With the industry's fairly small but dedicated following, homebrew supply shops are havens for homebrew enthusiasts. At The Red Salamander, a homebrewing and wine-making supply store in Grand Ledge, customers look like proverbial kids in a candy store. Often clutching scrunched-up shopping lists, the guests wander slowly over creaky wood floors, eyeing shelves stocked with spice packets, recipe books, test tubes and colorful bottles of flavoring such as honey, orange and hazelnut.

"I make time for this once every few weeks," said Lansing resident Eric Lehtonen, a regular customer at The Red Salamander, 205 N. Bridge St. "It does take a little time, but that's fun to me - to make something you can be proud of that tastes good."

Homebrewers hail the benefits of making their own beer, claiming it's cheaper, fresher and better tasting than anything they've bought at a store. Many, like Lehtonen, get hooked on homebrews after sampling beers made by friends or family members.

"My son got me into it," Lehtonen said. "He started bringing me in some good beers. I liked what I had and haven't looked back yet."

One of the biggest bonuses to homebrewing is that it is inexpensive after the first batch, brewers say. A first-time homebrewer's initial input cost for supplies, which includes an equipment kit and ingredients, can cost just under $100. Each subsequent batch runs between $20 and $25, and with the standard homebrew batch yielding about five gallons, which amounts to two cases of 12-ounce bottles, the cost is significantly lower than what one pays for some six-packs at the local beer store.

In addition to being relatively inexpensive and simple, homebrewing allows people to control different aspects of their beer such as flavor, color and alcohol content. Another added bonus is that homebrewed beers pack a lot more taste in one bottle than their mass-produced counterparts.

"It's like a chocolate chip cookie," said Karl Glarner Jr., owner of The Red Salamander. "Do you want a cookie with one chocolate chip or loaded with chocolate chips? There's a lot more to chew on, so to speak."

Glarner said many people have misconceptions as to how difficult homebrewing is, when it's really just as simple as cooking.

"If you know what you want, you can find a recipe for it," he said. "It's only as hard as you want it to be."

Although homebrewing might be simple to some, it can take others a few tries to get it right. Just ask Jeremy Harder, a 2003 MSU graduate, who had one particular batch of holiday spiced ale turn out terrible when he ditched the recipe and "just threw a bunch of stuff in."

"I didn't even drink it," he said. "I just threw it down the drain. I took one look at it in the fermenter and said, 'Oh no, there's no way I'm putting that in my stomach.'"

But despite these few troubles, Harder said the sense of accomplishment and bragging rights that come with homebrewing make it all worth it.

"It's just good to try," Harder said. "You have full control. You can try and make a beer that gives you exactly the taste you're hoping for."

It is illegal to sell alcohol unless you obtain a permit. Underage drinking is also prohibited by law.

Ingredients

• Malt extract: Made from malted barley, malt extract is the main source of fermentable sugar and provides the body of the beer.

• Hops: These small, artichoke-shaped flowers provide the beer's bitterness. Available in whole or pellet form.

• Yeast: All hail the lowly yeast, a fungus which converts the beer's sugar compounds to alcohol and affects the flavor and body of the beer.

• Grains: Most grains are malted barley, but with more than 50 different varieties of specialty grains, these punchy little fellas add lots of flavor and color possibilities.

• Brewing water: Any water used for brewing should be free of off-tastes, which could carry over into the beer.

Equipment

• Fermenting pail: Provides a home for your beer while it's fermenting.

• Syphon rig: Transfers fermented beer from the pail into bottles.

• Hydrometer: Measures how much heavier the beer is than the water, which tells the brewer how fermentation is coming along. Beer becomes lighter as it ferments.

• Thermometer: Helps determine when to add yeast and monitors temperature of brewing area.

• Air lock: Keeps everything you don't want in your beer out of it during fermentation.

• Sanitizers and bottle cleaning brush: Just like when you cook in your kitchen, you need to keep your brewing area and beer containers clean.

• Bottles and bottle caps: For when it's all said and done. Then you can grab one from the fridge, pop the cap and literally drink the fruits of your labor.