If you’ve got a spare closet and a thirst for fine beer, Dave Crum’s your man.

He’ll hook you up with everything you need to brew your own craft beer of the finest quality from the comfort of your own home.

While Toronto’s homebrewing scene isn’t exactly bubbling over, the art has been catching on, with the explosion of the craft beer industry and its social media cool factor. The basic supplies, however, and someone to show you how it’s done, are surprisingly hard to find.

Enter Crum and Noble Hop, his new downtown homebrewing supply store stocked with everything the beer lover needs to create a luscious lager or ale of their very own, including high-quality fresh ingredients.

Crum, 28, admits his nook on Dundas St. W., at Sheridan Ave., lacks the square footage and slick style (his counter is made of particle board) of some of his suburban competitors. “I’ve had to go vertical,” he explains of the back room fitted with industrial shelving loaded with barrels of 50 types of grain. The vibe though is laid-back, the space inviting. Upon entering you’ll behold a fridge packed with 60 different yeasts and 75 hops, and specialty malts like the popular 2-row, chocolate malt and Special W.

Another corner is devoted to the gizmos of beer making, including spigots (only $4.49!), corn mills, hydrometers and pH testing papers.

“This is so exciting!” lauds a longtime brewer who stumbles upon Noble Hop just days after its opening on Sept. 20. She drops a few bucks on yeast, promises to send her boyfriend over and shares lingo such as “attenuates” and “backsweeten.”

Crum got into homebrewing only a year ago, and it was love at first beer. “It was the first time I’d actually made something I could consume,” he says.

Eight years crunching risk-management numbers for the banking industry had made him tired of abstract ideas and craving not just a hands-on hobby, but a new career.

He quit his finance job in April with the support of his entrepreneurial family. “They thought I was crazy for working a corporate job.”

His business plan includes not only attracting new but also existing homebrewers, who can stop by to chat and pick up supplies, and a slick online store where beer lovers can take advantage of his awesome delivery deal: just $10 for orders over $40, provided it’s downtown.

As for downtown’s aspiring brew kings and queens, Crum promises that if you have a spare closet, you have enough room to make some beer. “Space is not a big deal.”

For this untapped market he’s offering brewing starter kits as low as $100. The modern-looking equipment fits easily on the stovetop and also stores easily away. It’s about a month — more depending on the style — before you can reap the fruits of your labours and enjoy your beer for the first time.

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Crum will be hosting free Brew Nights every other Wednesday on his tiny back concrete patio, brewing up not just ciders and pale ales, but a cool new downtown scene.

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