Miramichi brewery first to brew beer intended to help with pandemic closures
A beer to help some breweries across Canada recover from the COVID-19 pandemic made its debut in Miramichi this week.
New Maritime Beer Company, a Miramichi-based craft brewery, released its version of Isolation Nation. It is made from malt and hops grown in Canada and donated to select breweries in each province and territory.
"We're really excited to be a part of the project, and to be the first one," said Adam Lordon, brewery co-owner.
Canadian company Hops Connect donated ingredients as a way to help struggling breweries recover financially.
There were 45 breweries across Canada selected to take part in the project. Foghorn Brewing in Rothesay was the other New Brunswick brewery picked.
New Maritime Beer Company was eager to take part.
"We absolutely wanted to be a part of that both from the perspective of appreciating the help and the support having been shut down for several weeks because of the pandemic and because it was such a cool idea," said Lordon.
The brewery, located in a refurbished warehouse in the former town of Newcastle, had just brewed its first batch of beer on March 13. Lordon said COVID-19 shut them down two days later.
"It was pretty much at the beginning and the worst possible timing. The startup phase is certainly challenging enough and can be stressful enough in the best of times."
Lordon said he knows other business and community groups have struggled as well. A portion of the sales from the beer will be donated to the Miramichi Community Food Bank.
"This is a gift that we can benefit from, and we can also use to help benefit others."
