When Jill and Kevin Jones started making their own wine about a year ago, the couple had to drive out of town or turn to the Internet to get supplies. That eventually gave them the idea to sell beer and wine making kits and materials at Black Willow Brewing, part of Willow Cove, Jill’s home decor and gift shop located at 309 N. Main St.

“We thought it would be something good for Austin,” Kevin said.

In February, Willow Cove started carrying Brewer’s Best beer and hard cider kits, along with Vinter’s Best wine equipment kits and Wine Expert’s ingredient kits.

Budding home brewers and winemakers can start simple. Brewing equipment kits for beer are available for $69.95 or $106.95, and a wine equipment kit sells for $84.99. The kits come with just about everything to get going, including starter ingredients, except for a large stock pot for boiling water for the beer side.

“I think the kits are just the way to go for people to start out,” Jill said. “Because then you can just learn about the ingredients, the different things you have to add.”

Jill and Kevin also sell additional beer, wine and cider ingredient kits, along with extra hops and other tools and ingredients to expand from there. Along with several flavors available in the store, just about any Brewer’s Best flavor is available for order at Willow Cove.

“If we don’t have it, we can get it,” Jill said. “This is kind of a starting point for us.”

Jill and Kevin started the hard way when they began making their own wine. Rather that starting with kits, they started working from scratch using a juice press. That made for a more complex process that often requires much more time to sit and for the ingredients to work their magic for the aging process before being ready to enjoy.

“You’re going to wait longer when you make it from scratch,” Jill said.

However, it’s a bit closer to how professionals make wine, and it’s helped the couple become more knowledgeable about the process.

“That’s closer to actually how wineries will do,” Jill said.

For beginners, the kits offer an easy, foolproof beginning. Kevin said that if people buy a kit and follow the directions, they’ll have their own beer or wine ready in a few weeks or a little more.

“You make one of these kits, and you should have a good wine in a month,” Kevin said.

Wine kits produce about 6 gallons and beer kits about 5 gallons — enough for 30 bottles of wine or 53 12-ounce glasses of beer.

Though kits offer a simple start, Jill and Kevin hope people will eventually venture into more complex recipes and experiments. Jill and Kevin have made grape, pear, apple, and plum wines, along with a black currant, which they said was difficult but — eventually — flavorful. They’re also working on Brewer’s Best hard ciders.

Though making wines from scratch requires longer aging times, it offers the chance for more experimentation. On some batches, Jill and Kevin will pour several glasses of a wine to add various amounts of ingredients to each to perfect the batch.

“It’s a good way to judge it, to figure out what you want,” Kevin said.

But the couple warned people not to be daunted. Kevin called the wine-making process “pretty simple,” and Jill looked to her husband as proof that the process isn’t too complex.

“If it was really putzy and not fun, he wouldn’t do it,” Jill said of her husband.

Like the wine, there are many options with the beer, too, as Kevin said people can blend different ingredients and hops for their preferred taste.

“You can do anything you want with it,” Kevin said.

Jill had two key suggestions for people: Make sure all equipment is well cleaned and sanitize, and that people follow instructions. Kevin warned to be prepared for a mess at least once, as everyone he’s talked has had a blown cork or some other issue at one point — which is why most people store the aging wine in their basements or in a garage out of sunlight. Yeast usually causes blown corks, and Kevin said simply putting the wine in the fridge should stop the yeast. But there are products available to kill the yeast.

For Jill and Kevin, the effort has been worth the final product, an experience they hope people will share.

“It’s fun too because you have this product you created,” Jill said. “And you drink it and you share it with people and you get their opinion.”