Bus Tours Are Fun

We had two tours come through the brewery this weekend, and they were our first official tours ever. The first group was a bachelor party kicking things off right at Beau’s before heading out for fun and debauchery in Montreal, and the second was a group of Ottawa-based teachers (rowdier than their students, I’d be willing to bet).

As Jen’s blog mentioned, a lot of work needed to happen before these tours. Walls painted, 160 foot façade built, floors redone, complete overhaul on the bathroom, old exhaust hood ripped out of the side of the building, building a bar, a beer fridge, etc. We also needed to have some merchandise for the tour groups to buy, so there was more work getting t-shirts and hats and things printed up.

It took an insane amount of work to get it all done. Jen and her husband Kev put in about 50 hours of volunteer time each, on top of their regular jobs and looking after their two kids, my buddy Gabe gave up a couple days, Jamie, Phil and Matt spent last weekend bangin’ wood, Mom and Dad have been working like mad, Phil’s fiancée Laura spent a few days helping out, and I’ve put in two 100+ hour work weeks, getting to the brewery at about 7:30, coming home for two hours with Nicola and the kids and working most nights until about midnight – but it was worth it.

Literally 15 minutes before the first group came in we were still assembling the retail bar counter, sorting through our newly purchased merchandise, and whatnot. But I think we pulled it off, and things are looking great!