Home brewing is widely popular in North America and Europe. It refers to the process of producing beer and similar alcoholic beverages like wine for personal consumption, hence on a small scale – from scratch.
Brewing beer domestically has started off thousands of years ago and was largely dominated by women brewers since it was a by-product of gathering and often considered a part of baking. Commercial brewing took off only with the innovations of the 18th century Industrial Revolution – thermometer and hydrometer – which increased the efficiency to the point that mass production of beer was possible for the first time.