This love potion is exactly what the doctor ordered.
Brad Harris, a full-time family physician by day and self-taught brewer by night (and owner of the Royston Nano Brewery), is undertaking his second brew-based fundraiser in partnership with Gladstone Brewing Company, this time producing the Love Potion NEVI (North East Vancouver Island) IPA.
“It’s a juicy, sweet, hoppy - but not bitter - easy drinking beer,” explains Harris, shortly after he finished brewing the beer at the Courtenay brewery.
(Keeping with the love theme, musician Richard Spencer officially ‘blessed’ the yeast with love songs in order to make it happy as possible.)
The beer will be canned on Feb. 13, with 1,400 cans being individually hand-labelled by volunteers the morning of Feb. 14 - just in time for Valentine’s Day - for a release party that evening at Gladstone.
The canned beer will be sold at Cascadia Liquor Stores across Vancouver Island, as well as at the brewery. All proceeds will be split between YANA Comox Valley (You Are Not Alone) and the BC Children’s Hospital Oncology.
Nearly two years ago, Harris began his partnership with Gladstone Brewery, and created the Royston IPA. He hosted an It’s Not Just Beer, It’s Love event, with proceeds donated to YANA and BCCH Oncology.
The two organizations have close ties to Harris and his wife Dennyse.
In November 2012, their daughter Linden, then three-and-a-half years old, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, one of only 35 children in the province to get diagnosed with leukemia each year.
Following two-and-a-half years of chemotherapy and treatment at BC Children’s Hospital, Linden is now healthy.
While in Vancouver, Harris and his family depended on support from the Comox Valley - and particularly that of YANA, which provides accommodations and funding for local families who need to travel outside of the area for treatment for a child under 19 years of age.
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“This is a perfect example of YANA and how the community comes together,” says Marcie Dumais, executive director of the organization. “The passion of Brad and Dennyse is such a good example of community support.”
Dumais notes events such as the Love Potion release is “so great because it’s so needed. There is an expanded need (of services from YANA) which leads to expanded program costs.”
Glasses, growler fills and cans will be available at the brewery beginning Feb. 14 in addition to Cascadia stores.
The release party runs from 4 to 10 p.m.
For more information, visit the Love Potion NEVI IPA Facebook event page or RoystonNanoBrewery.com.