really don't give a stuff what some gaijin has to say...


----------



## muckanic (20/7/09)

barry3 said:


> The removal of the restriction on brewing higher alcohol beer did not get a mention in Whitlam's 1972 policy speech although the removal of the wine excise tax did.



So I wonder how many immigrants were making their own wine illegally (or at least excise-free) in that era? Sourcing ingredients wouldn't have been nearly as much of a problem as with beer. I assume part of the reason for the 2% law was to allow people to make their own lemonades and ginger beers, employing natural bottle carbonation. Ah, the memories of those bottle bombs that used to go off under the house every summer! In fact, my first foray into brewing at a very tender age involved taking over the ginger beer duty from Mum, and accidentally spilling a couple of extra kilos of sugar into the brew. B)


----------



## Infinitee (31/10/09)

It seems near-crazy that the only difference between a legal and illegal brew prior to the law change was a kilo or two of sugar.

A law as unenforceable as a tv license, illicit plant material possession or the law (new to me) that you can't have more than X (4?) dogs on a rural property.
Who do they think they are? hehe

I must say, I have found this thread invaluable and evocatively interesting, both to learn of the drinking/brewing/prohibiting culture of japan and australia.
A great many thanks, a bookmark, a BUMP and profound appreciation. :icon_cheers:


----------



## Steve Lacey (31/10/09)

Infinitee, glad you liked the thread.

A little update from Japan. As you may or may not be aware, depending on how much attention you pay to world news, Japan had a change of government a couple of months ago. The first time there has been a complete change of government since the war. Yes, THAT war. There have been a couple of hiccups where the dominant LDP needed a coalition to maintain a tenuous grip on power, but basically it has been at the helm all this time. The new government of the Democratic Party of Japan, or DPJ, has a social progressive leaning, and one of the first things it did after coming to power was to cancel a bunch of infrastructure projects (mainly dams) that were of questionable need and had strong local opposition. The PM, Yukio Hatoyama even addressed the UN in English (not very good English, but at least he had a go, unlike every Japanese PM of the past). It seems the DPJ is determined to modernize Japan in many areas where it lags behind the US and European countries. This is really a golden opportunity to try and agitate for change to home brewing laws, albeit that this would be a long way down the government's list of priorities. So we have had some meetings with Japanese home brewers and have started some research and letter/petition drafting and identified some people with links to new MPs to lobby directly. The wheels turn slowly, but they are turning. I'll report back when there has been some progress.


----------



## avaneyk (31/10/09)

muckanic said:


> In fact, my first foray into brewing at a very tender age involved taking over the ginger beer duty from Mum, and accidentally spilling a couple of extra kilos of sugar into the brew. B)



 That's how I start my brewing as well - aged around 15. The recipe I used was the same as the one my uncle used when he was a kid... :beer:


----------



## bum (31/10/09)

Best of luck with that, Steve! Please let us know how you guys get on.


----------



## Infinitee (1/11/09)

That sounds like great news for the political scene there, Steve.
HB laws aside, a governmental change is as good as a holiday.

With all the money saved on massive, unnecessary infrastructure projects .. surely they don't need to tax homebrewers at any level anymore?

A long shot, but don't give up.
Tastes will change.


----------



## Andyd (2/11/09)

Steve Lacey said:


> The court was told that Read's
> home brew had proof spirit
> strength of 26.5 per cent. Ordin-
> ary beer strength was 7.51 per
> cent.



Did anyone else pick up on the ABV of "Ordinary beer" ??


----------



## dr K (2/11/09)

from some-one who actualy was around at the time and, fom early 1973 lived in Canbeera, indeed still does.
Mr Lacey, and I am certain that Mr Staun will agree with me, whilst the Whitlam Goverment made homebrew legal, it was no part of the raft of leglislation that the duumvirate pushed through in those heady days of Decmber 1972. Without checking I reckon it was probably pushed through by the greatest legislator/ AG that this country has ever had, the late, great Lionel Murphy.
Crash through or Crash and cry (in the shed) a little tear for our little mate, who apart from (probably) legalsising home brewing, stripped out the RCC control over divorce laws, f'd off the eye for an eye principle by abolishing state sanctioned murder, pissed ASIO off, and really really pissed the frogs off by stopping them blowing up pacific atolls with neuclear bombs (for a while anyway). So Mr Garrett..where are you now....tip your hat and your glass for Lionel Murphy.

K


----------

