Tributes in honor of the life of former president Jimmy Carter they keep coming after his death over the weekend, and while the 39th commander-in-chief is remembered for many contributions, the craft beer industry has long hailed him as a “hero.”

Jim Koch, founder of Boston Brewing Cowho launched his Sam Adams lager from home, credits Carter with driving America’s craft beer movement.

Sam Adams founder Jim Koch speaks in Boston during his 13th annual craft beer competition. (Creating the American Dream)

“It was absolutely true that Jimmy Carter relaxed the rules in 1979 to allow people to brew beer at home,” Koch said. The San Diego Reader in a 2022 interview. “First time since Prohibition. And that helped start this whole microbrewery process.”

Beer lovers across America have more options than ever thanks to Carter, who eschewed most alcohol because of his Southern Baptist beliefs, after signing a law legalizing home brewing.

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HR 1337, which Carter signed on 14 October 1978, it declared that any adult could “produce wine and beer for personal and family use and not for sale without incurring excise duty on wine or beer or any penalty” up to 200 processed gallons

Former President Jimmy Carter before the game between the Atlanta Falcons and the Cincinnati Bengals at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on September 30, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Scott Cunningham/Getty Images/Getty Images)

That first generation of post-1978 homebrewers “paved the way for the modern craft beer movement and the more than 9,300 breweries in the United States today,” Brewers Association CEO Bob Pease told Fox News Digital by email the week of Carter’s 100th birthday in October. .

“The brewing community is grateful to President Jimmy Carter and his legacy lives on in every batch of beer brewed,” he said.

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In December 1978, barely two months after homebrewing was federally legalized, the American Homebrewers Association was established in Boulder, Colorado.

The American Homebrewers Association now estimates that between 500,000 and 750,000 Americans brew “at least one batch of beer at home” annually, according to its website.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, the third largest craft brewery in the United States, began as a home brewing operation. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/Getty Images)

Many craft breweries, including now larger brands like Boston Brewing Co. and Sierra Nevada, started as home brewing operations.

On Sunday, the day Carter died, the American Homebrewers Association issued a statement remembering the former president and his contribution to the homebrewer community, and suggested raising a glass in his honor.

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“Cheers, and thanks to an American homebrew hero, President Jimmy Carter,” the statement read.

FOX News Digital’s Christine Rousselle contributed to this report.