HARTFORD – A new business is brewing in Hartford, growing the craft beer industry in Connecticut. Hanging Hills Brewing Company held a ribbon cutting Thursday, ...

HARTFORD – A new business is brewing in Hartford, growing the craft beer industry in Connecticut.

Hanging Hills Brewing Company held a ribbon cutting Thursday, and will officially open for beer lovers Saturday.

The brewery began as an idea by home-brewers Brian Cox and Joe Ploof, who met at the American Brewers Guild in 2012. Scott Stauffer came on to handle the business aspect, and the rest is history.

Ploof said his experience with his first job, teaching, was a reason Hartford felt like the right fit.

“I worked in inner-city schools and it always appealed to me to go into a place that needed help the most, so Hartford seemed like a pretty good place to put down those roots,” he said.

The three owners are from different states and say they chose Connecticut to help grow the craft beer industry that’s booming across the nation.

“It's building in Connecticut it's an exciting time, but Connecticut compared to some other states is behind in numbers which isn’t a bad thing it just means that people can grow with it,” Cox said. “We’re here because we believe in Hartford, we’re here to help Hartford grow with craft beer.”

Hanging Hills has a tasting room and will also offer tours of its brewery, and hopes to grow on an even larger scale.

“Eventually what we would like to be is a good sized regional brewery here in Connecticut, so to get a strong foothold here in Hartford County, then grow out throughout the rest of the state and be a New England player 10 years or so,” Ploof said.

Mayor Luke Bronin was at the ribbon cutting and said he’s thrilled about this new business opening in the city.

“Every time we’ve got new businesses that open, it brings new jobs, new excitement to the city,” Mayor Bronin said. “To me it's not the grand slams that really make strong economic development plans, it's hitting the solid singles, that’s what this kind of investment and this kind of opportunity is.”