Originally Posted by cyberbackpacker

I am a craft brewer.
I am a home brewer.
I love good beer.
I am passionate about good beer.
For the past 50 years, beers in the hands of average Americans have been put there by ad men, mega-corporations, snake oil salesmen, people who promise one thing, and deliver nothing.
Only focused on how much their selling, instead of what they are selling.
But not any more.
Since 1978 home brewing has been a legal option for people who love beer in the United States.
Tell me I can’t do it.
Ask me why I don’t buy my beer like everyone else.
Call me naive.
Call me a Revolutionary.
Home brewing is innovation.
Independence.
Curiosity.
Collaboration.
Character.
And family.
Its built on the American dream.
The only way to fail as a home brewer is to quit
Home brewing has integrity, tradition, and a style all its own.
Home brewers create community, and make communities better places.
Home brewing is rooted in the earliest of civilized traditions, and crosses all borders, cultures, and distances.
Home brewing is happening from America to Australia, and is practiced throughout the world.
We are small.
We are not Micro.
We are not Nano or Pico (at least most of us).
We are a community that is supportive.
Authentic.
Local.
And diverse.
We are risk takers.
We are hard working.
We don’t chase after trends, we chase after great beer.
A little over 100 years ago there were 3000 breweries in the United States.
Around that same time, mega corporations decided to put corn in their beer.
Decided to put rice in their beer.
I don’t put corn in my beer.
I don’t put rice in my beer.
Everything I put in my beer, I choose because it enhances the flavor.
I am not afraid.
I am not afraid of brewing my beer to be more interesting, rather than less.
If you want lowest common denominator beer, that's up to you.
All beer is good, some is just better than others.
These are unprecedented times in the history of American brewing.
While the monolithic industrial brewers continue to get more monolithic, its craft brewers that have been capturing the hearts and minds of the American public.
Today America is considered by experts and beer enthusiasts everywhere as the most exciting place in the world for great beer.
American craft brewers are proud to have changed the reputation of beer in this country from lowly, too elevated.
Home brewers are proud to have inspired men and women to become craft brewers.
Many of those same craft brewers that are changing the global opinion of American beer started out brewing on their kitchen stove, or over an open flame.
There are an estimated 750,000 home brewers in the United States, and we have contributed, and are still contributing, to a momentum that cannot be stopped.
We are socially conscious, stylistically adventurous, and categorically devoted to creating great beer.
We must illuminate our strengths, keep true to our standards, and never stop in our attempts to make even better beer.
We must always hold on to our spirit of camaraderie.
We must educate and inspire those who do not understand or are unfamiliar with what we do, but want to!
We believe in quality, bold character, fun, responsibility and we believe in pushing boundaries.
We are the heart and soul of what great beer can be.
We are all craft brewers.
We are all home brewers.
We must honor and hold true to our craft.
We must honor and hold true to our integrity.
We must honor and hold true to each other.
We must spread the message.
We must share great beer.
We must share our great beer.
I’d like to raise a toast.
To beers that were home brewed!
I brewed this beer.
I brewed this beer.
I brewed this beer.
I brewed this beer.
I brewed this beer.
This is my first home brewed beer.
Me too.
To you.
To us!
On three and then cheers.
1.. 2.. 3..
CHEERS!