LANGFORD, BC – A brewery that opened earlier this year with a mission to support Canadian military veterans has announced that it may have shut down due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
V2V Black Hops Brewing was launched by Navy and Air Force veteran Graeme Hafey, and donates a percentage of all beer sales to rehabilitative programs supporting military and first responder veterans across the country.
The brewery opened in the former Axe & Barrel Brewing facility in mid-March, just as pandemic-related lockdowns started going into effect throughout Canada. Hafey tells CHEK News that the timing of the opening combined with a clerical error has left the brewery ineligible to receive funds from COVID-19 support programs such as the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy and Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy.
According to Hafey, the brewery should have received up to $85,000 from those subsidies, and without that support, a permanent closure in January is likely.
For now, V2V Black Hops is selling as much of its beer inventory as possible until December 23rd, and will be closed from the 24th to January 5th. In the meantime, Hafey is continuing to work with government representatives in hopes of receiving enough support funding to have the holiday closure be temporary rather than permanent.
For more details, see the full CHEK News story.
Source: CHEK News
Photo: V2V Black Hops Brewing