In the past three decades, New York City has become an important center of craft and home beer brewing. While this phenomenon began only after President Jimmy Carter signed into law an act that legalized home-brewing, the growth of New York’s present beer industry also marks the resurgence of a long-standing tradition known to few outside the world of beer aficionados. Beer has been brewed in New York City and State since the days of its earliest European settlement, when it was a vital source of nourishment and tax revenues.