Fermented Freedom

Mississippi has a long and storied past when it comes to the hand crafted, fermented freedom that we love.  Well maybe not the type of history as some of the other states that have become the craft beer Meccas for the enthusiasts.  My beloved state was the last state to formally and legally end prohibition doing so more than three decades after the 21st Amendment was passed.  It took until 2013 for Homebrewing to become legal and up until 2012 the ABV was limited to about 6%.  Since 2012, there has been steady progress in the MS craft beer scene and part of that progress is due to the foresight of Jennifer Clark of Emerge Events in Hattiesburg.  She organized the first craft beer festival in 2013 in Hattiesburg and it has quickly become a circled date for not only MS craft beer lovers but also from surrounding states as well. The following is a short Q & A session with Jennifer on some of her insight on the Hattiesburg Craft Beer Festival. 1.  ...

For several years, I talked about learning how to home brew but never “found” the time to take it up, but when we made our move to Mississippi I was determined that now was the time to begin my fermented adventure.  Imagine my surprise that upon settling in our newfound home state in 2012 that I discovered that MS was one of only two states in our beloved union that brewing our own beer was outlawed.  Thankfully in 2013, freedom won the day in the MS legislature and home brewing was legal.  As elated as I was to have the shackles removed from my fermented creations, I realized that MS has had a storied past when it came to our chosen obsession. We all have heard of Prohibition but I had no idea that it started much earlier in MS than the passage of the 18 th Amendment in 1920.  The manufacture and sale of alcohol was outlawed in 1907 in MS, 13 years before it became a nationwide ban.  In 1933 the 21st Amendment became the law of the land which repealed the...