Craft brewery holding grand opening in rural Alberta town amidst COVID-19 pandemic

Sturgeon Brewing Company is set to open its doors to the public for the very first time on Saturday, promising to practice safe social distancing as patrons line up for beer in Morinville.

One of three co-owners, DJ Halpin, says Sturgeon is unofficially the smallest brewery in Alberta, hoping to brew small scale batches regularly to entice customers to “try different things every time.”

Halpin says the brewery has been in the works for the last two years, and with so much local encouragement, they decided to forge ahead with opening, despite the situation with coronavirus.

“We felt with the support of the community and everyone wanting to get Sturgeon beer in hand, if we set it up and made sure we were still following all the guidelines, keeping everybody safe, that we could still do so.”

The friends “were sitting around in the garage, drinking one of their home brews,” when their entrepreneurial idea came to them, Halpin said.

“We’re just craft beer nerds.”

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The brewery is the first in Morinville, located in a strip mall downtown, across from a grocery store.

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But Sturgeon’s grand opening Saturday won’t be the way they imagined it, thanks to the novel coronavirus.

“We’ve pushed having pints or serving food, none of that is happening,” Halpin said.

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Instead, the brewery will be filling growlers from their taps. The glass beer jugs can either be purchased on site, or old ones can be brought in to be sanitized before being filled. No cans, bottles or kegs will be available.

Only five people will be allowed inside the brewery at a time, and free delivery is available in the Morinville area for those who are self-isolating.

“We’re excited. Obviously it’s not the grand opening we wanted it to be, but we think it’s going to be awesome, none the less.”

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The pandemic also impacted Sturgeon’s shipments as they prepared to open. Their kegs, hops and glassware were all held up in transport.

“A lot of our shipping stuff was and still is delayed. Ideally we’d have a lot more beers right now than the ones we’re opening up with,” Halpin said.

On Saturday, a stout will be available, as well as a cream ale, and a raspberry cream ale.

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The closest craft brewery prior to Sturgeon setting up shop was Endeavour Brewing Company in St. Albert.

Halpin said Endeavour’s team has been very helpful in getting Sturgeon started.

“We’re happy to bring a little bit of something new and enjoyable. People are clearly excited about it and so are we,” Halpin said.