Dave Line (1942 – 1980) was a British

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

. An electrical engineer by profession, he is regarded as a pioneer in

homebrewing Homebrewing is the brewing of beer or other alcoholic beverages on a small scale for personal, non-commercial purposes. Supplies, such as kits and fermentation tanks, can be purchased locally at specialty stores or online. Beer was brewed dom ...

during the 1970s because at the time

as a hobby was in its infancy. At the time of his early death from cancer he was 37, living in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, was married and had a son.

Homebrewing

In 1963, it had become free to homebrew in the UK, previously requiring an annual 5 Shilling licence, but would not yet become legal in the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

until President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...

signed a bill into law in 1978 legalizing it. People wanted to brew

that matched the quality of commercial

. In his first book "The Big Book of Brewing", Dave Line helped people to begin to reach the quality they were looking for, by using ingredients and processes that were used in breweries, with simple homebrewing equipment. At the time people were not getting satisfactory results, because they were using substandard ingredients, low quality syrups or beer kits,

baker's yeast Baker's yeast is the common name for the strains of yeast commonly used in baking bread and other bakery products, serving as a leavening agent which causes the bread to rise (expand and become lighter and softer) by converting the fermentabl ...

, and were not technically informed in the processes of brewing. He advocated the use of proper brewer's yeast, whole-grain

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley p ...

malts, whole hops, and even went into simple analysis and comparison of the chemistry of water used for brewing different beers, and rudimentary water treatment. He also encouraged sterilisation and proper cleaning of equipment. He was a regular contributor to Amateur Winemaker, and in a decade, probably had more recipes

published Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, news ...

than anyone else.

Bibliography

* ''The Big Book of Brewing'' (1974) * ''Brewing Beers Like Those You Buy'' (1978) * ''Beer Kits and Brewing'' (1980)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Line, Dave Homebrewing Year of birth uncertain Beer writers 1979 deaths 1942 births British male non-fiction writers 20th-century British male writers 20th-century British non-fiction writers British food writers Deaths from cancer in England