Local Ottawa brewery reveals its own ‘buck-a-beer’ challenge

Local brewer Dominion City Brewing Company unveiled its own ‘buck-a-beer’ plan on Wednesday, pledging that it will donate proceeds from a limited edition beer to refugees looking to make a home in Ottawa.

The Ottawa brewer’s plan follows Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s announcement on Tuesday that his government is introducing a “buck-a-beer” challenge by lowering the minimum legal price for beer sales in the province to $1 from $1.25.

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Not all brewers back the premier’s move. Indeed, Dominion City said it is not possible to deliver a quality beer product for a retail price of $1. Instead, what the brewer plans to do is release a limited edition “buck-a-beer blonde ale.”

“As an independently-owned brewery, we can tell you unequivocally that it is impossible to sell a beer for a dollar without compromising quality,” said the brewery in a post on Instagram. “So, we’ve decided to respond to Ontario’s buck-a-beer challenge in our own way – by inviting our customers to help refugees build a new life in Ottawa.”

Dominion City says that it will donate $1 for every can of Buck-A-Beer Blonde Ale. The proceeds will go toward supporting refugees in their integration into Ottawa, the brewer said.

Josh McJannett is one of the founders of the Dominion Brewing Company and he says this challenge boiled down to two values that the company finds very important, quality and a warm welcome.

“We can’t make a beer that’s worth selling to you for a dollar,” said McJannett. “More people than ever are more interested in a high-quality beer. We also think a warm welcome and a cold beer go really well together.”

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McJannett doesn’t have an exact number when it comes to the amount of beers being produced but the plan is to make a couple thousand for the Labour day weekend and sell them until they run out.

Several small breweries across the province have already said that a dollar a beer is impossible for them to accommodate without a severe drop in quality.

Cans of the beer will be sold at the Dominion City brewery and through their online store and will be available as of Aug. 30.

More to come…