Brewing beer at home is a trend more people are tapping into BY MATT GRUBBA Trib Total Media Many people love to wind down after a long day with a cold beer or glass of wine, but more and more, consumers are cutting out the shopping trip and crafting their own refreshments at home. The increase in home brewing of beer has been a nationwide trend — the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) says 1.2 million people in the U.S. brew their own beer — and the hobby likewise has expanded in West-ern Pennsylvania. “We wrapped up 2016 with our mem-bership at its largest ever. It’s getting to a point where it’s nationwide; roughly 1 in every 200 adults is brewing their own beer,” AHA assistant director Steve Parr said. “Anytime you have a region known for its local breweries, home brewers seem to pop up there — along the West Coast, in the mountains in Colorado, and the midwest has always been a home brewing hub.” Westmoreland County has plenty of retailers who carry the supplies to get home brewers and wine makers started, such as Vite e Vino in Derry. “We made our own wine at home and were having trouble getting supplies. That’s essentially how we got started,” Sean Meyer of Vite e Vino said. “We have starter kits we sell with all the basic equipment. We try to sell people the minimum equipment at first so to not end up overwhelming them. The equipment (for beer and wine) is similar, you just need a corker for wine and a bottle capper for beer.” As the home brewing market has boomed, local beer distributors are also trying to meet the needs of their customers. Distributors sometimes see customers who previously would leave with a case of beer head out the door with equip-ment and ingredients. While that might cause a slight downturn in beer sales, it opens up a new market for those businesses. “We’re slowly building up the prod-ucts we have and ordering more. We have a room now for (home brewing),” said Terri Ellis, owner of Beer Arena in Greensburg. “A lot of people asked us about things for home brewing over the years, and we would send them to Duncan Hard-ware in Jeannette. We’ve had it for just over a year now, and we want to see it grow and develop. It’s more personal to brew your own beer.” Home brewing, like so many other hobbies, can become a short-term interest or a life-long passion. One of the hardest parts, of course, is getting started, which is why the business model for Vite e Vino is geared toward being available for their customers. “For some people, it’s like a bucket list thing to do. … Other people, it’s like clockwork, whether they make a Destination Westmoreland 2017 | 7 HOME BREWING CRAFTING SESSIONS
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