TALLAHASSEE, FL. (WTXL) - The Craft Beer scene is growing, spreading locally giving beer drinkers multiple options to quench their thirst.
While most are happy just plopping down a couple of bucks at a pub where everyone knows there name, some are taking their love for the libation to a more personal level.
Terry Burnside is a self proclaimed beer lover, "I love beer".
Now a retired engineer, and time on his hands, hobbies are a big part of his day. But brewing beer in his garage has become his passion.
Burnside has only been brewing beer for a little over a year, "My son-in-law got me a little brewing kit, pretty inexpensive but a real beer brewing kit but a small one."
The business of craft beer has skyrocketed in the last decade. The amount of microbreweries and brewpubs in the U.S. has reached record highs. According to the Brewers Association, there were approximately 1,521 operating craft breweries nationwide in 2008. By the end of 2014, there were 3,418. And the places selling brew kits has also seen a spike in production. A starter brew kit from HomeBrew Den in Tallahassee can range from $70.00 to $190.00, cheap for folks to get started.
For Burnside brewing beer is all about the process of making something to share with family and friends.
For those wanting to try brewing beer in their own home, there are plenty of beer associations to be a part of where you can ask question.
According to Mike Carbonell the owner of Growler Country, "This culture of beer is starting to become a life style, being a beer connoisseur as it would be with wine than it was before."
And that's why so many people like Terry are buying in to the brew. Brewing beer in your home can be as simple, or as complicated, as you want to make it. Before you brew you need to decide what you want to brew and how you're going to brew it. Either way there's one key ingredient needed.
Burnside says, "The core of this and the important part is the sugar that's in the Malt. This is what the yeast are going to eat and turn sugar into alcohol."
For the average home brewer making beer is at least a several week process. For those thinking about testing their skills, Byron Burroughs owner of Proof Brewing CO. says, "It's extremely important that anybody that wants to get into brewing whether a home brewer or someone else pay attention to what their making, Everyone needs to have very strict quality control standards."
The biggest tip according to Burroughs is have fun with it.
