Beer aficionados gather for a drink to support the grieving family of craft brewers

An Almonte, Ontario brewer, who died just seven months after launching his company, is being mourned by his grieving wife and business partner, their three young children — and local beer fans eager to enjoy what’s left.

Justin Francis opened the mountaineering-themed Base Camp Brewing Company last November in a strip mall on the northeastern edge of Almonte.

He died suddenly on June 22 at the age of 35.

He and his wife Rebecca met online, were married for 13 years and now have three children ages seven, five and two.

“It was just us. We had no employees,” she said Saturday, as the brewery reopened briefly to sell dwindling supplies for friends and other local brewers to help out.

“I was sort of a manual laborer and he was the brain.”

‘Overwhelmed’ with support

Base Camp’s menu board boasts beers with names like “Compass” (one of Francis’ favorites, Rebecca said, calling it “clean and crisp”) and “Final Frontier.”

Customers shared compliments and condolences on Saturday, while friends and family helped with the sale. One customer showed up an hour and 10 minutes before opening time, Rebecca Francis said.

A line also stretched across the square during an earlier one-day sale following Francis’s death, she added.

“I am speechless… We are overwhelmed with the support,” she said.

Almonte resident Mark Dods was among those who stopped by on Saturday. His son also brews beer, so Dods once brought a sample to the brewery.

Justin Francis replied by email that he thought the beer was pretty good, Dods said — and offered his son some tips.

“That those comments came from someone who didn’t know me from a hole in the wall, I actually appreciated,” Dods said.

Cal Beales and Scott Thornton would buy a case of Francis’s beer every Saturday — some for friends, they said — and enjoy a glass of draft while there.

“He was definitely very good at the job he did,” Beales said. “I mean, I love every beer he’s made.”

“He was only here for a very short time,” Thornton added. “But at the time, he was really able to make an impact on the local craft brewing industry.

“It would be nice if they found a way to keep going.”

However, the future looks hazy.

There are currently no plans to reopen permanently, Rebecca said.

“My dream is that someone would come in and buy the company 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.”