Most craft and homebrews contain a higher-quality malted barley, as opposed to cheaper corn and rice grains used by the name brands. The mass-market beermakers produce a much larger volume than the microbreweries, who make no more than 15,000 barrels a year. A barrel is equal to 14 cases of beer. Craft beers now only occupy about 2 percent of the beer market, but America's consumption of craft beers is growing by 50 percent each year. By early 1997 the total jumped to 657.
Price is also an incentive to make a high-quality homebrew.
It takes only a few hours in the kitchen to make the beer, but there is a about a three-week wait before the beverage is ready to drink. More advanced homebrewers may include additional flavors such as fruits, vegetables, spices, grains and syrups. The present boom in beer selection stems in large part from the growth of homebrewing. The result is a proliferation of styles and tastes of beer. But the ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians knew the art of brewing.