It took Wellington Brewery’s brew-master Marvin Dyck three years to grow his long, trademark beard and it took comedian Prof. Burnaby Q. Orbax less than five minutes to shave it all off and light it on fire in front of an enthusiastic crowd at the Welly Cask Fest Saturday night.
The unusual performance was part of a challenge by Dyck to raise money for charity.
“We raised $1,200 for the Children’s Foundation of Guelph and Wellington,” he said.
The beard-shaving event was just one of the entertainment highlights during the second annual Welly Cask Fest at Wellington Brewery on Woodlawn Road.
The first was held last year to celebrate the brewery’s 30th anniversary.
“We’ve always done some kind of customer appreciation event,” said Dyck. “Last year’s event was so successful we wanted to do it again.”
The two-day event drew more than 1,300 people over three sessions and featured games, comedy, karaoke and performances by a number of local musicians many of who are brewery employees.
One of the performers was Wellington Brewery’s events coordinator Karyn Boscariol who sang with Low Fill & The Old Code a band made up entirely of brewery employees.
“This is a great annual event,” said Boscariol. “We are really happy with how things went.”
Admission included a souvenir glass and four tokens that could be redeemed for samples of more than 25 one-off brews and ciders from Wellington Brewery and other local brewers.
“There were 10 other breweries and cideries involved,” said Boscariol.
Local food trucks kept visitors fed and for those who didn’t want to imbibe, there was a water truck on site courtesy of the City of Guelph.
A shuttle bus from downtown arrived and departed every 20 minutes to ensure visitors had a safe ride home.
The festival was an opportunity for the brewery to show people how they make their award winning brews and to give everyone a tour of the expanded brew house and high-speed packaging facility.
The new equipment will allow Wellington Brewery to quadruple production while reducing work hours.
“We have gone from running 24/7 to a two-shift schedule without letting anyone go,” said vice-president Brent Davies. “We are able to be more efficient while maintaining quality and consistency.”
Davies said the brewery owes it success to the support of the community and loyalty of their employees.
“We are as strong as our people,” said Davies. “Everyone does what is needed. This company was built on community and you can’t look past that.”
The Welly Cask Fest seemed a fitting way for the employees and the community to celebrate that relationship.
According to general manager Sarah Dawkins it had all the right ingredients.
“We had beautiful weather, great beer and great friends,” she said.
