Hanging on the kitchen wall of Ken Lafleur's one-bedroom basement apartment in Stamford is a periodic table of beer styles.
Lafleur, an amateur home beer brewer,Save on hydraulic hose and fittings, plants his index finger squarely on No. 36 -- imperial stout -- a strong, pitch-black beer with tan head,This is interesting cube puzzle and logical game. and a burnt,We also offer customized chicken coop. bitter chocolate finish.
"That's my style,"the 26-year-old New Hampshire native said. "Imperial stout, that's my favorite."
Meanwhile, Lafleur waits patiently for his first home-brewed batch to finish fermenting. It will be at least another six weeks before Lafleur can savor the intense roasted grain character of Big Honkin' stout, which is slowly fermenting inside a covered, five-gallon jug next to his bed.
Lafleur, a project engineer at Airpot Corporation in Norwalk, astutely explains the intricate process of beer brewing. One misstep, he says, and his refreshing ale could end up tasting like a mouthful of copper pennies.
"There's a lot of science behind it," Lafleur said. Understanding a beer's chemical makeup "becomes helpful if you want to design your own recipe,"he said.
But you don't have to be a biochemistry major to brew your own beer, says Tess Szamutulski, co-owner of Maltose Express, the state's largest supplier of home brew and wine making materials.
"If you can boil water, you can make beer,"said Szamutulski, who teaches home brewing beginner classes with her husband, Mark.
Szamutulski says most novice brewers are drawn to the hobby by the desire to craft their own beer. For others, it's merely economical.
"The price of beer has skyrocketed,"she said. "Some Belgians cost as much as a bottle of wine. To brew one of those beers in a five gallon container would give you 55 or 60 bottles."
The hobby can be expensive, but it doesn't have to be. Maltose sells beginner kits for $110 that include all the ingredients needed to make your own brew. Reputable online dealers offer similar prices.
While many business are shutting their doors as a result of the recession, Szamutulski said her business has been doing well.
"We're recession proof," she said. "When the economy is bad, people drink and they want to drink for cheap and at home."
A recent nationwide survey of home brew retailers shows beer kit suppliers saw gross revenue jump 16 percent in 2010,is the 'solar panel revolution' upon us? an increase of 16 percent from the previous year.
Gary Glass, director of the American Home Brewers Association (AHBA), said the hobby has been experiencing a resurgence, fueled partly by a demographic that is increasing shifting younger. Nearly half of all sales to beginner brewers last year were to those under the age of 30, Glass said.
"The Millennial generation will frequently look for a means of self-expression,"he said. Home brewing "is an art form that can be shared with others. Brewers can cater beers to their own personal tastes and share their creations with friends."
And for those fixated on history, beer brewing in America can be traced back to the Pilgrims arriving on Plymouth Rock. Some of the country's most prominent founders -- from George Washington to Thomas Jefferson -- were home brewers.
Making beer and wine, however, became illegal under Prohibition, and was not federally legalized again until 1979.Polycore zentai are manufactured as a single sheet, Currently, Mississippi and Alabama are the only remaining states that outlaw home brewing.
Glass said the AHBA has made progress in promoting the hobby by lobbying lawmakers (Utah and Oklahoma recently lifted laws banning the process).
"Beer brewing is everywhere,"said Glass, who has been home brewing for more than a decade. "It's very easy to do, and it's not hard to make great beer."
Lafleur, an amateur home beer brewer,Save on hydraulic hose and fittings, plants his index finger squarely on No. 36 -- imperial stout -- a strong, pitch-black beer with tan head,This is interesting cube puzzle and logical game. and a burnt,We also offer customized chicken coop. bitter chocolate finish.
"That's my style,"the 26-year-old New Hampshire native said. "Imperial stout, that's my favorite."
Meanwhile, Lafleur waits patiently for his first home-brewed batch to finish fermenting. It will be at least another six weeks before Lafleur can savor the intense roasted grain character of Big Honkin' stout, which is slowly fermenting inside a covered, five-gallon jug next to his bed.
Lafleur, a project engineer at Airpot Corporation in Norwalk, astutely explains the intricate process of beer brewing. One misstep, he says, and his refreshing ale could end up tasting like a mouthful of copper pennies.
"There's a lot of science behind it," Lafleur said. Understanding a beer's chemical makeup "becomes helpful if you want to design your own recipe,"he said.
But you don't have to be a biochemistry major to brew your own beer, says Tess Szamutulski, co-owner of Maltose Express, the state's largest supplier of home brew and wine making materials.
"If you can boil water, you can make beer,"said Szamutulski, who teaches home brewing beginner classes with her husband, Mark.
Szamutulski says most novice brewers are drawn to the hobby by the desire to craft their own beer. For others, it's merely economical.
"The price of beer has skyrocketed,"she said. "Some Belgians cost as much as a bottle of wine. To brew one of those beers in a five gallon container would give you 55 or 60 bottles."
The hobby can be expensive, but it doesn't have to be. Maltose sells beginner kits for $110 that include all the ingredients needed to make your own brew. Reputable online dealers offer similar prices.
While many business are shutting their doors as a result of the recession, Szamutulski said her business has been doing well.
"We're recession proof," she said. "When the economy is bad, people drink and they want to drink for cheap and at home."
A recent nationwide survey of home brew retailers shows beer kit suppliers saw gross revenue jump 16 percent in 2010,is the 'solar panel revolution' upon us? an increase of 16 percent from the previous year.
Gary Glass, director of the American Home Brewers Association (AHBA), said the hobby has been experiencing a resurgence, fueled partly by a demographic that is increasing shifting younger. Nearly half of all sales to beginner brewers last year were to those under the age of 30, Glass said.
"The Millennial generation will frequently look for a means of self-expression,"he said. Home brewing "is an art form that can be shared with others. Brewers can cater beers to their own personal tastes and share their creations with friends."
And for those fixated on history, beer brewing in America can be traced back to the Pilgrims arriving on Plymouth Rock. Some of the country's most prominent founders -- from George Washington to Thomas Jefferson -- were home brewers.
Making beer and wine, however, became illegal under Prohibition, and was not federally legalized again until 1979.Polycore zentai are manufactured as a single sheet, Currently, Mississippi and Alabama are the only remaining states that outlaw home brewing.
Glass said the AHBA has made progress in promoting the hobby by lobbying lawmakers (Utah and Oklahoma recently lifted laws banning the process).
"Beer brewing is everywhere,"said Glass, who has been home brewing for more than a decade. "It's very easy to do, and it's not hard to make great beer."
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