First, just a note to say we are all thinking of the people being affected by the floods in Gatineau and Ottawa. It’s an incredible thing, this Mother Nature, where you can put in 120 per cent in effort and still feel defenseless.

In beer making, I would argue that water is the most essential ingredient – without it, there is no product. And we are seeing recent pictures and videos just how powerful water truly is.

For us, our brewery is just on the other side of the highway from Petrie Island, which has completely disappeared under the Ottawa River, so we are largely unaffected. But many friends are affected, from Rockland to Constance Bay, so if you hear or read or see a call out for support in any way, please think about it, especially if you are high and dry.

The brewery build is getting a lot closer to where we want to be. But while we were anticipating an end of May opening, it’s looking more and more like mid-June. We still have to clean and passivate the tanks, steam boiler needs to be installed and tested, and we have some test batches left to throw down.

In the meantime, we are keeping busy by adding some new accounts. Please support local restaurants and bars that support us! We keep this list pretty up-to-date.

We at Stray Dog really believe in grassroots involvement because when you support local, you help build healthy, happy communities and the people who live in them. We donate our time and beer at monthly Local Talks events, we were helping raise money at the Ottawa Dog Rescue’s Rock and Rescue 2017 event, a not-for-profit dedicated to rescuing dogs and finding them forever homes, and the Byward ‘Barket’, a dog-friendly event bring people and pets to the Byward Market to support local merchants.

These events are run and organized by community groups, entrepreneurs, volunteers, and like-minded people to support local businesses grow and make communities prosper. So get out there, get involved. Stray from the norm – it feels really good!