When the Michigan Brewing Co. closed, the owners of That’s How We Brew realized it was the perfect time to open.

“That played a huge role, basically a major deciding factor to open the store — there was a demand for it,” Brazil said. “We’ve got really good staff on board coming in, too. They’re knowledgeable and know about new and exciting things.”

At That’s How We Brew, experimenting with hops, an ingredient used in beer, is encouraged, no matter what level of experience.

“Our whole idea is to expand people’s education on crafting beer and to create a user-friendly, casual environment,” store owner Patrick Brazil said. “We will have a lot of products for the very experienced brewer to the intermediate brewer to the beginners.”

The store specializes in outfitting buyers with everything they would need to make their own individual brew.

“(We have) a lot of supplies for first-time brewers: starter kits, recipe kits, everything you need to brew your first batch of beer,” assistant manager of the store Kyle Coffey said. “But I’d say most people (who have come in) have been midlevel.”

Since interest in home brewing is steadily increasing in the Lansing area, Brazil said this was an added bonus to having his store near Frandor.

“I traveled out west 10 years ago, and (home brewing) was huge in Portland, Ore.,” Brazil said. “It’s made its way to the Midwest, and in the last three to four years, it’s just gone nuts.”

That’s How We Brew also will feature unique ways to help make crafting beer as simple as possible for brewers.

“We’re going to have classes to help beginners and an on-site computer program called BeerSmith,” Brazil said. “(The program) allows people to pull up recipes … and change them to see the color, change your hops for bitterness … hit the print button and the recipe’s right there.”

Mechanical engineering sophomore Roderick Grant has yet to feel the home-brewing hype among the student population.

“I don’t really think (students) would brew beer … I don’t think most students would be old enough to buy from there,” Grant said. “The older locals might be more likely to shop there.”

But the employees of That’s How We Brew already have explored their personal interests in brewing, Coffey said.

“We have an interest; and eventually, we’ll start brewing,” Coffey said. “We brewed a batch in the store last week to see how it all works. It was pretty interesting.”