diff --git a/client/homebrew/editor/metadataEditor/metadataEditor.jsx b/client/homebrew/editor/metadataEditor/metadataEditor.jsx
index 118e76986..bdb6731eb 100644
--- a/client/homebrew/editor/metadataEditor/metadataEditor.jsx
+++ b/client/homebrew/editor/metadataEditor/metadataEditor.jsx
@@ -258,16 +258,14 @@ const MetadataEditor = createClass({
 		return <div className='field language'>
 			<label>language</label>
 			<input type='text' className='value'
-				value={this.props.metadata.lang}
+				defaultValue={this.props.metadata.lang || 'en'}
 				onChange={(e)=>this.handleFieldChange('lang', e)}
 				list='languageList'
-				pattern='[a-zA-Z]{2,3}(-.*)?'
 				autoComplete='off'
 				placeholder={`'en', 'es', 'de' for example`} />
 			<datalist id='languageList'>
 				{listLanguages()}
 			</datalist>
-			<span className='validity'>Must be 2-3 letters, optionally followed by '-...'</span>
 		</div>;
 	},
 
diff --git a/client/homebrew/pages/newPage/newPage.jsx b/client/homebrew/pages/newPage/newPage.jsx
index 251f169c9..fedaf7ffa 100644
--- a/client/homebrew/pages/newPage/newPage.jsx
+++ b/client/homebrew/pages/newPage/newPage.jsx
@@ -32,7 +32,8 @@ const NewPage = createClass({
 				title       : '',
 				description : '',
 				renderer    : 'V3',
-				theme       : '5ePHB'
+				theme       : '5ePHB',
+				lang        : 'en'
 			}
 		};
 	},
@@ -47,7 +48,8 @@ const NewPage = createClass({
 				title       : brew.title       ?? '',
 				description : brew.description ?? '',
 				renderer    : brew.renderer    ?? 'legacy',
-				theme       : brew.theme       ?? '5ePHB'
+				theme       : brew.theme       ?? '5ePHB',
+				lang        : brew.lang        ?? 'en'
 			};
 		}
 
@@ -76,6 +78,7 @@ const NewPage = createClass({
 			// brew.description = metaStorage?.description || this.state.brew.description;
 			brew.renderer = metaStorage?.renderer ?? brew.renderer;
 			brew.theme    = metaStorage?.theme    ?? brew.theme;
+			brew.lang     = metaStorage?.lang     ?? brew.lang;
 
 			this.setState({
 				brew : brew
@@ -84,7 +87,7 @@ const NewPage = createClass({
 
 		localStorage.setItem(BREWKEY, brew.text);
 		localStorage.setItem(STYLEKEY, brew.style);
-		localStorage.setItem(METAKEY, JSON.stringify({ 'renderer': brew.renderer, 'theme': brew.theme }));
+		localStorage.setItem(METAKEY, JSON.stringify({ 'renderer': brew.renderer, 'theme': brew.theme, 'lang': brew.lang }));
 	},
 	componentWillUnmount : function() {
 		document.removeEventListener('keydown', this.handleControlKeys);
@@ -128,13 +131,16 @@ const NewPage = createClass({
 	handleMetaChange : function(metadata){
 		this.setState((prevState)=>({
 			brew : { ...prevState.brew, ...metadata },
-		}));
-		localStorage.setItem(METAKEY, JSON.stringify({
-			// 'title'       : this.state.brew.title,
-			// 'description' : this.state.brew.description,
-			'renderer' : this.state.brew.renderer,
-			'theme'    : this.state.brew.theme
-		}));
+		}), ()=>{
+			localStorage.setItem(METAKEY, JSON.stringify({
+				// 'title'       : this.state.brew.title,
+				// 'description' : this.state.brew.description,
+				'renderer' : this.state.brew.renderer,
+				'theme'    : this.state.brew.theme,
+				'lang'     : this.state.brew.lang
+			}));
+		});
+		;
 	},
 
 	clearErrors : function(){
@@ -291,7 +297,7 @@ const NewPage = createClass({
 						onMetaChange={this.handleMetaChange}
 						renderer={this.state.brew.renderer}
 					/>
-					<BrewRenderer text={this.state.brew.text} style={this.state.brew.style} renderer={this.state.brew.renderer} theme={this.state.brew.theme} errors={this.state.htmlErrors}/>
+					<BrewRenderer text={this.state.brew.text} style={this.state.brew.style} renderer={this.state.brew.renderer} theme={this.state.brew.theme} lang={this.state.brew.lang} errors={this.state.htmlErrors}/>
 				</SplitPane>
 			</div>
 		</div>;
diff --git a/server/homebrew.model.js b/server/homebrew.model.js
index 7f4912fb6..b44f1dec9 100644
--- a/server/homebrew.model.js
+++ b/server/homebrew.model.js
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ const HomebrewSchema = mongoose.Schema({
 	description : { type: String, default: '' },
 	tags        : [String],
 	systems     : [String],
-	lang        : { type: String, default: '' },
+	lang        : { type: String, default: 'en' },
 	renderer    : { type: String, default: '' },
 	authors     : [String],
 	published   : { type: Boolean, default: false },