Wine and beer are in Jeff Johnson's blood. The owner of the Muncie wine, beer and hydroponic supply store Wine-N-Vine, is carrying on his family's history of beer and winemaking. It started with his great-grandfather who brewed bootleg beer during Prohibition in the 1920s.
"They'd have to pull the blinds down and lock the doors so they could bottle their beer," Johnson said.
His father continued the alcohol making, legally, concocting his elderberry grape wine when Jeff was a kid. Although Jeff's father was forced to cease production when he could no longer keep Johnson and his sister out of the wooden kegs.
Johnson and his sister would drain a few glasses from the kegs and replace it with water, thinking their father wouldn't notice.
"We were wrong," Johnson said. "That's about when he had to quit making it."
After taking a break from Indiana and spending seven years in Florida pursuing his modeling career, Johnson returned to his home state and continued the family legacy. He and his wife, Bonnie, began making their own wine in 2001. They opened Wine-N-Vine four years later.
"I think it's a family tradition," Johnson said.
The Johnsons enjoy passing the family hobby along to Muncie residents. This included two former Ball State students who frequented the Johnsons' shop when it first opened in 2005.
The pair of Dan and Nick were no ordinary customers. They would take home 55 pounds of grain compared to the typical two.
They'd then bottle their brew and sell it under the radar, Jeff Johnson said. They created their own brand, called Dank Brewery.
They even created a logo and stenciled it with spray paint on the sidewalk outside of Muncie bars, shops and their supplier, Wine-N-Vine.
"If you'd been tagged by Dank Brewery, you were a cool store," Jeff Johnson said.
While Jeff and Bonnie enjoy sharing their passion with Muncie and its residents, it all comes back to family.
The Johnsons pride themselves on being a business for all ages - the sign on the side of the building makes that clear. Wine-N-Vine not only carries kits for making beer and wine, but also kits for making flavored sodas.
"Parents might be brewing some beer or wine, but they also let the kids brew some root beer [to] keep them involved," Jeff Johnson said.
The Johnsons like to see their customers achieve something new, "It's fun knowing how excited these people get when they come in with their very first bottle of wine or their batch of beer, [saying], 'Here you've got to try this,'" Jeff said. "We keep every one of our customers' firsts."
Wine-N-Vine
The store has been open since June 15, 2005, and supplies hydroponic supplies and home brewing beer and wine kits.Owners: Jeffrey and Bonnie JohnsonLocation: 1524 E. McGalliard Rd.Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mon - Sat, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. SunFor more on this story and to see an interactive about microbrewing visit www.ballbearingsonline.com
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