A beverage that brings joy to many merely by being consumed also brings joy to those who have taken up the art of its creation, even if it takes place in a dark, cramped laundry room.

Home brewing has grown in popularity over the last few years. Craft beer and interest in microbreweries across the world has been a significant factor in the increased activity regarding this hobby. There are numerous ways of going about beer making, from store bought kits to doing everything with your own personal touch.

Home brewing can be beneficial for numerous reasons, including being able to create a beer that is exactly how you’d like it to taste, with ingredients you trust, and at a price that is far below what would be required to purchase something similar.

Guiseppe Zappone, a brewmaster student, got into home brewing a little over a year ago. What began with simple store bought kits soon expanded to using intricate recipes and brewing techniques.

“In two years I’ve probably tried 500 different types of beer. Then I thought, you know, I want to try making my own. I want to see how this goes and it just kind of exploded from there,” Zappone says.

According to Zappone, the process he’s currently using takes about two months to complete. The fermentation accounts for about two weeks and the carbonation takes over a month. Basically, the fermented beer is mixed with sugar, following this, the beer gets bottled. As the beer sits, the excess yeast creates carbon dioxide, which is unable to escape, resulting in the carbonation of the beer.

Zappone was not alone in the creation of this batch of beer. Keenan Harrison recently took an interest in home brewing after some time getting involved in the world of craft beer.

“Meeting Guiseppe has always been a little bit of a push to actually learn how to make beer because he’s been doing it for a while. It’s a lot of fun. I like trying beers and I like making something.” Harrison says.

According to the duo, roughly 90 per cent of home brewing is spent cleaning and sanitizing. Their latest batch, Brown Town Brown Ale will be ready to be enjoyed by mid February.