Chatham-Kent’s newest brewery is taking the wraps off its new ‘farm patio.’
Red Barn Brewing, located just outside Blenheim, launched on Canada Day, selling out of beer in just two days, but until now there hasn’t been an option for customers to sit and enjoy a beer on tap.
“I won’t lie, the last few months have been tough for us, we have had to adapt to situations we never thought we would be in”, says co-owner Denny Vervaet. Red Barn Brewing launched their retail store on Canada Day and immediately sold out their product in cans and growlers in 2 days. “Our launch on July 1 st was outstanding, we figured about 1500 people came through the retail store- a few at a time due to Covid-19 regulations and we sold what we thought was a month and half’s stock basically overnight”.
Red Barn relies on a mobile canning company, which has meant delays in getting more beer in stock for the retail side.
“The goal was always to open our retail store, tasting room, and patio at the same time”, says co-owner Sandy Vervaet. “Launching every different area of our brewery seemed weird at the time, but somewhere it has become kind of normal”.
Because of Covid-19 and the restrictions on how many people are allowed in the building or on the patio at a time has posed its challenges for opening a brewery in the middle of a pandemic.
“There are some good things that have come out of our experience as well” says Sandy. “We have been able to finish other areas of the building while launching the retail store and now the patio”. “We have worked on this brewery as a family and have put a lot of time and hard work into this project that we hope makes it all worthwhile someday”.
The patio will now be open for online reservations only with tables spaced for appropriate COVID-19 protocols.