"Home brewing" typically refers to the brewing of beer and
similar alcoholic beverages (and sometimes soft drinks) on a very
small scale as a hobby for personal consumption, free distribution
at social gatherings, amateur brewing competitions or other
assorted generally non-commercial reasons. Alcohol has been brewed
domestically throughout its 7000-year history. Throughout the first
half of the twentieth century, the history of homebrewing was
circumscribed by taxation and prohibition, largely...
full article
at wikipedia