如果无法使用brew search<formula>找到您的版本，您也可以尝试查看公式的提交日志，以找到所需的版本：

下面是通过brew安装旧版本nginx的示例：

ngxnx公式提交日志参见nginx:更新1.6.3瓶装eba75b9a1a474b9fc4df30bd0a32637fa31ec049

从那里，我们可以使用sha和原始git url安装1.6.3：

brew安装https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/homebrew/eba75b9a1a474b9fc4df30bd0a32637fa31ec049/Library/Formula/nginx.rb

我刚刚使用Homebrew返回到Maven 2.2.1，因为简单的brew安装Maven安装了Maven 3.0.3。

首先你必须把maven目录放在那里

$ brew unlink maven

使用brew tap命令

$ brew tap homebrew/versions
Cloning into '/usr/local/Library/Taps/homebrew-versions'...
remote: Counting objects: 590, done.
remote: Compressing objects: 100% (265/265), done.
remote: Total 590 (delta 362), reused 549 (delta 325)
Receiving objects: 100% (590/590), 117.49 KiB | 79 KiB/s, done.
Resolving deltas: 100% (362/362), done.
Tapped 50 formula

现在，您可以安装maven2公式：

$ brew install maven2
==> Downloading http://www.apache.org/dist/maven/maven-2/2.2.1/binaries/apache-maven-2.2.1-bin.tar.gz
######################################################################## 100.0%
/usr/local/Cellar/maven2/2.2.1: 10 files, 3.1M, built in 6 seconds

$ mvn --version
Apache Maven 2.2.1 (r801777; 2009-08-06 12:16:01-0700)
Java version: 1.6.0_37
Java home: /System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Home
Default locale: en_US, platform encoding: MacRoman
OS name: "mac os x" version: "10.7.4" arch: "x86_64" Family: "mac" 

编辑：您也可以只编写switch maven 2.2.1来切换到不同的版本。

编辑：Apache Maven项目重组了他们的repo。更新此答案以说明此更改。

⚠ 这个答案在2020年12月后不再有效：在HomeBrew 2.7.0中禁用了brew开关（2.6.0中已弃用）

对于2.7之前的Homebrew版本：

现在有一种更简单的方法来安装以前安装的公式的旧版本。简单使用

brew switch [formula] [version]

例如，我定期在Node.js 0.4.12和0.6.5之间切换：

brew switch node 0.4.12
brew switch node 0.6.5

由于brew开关只是更改符号链接，所以速度非常快。请参阅外部命令下Homebrew Wiki的更多文档。

UPDATE：此方法已弃用，不再有效。

此方法导致错误：不支持从GitHub提交URL安装mysql！brew将mysql提取到GitHub上的稳定水龙头。（用法错误）

$ brew install https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/c77882756a832ac1d87e7396c114158e5619016c/Formula/mysql.rb
Updating Homebrew...
==> Auto-updated Homebrew!
Updated 2 taps (homebrew/core and homebrew/cask).

...

Traceback (most recent call last):
    9: from /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/brew.rb:122:in `<main>'
    8: from /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cmd/install.rb:132:in `install'
    7: from /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cli/parser.rb:302:in `parse'
    6: from /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cli/parser.rb:651:in `formulae'
    5: from /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cli/parser.rb:651:in `map'
    4: from /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cli/parser.rb:655:in `block in formulae'
    3: from /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/formulary.rb:351:in `factory'
    2: from /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/formulary.rb:138:in `get_formula'
    1: from /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/formulary.rb:142:in `klass'
/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/formulary.rb:227:in `load_file': Invalid usage: Installation of mysql from a GitHub commit URL is unsupported! `brew extract mysql` to a stable tap on GitHub instead. (UsageError)
    12: from /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/brew.rb:155:in `<main>'
    11: from /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/brew.rb:157:in `rescue in <main>'
    10: from /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/help.rb:64:in `help'
     9: from /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/help.rb:83:in `command_help'
     8: from /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/help.rb:103:in `parser_help'
     7: from /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cli/parser.rb:302:in `parse'
     6: from /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cli/parser.rb:651:in `formulae'
     5: from /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cli/parser.rb:651:in `map'
     4: from /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cli/parser.rb:655:in `block in formulae'
     3: from /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/formulary.rb:351:in `factory'
     2: from /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/formulary.rb:138:in `get_formula'
     1: from /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/formulary.rb:142:in `klass'
/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/formulary.rb:227:in `load_file': Invalid usage: Installation of mysql from a GitHub commit URL is unsupported! `brew extract mysql` to a stable tap on GitHub instead. (UsageError)

我尝试使用推荐的命令进行安装，但它在MySQL 5.7.10的这个特定实例中不起作用。你可能会有更好的运气与更新的公式。

$ brew extract --version=5.7.10 mysql homebrew/cask
==> Searching repository history
==> Writing formula for mysql from revision 0fa511b to:
/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Taps/homebrew/homebrew-cask/Formula/mysql@5.7.10.rb

