Recession 'proof:' Homemade wine, beer spike in hard times

A boomlet in making wine and beer at home has been fermenting since the recession took hold.

And it's perfectly legal, according to a couple who talked about he trend at last week's Westport Rotary meeting at Longshore Inn.

Legal, that is, if the home brew isn't sold. If for sale, Uncle Sam's agents move in to impose federal taxes..

Tess and Mark Szamatulski, who reported on the home-brewing trend, for 20 years have made a living selling grapes and brew-making supplies at their Maltose Express Home Beer and Winemaking Supplies store at 246 Main St., Monroe.

Patrons browse as strains of recorded Italian opera fill their ears. Tons of freshly picked grapes from Lodi, Calif., vineyards are scheduled to roll to the Monroe store in refrigerated 18-wheelers this month.

When the precious cargo arrives after three days on the road, the Szamatulskis alert their hundreds of customers to "come and pick 'em up."

"Business is so brisk our 7,000 square-foot store needs to expand," Tess said. "Couples of all ages are telling us the recession has pushed them to make wine and beer at home to save money. It's a lesson learned long ago in Canada where 25 percent of wine is homemade."

To hear the Monroe couple tell about making wine and beer from scratch at home, one soon learns it's not as jiffy as making instant coffee. But neither is it rocket science.

"You can make nice wine in six weeks," Mark said. He estimated it takes four or five weeks to make beer.

The Szamatulskis also sell supplies for people to make mead and cheese.

Rotarian Fred Feuerhake, a Weston consultant, said he has been making wine in the barn out back since 2006. He passed around samples of his brew in little plastic cups, as the Szamatulskis dispensed taster portions of one of their recent vintages.

Feuerhake proudly announced that his wine, competing with $100-a-bottle wine during an official wine-tasting, recently came in number one.

"Making wine is lots of fun," he said. "And it's very satisfying."

"Most important in wine- and beer-making at home is cleanliness and sanitation," the Szamatulskis stressed several times during their presentation to the Rotarians.

The couple has written two books on home brewing and are at work on a third. (For more information, check, www.maltose.com).

To get started, it costs about $1,400 for supplies. The most expensive piece of equipment is a heavy metal grape crusher operated by turning a big screw. (Despite what you might have seen in movies, mashing grapes by marching on them in bare feet went out with the horse-buggy whip).

Feuerhake, meanwhile, said his equipment set him back $4,500 and included a stainless steel covered vat 4 by 5 feet.

Other factoids about making beer and wine at home the speakers shared with the Rotarians include:

"¢ Six gallons of crushed grapes weigh 58 pounds.

"¢ Wine needs to age. Some prefer to keep wine three years before drinking.

"¢ There are thousands and thousands of recipes for brewing beer.

"¢ The grape-harvesting season in Lodi, Calif., is now. That's the source for Maltose Express grapes.

"¢ Wine-making is a lot of work and a ton of fun.

"¢ Someone once said, "It takes a lot of beer to make a good wine."

"¢ It might cost $2 to make a bottle of homemade wine that's at least as good as $100-a-bottle wine. That's where the real savings comes in.