Muncie’s ban on kegs has been good for Wine-N-Vine, a local business that sells make-your-own beer and wine kits, the store’s owner said.
“There’s been quite the influctuation since the ban on kegs,” Jeffrey Johnson said. “[Customers are] all getting fired up and wanting to brew their own kegs.”
Johnson and his wife Bonnie, who co-own the store, are hoping many more Ball State University students who can no longer get kegs at Muncie liquor stores will see Wine-N-Vine as a substitute.
Bonnie Johnson said Wine-N-Vine sells kits that can make beer and wine with a potency much higher than you would find in a liquor store.
“With the kits, you can get wine up to 44 proof,” she said. “Normal wine is less than 13 percent, most wines are between 6 and 8 percent.”
Bonnie Johnson said customers who are less than 21 years old can also buy the kits.
“It’s not considered beer or wine until you add water,” she said. “Until then, it’s considered a food product.”
Bonnie Johnson said some of her beer kits can produce beers very similar to brands that are traditionally popular with college students.
“We have beer kits with recipes from a lot of places,” she said. “You can make any kind of Bud or Coors Light — any beer out there.”
Bonnie Johnson said she hasn’t tried the beer recipes because she and her husband don’t drink beer, but she said beer is more complicated to make than wine.
“You have to cook it up and mix in the hops and everything,” she said. “With wine, you just have to put the ingredients together, and it ferments itself.”
A batch takes about 30 days to make from start to finish and can produce between 25 and 35 bottles (12 ounces each) of wine or beer. Some of the larger kits can make 60 bottles, she said.
Bonnie Johnson said she moved to Muncie with her husband from Hollywood, Fla., where she worked as a bartender for 26 years.
Jeffrey Johnson said he used to work as a photographer and an actor back in Florida, before returning to his hometown of Muncie.
“I wanted out of that business,” he said. “Florida is hotter than hell, and I grew up here.”
Jeffrey Johnson said he also grew up around wine.
“I’ve been around wine making all my life,” he said. “My dad used to make wine.”
For Jeffrey Johnson, sugar is an extremely important part of the wine-making process.
“The more sugar you use at the beginning, the higher the alcohol content,” he said.
Bonnie Johnson said she has a lot of fond memories of making her own wine.
“When you do it yourself, it’s so much better than buying it from a store,” she said. “People get together and have parties to see whose wine is better.”
Bonnie Johnson said Wine-N-Vine also sells hydroponic supplies for growing herbs and vegetables.
“It’s a lot healthier for you,” she said. “There’s no pesticides and no bugs, but it’s still all organic.”
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