Ain’t nothing like the real thing.

For years I’ve driven past the unassuming Jim’s Home Brew storefront at the bottom of the North Division hill, wondering what one finds inside a home brew store. Last week I finally pulled in to check it out – 7 years of buying birthday gifts for a guy who doesn’t ask for much has taught me one thing: if you don’t take hints and purchase exactly what he does want, it’ll end up in a storage closet in the basement, collecting dust and resentment.

I entered the store knowing two things – Eric likes beer and he needs a hobby. Not much to go on, but the guys at the store made the rest of the process pretty much painless. It always makes me feel happy when I meet people who spend their days doing what they love. And these guys sure seemed to love the whole home brew thing.

“I need a birthday gift for my husband.”

“Beer or wine?” (Yes, they do wine, too.)

“Beer.”

“OK. What kind of beer does he like to drink?”

“Cold beer.” (Yes, they were going to earn their money today.)

“Ohhhkaaayyy. Does he like cold dark beer? Cold hoppy beer? Cold light beer?”

And so began the process. Question. Answer. Insight. Question. Education. I ended up leaving the store with a whole slew of beer knowledge (alcohol content is dependent on the malt in a brew, or something like that) and the Jim’s Home Brew Deluxe Micro-Brewing Kit.

Everything a person needs to brew the first batch of what will surely be the most delicious liquid concoction to ever pass the lips is contained in three largish cardboard boxes. And everything a person needs to continue the quest for the perfect home brew is inside this store – from dozens of types of hops and malts to fill-your-own kegs to recipe books.

I came home with two 5-gallon glass jugs (which I now know are called Carboys – where the magic happens), and a box crammed with a recipe bible, tubes, hops, siphons, malt, bottlecaps, brushes, sanitizers and lord only knows what else.

I laid it all out on the table (no way was I wrestling with those jugs and a roll of wrapping paper) and waited for Eric to come home. Kegan passed by the collection on his way out the door.

“Cool. You bought dad a meth lab for his birthday. He’s gonna love it.”

Indeed.

You’ll find Jim’s Home Brew at 2619 N. Division.