An Almonte, Ont., brewer who died just seven months after launching his business is being mourned by his grieving wife and business partner, their three young kids — and local beer fans eager to savour what’s left.
Justin Francis opened the mountaineering-themed Base Camp Brewing Company in a strip mall on Almonte’s northeast edge last November.
He died suddenly on June 22 at the age of 35.
He and his wife Rebecca met online, were married for 13 years and had three kids now aged seven, five and two.
“It was just us. We had no employees,” she said on Saturday, as the brewery reopened briefly to sell off dwindling stock that friends and other local brewers helped can.
“I was kind of the manual labour and he was the brains.”
‘Blown away’ by support
The Base Camp menu board boasts beers with names like “Compass” (one of Francis’s favourites, Rebecca said, calling it “clean and crisp”) and “Final Frontier.”
Customers shared compliments and condolences Saturday, while friends and family helped with sales. One customer showed up an hour and 10 minutes before opening time, Rebecca Francis said.
A line also stretched down the plaza during an earlier one-day sell-off held after Francis’ death, she added.
“I’m speechless … We are blown away with the support,” she said.
Almonte resident Mark Dods was among those who dropped by Saturday. His son brews beer too, and so Dods once brought a sample to the brewery.
Justin Francis replied by email to say he thought the beer was pretty good, Dods said — and offered his son some tips.
“Having those comments come from someone who didn’t know me from a hole in the wall, actually, I did appreciate it,” Dods said.
Cal Beales and Scott Thornton each bought a case of Francis’s beer on Saturday — some of it for friends, they said — and enjoyed a glass on tap while they were there.
“He was definitely really good at the craft he did,” Beales said. “I mean, I like every single beer he made.”
“He had a very short time here,” Thornton added. “But in that amount of time, he really was able to make an impact on the local craft brewery industry.
“It would be nice to see them find a way to continue.”
The future looks hazy, though.
There are currently no plans to permanently reopen, Rebecca said.
“My dream is that someone would come in and buy the business to be able to produce the recipes and keep the name going. Because I really love it and believe in it,” she said.
“But I don’t think it would be me.”
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