Bill Mares started making his own beer 45 years ago, when homebrewing was illegal and there were no microbreweries in America. Today there are over 7,000 such breweries nationwide, and Vermont has the highest percentage of breweries per capita in the country. Mares has written three editions of “Making Beer,” and fathered Vermont’s brewpub-enabling law in the 1980s.

In this presentation, Mares will offer a short history of beer itself, and discuss the American beer revolution, Vermont’s small but significant contribution, and his co-ownership of a brewery. 

The North Star Community served as a gathering place -- and beer hall -- for generations of German-American Old North End residents, and is an ideal location for a talk on the history and culture of Vermont beer making, and consumption.

This program is made possible by a grant from the Vermont Humanities Council's Speakers Bureau.