$ 

$ brew install /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Taps/homebrew/homebrew-cask/Formula/mysql@5.7.10.rb
Updating Homebrew...
==> Auto-updated Homebrew!
Updated 1 tap (homebrew/core).
==> Updated Formulae
Updated 1 formula.
Error: undefined method `core_tap?' for nil:NilClass

Error: Failed to load cask: /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Taps/homebrew/homebrew-cask/Formula/mysql@5.7.10.rb
Cask 'mysql@5.7.10' is unreadable: wrong constant name #<Class:0x00007f9b9498cad8>
Warning: Treating /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Taps/homebrew/homebrew-cask/Formula/mysql@5.7.10.rb as a formula.
==> Installing mysql@5.7.10 from homebrew/cask
==> Downloading https://homebrew.bintray.com/bottles/cmake-3.19.4.big_sur.bottle.tar.gz
==> Downloading from https://d29vzk4ow07wi7.cloudfront.net/278f2ad1caf664019ff7b4a7fc5493999c06adf503637447af13a617d45cf484?response-content-disposition=attachment%3Bfilenam
######################################################################## 100.0%
==> Downloading https://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/boost/boost/1.59.0/boost_1_59_0.tar.bz2
==> Downloading from https://phoenixnap.dl.sourceforge.net/project/boost/boost/1.59.0/boost_1_59_0.tar.bz2
######################################################################## 100.0%
==> Downloading https://cdn.mysql.com/Downloads/MySQL-5.7/mysql-5.7.10.tar.gz

curl: (22) The requested URL returned error: 404 Not Found
Error: Failed to download resource "mysql@5.7.10"
Download failed: https://cdn.mysql.com/Downloads/MySQL-5.7/mysql-5.7.10.tar.gz

您可以在上面的路径中修改公式（用ruby编写），以尝试实现所需的结果（例如，在最近的macOS版本上安装MySQL 5.7.10）。

您可以使用识别公式和公式历史记录中与您要安装的软件包版本匹配的特定提交的策略。

去https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core按键盘上的t启动文件查找器。确定一个看起来最相关的公式，可能是：formula/mysql.rb，将您带到forumla文件位置：https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/blob/master/Formula/mysql.rb.单击历史记录按钮查看修订历史记录，该按钮位于https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/commits/master/Formula/mysql.rb.如果您对MySQL 5.7.10感兴趣，可以单击5.7.11之前的最新版本，该版本导航到GitHub提交：

https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/commit/c77882756a832ac1d87e7396c114158e5619016c#Formula/mysql.rb

注意：如果提交历史没有加载到浏览器中，您可能需要根据GitHub的建议在控制台中查看提交历史。如果您有兴趣在GitHub上看到提交，请在URL中替换上面的提交SHA。或者，跳到下面的步骤7。

应用提交后，单击“查看”按钮查看mysql.rb文件的源代码。然后单击“原始”按钮查看原始源。复制URL。或者，使用mysql.rb文件名自己构建URL，以标识您的公式和该公式的特定版本（由以下URL中的commmit SHA标识）。

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/c77882756a832ac1d87e7396c114158e5619016c/Formula/mysql.rb

使用$brew Install[步骤7的URL]安装它$brew安装https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/c77882756a832ac1d87e7396c114158e5619016c/Formula/mysql.rb

以下是我如何降级KOPS（不支持版本控制）

# brew has a git repo on your localhost
cd /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Taps/homebrew/homebrew-core

git remote -v
origin  https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core (fetch)
origin  https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core (push)

# find the version of kops.rb you need
git log Formula/kops.rb

# checkout old commit
# kops: update 1.18.1 bottle.
git checkout 2f0ede7f27dfc074d5b5493894f3468f27cc73f0 -- Formula/kops.rb

brew unlink kops
brew install kops

# now we have old version installed
ls -1 /usr/local/Cellar/kops/
1.18.1
1.18.2

which kops
/usr/local/bin/kops
ls -l /usr/local/bin/kops
/usr/local/bin/kops -> ../Cellar/kops/1.18.1/bin/kops
kops version
Version 1.18.1

# revert to the newest version
brew uninstall kops
git checkout -f
brew link kops
kops version
Version 1.18.2

我决定，违背我更好的判断，为Maven 3.1.1创建一个公式，而自制程序/版本没有。要执行此操作：

我在github上分叉了自制程序/版本。我从$（brew-prefix）/Library/Taps符号链接到我的fork的本地工作副本。我将其称为我的自制程序/版本。我通过将公式指定为我的自制程序/版本/＜公式＞进行测试。我向自制程序/版本发送了新公式的拉取请求。

Yay.