It’s been over a year since Chatham-Kent’s newest brewery first opened its doors to customers, and now Red Barn Brewing is finally able to hold its grand opening.
Ground was broken at the site back on April 30th, 2019, but the family-run team behind Red Barn could never had predicted what the next two years would hold.
The doors first opened to customers on July 1st, 2020, just a few months into the COVID-19 pandemic with no indoor or outdoor seating permitted and limited customers allowed to purchase beer on site.
Co-owner Denny Vervaet says navigating a new business through the pandemic has been challenging to say the least.
“I think in a normal atmosphere, you’re not going to have to think about week to week, you can kind of plan further ahead, but that’s what we had to do. Either you’re closed or your open, there’s new policies, there’s less people, there’s more people. That was a huge challenge. We can dial in now for what we want our goals to be.”
But even through all of the changing COVID protocols, Vervaet says support from the community has been overwhelming.
“From day one, we sold out in two days. From that point it was kind of like a shock to the system. We’re upgrading like crazy, they’re installing a (second) cooler as we speak because we don’t have enough room,” Vervaet says. “They’re coming back every weekend. We have regulars, we have so many new people we’ve met from the community and outside the community, it means a lot to us.”
Red Barn is a family-run business, owned by Vervaet, his wife Sandy, and brother-in-law Dan English.
The focus on family and community will be front and centre with Saturday’s Farm Fest and grand opening celebration, inviting Sons of Kent and Bayside breweries to sell their own beer on site. There will also be roughly 30 vendors, over a dozen food trucks, and live entertainment.
