MERIT BREWING READY FOR BUSINESS
Tej Sandhu gives a tour Friday of Merit Brewing, 107 James St. N., which he is opening with partners Aaron Spinney and Jesse Vallins. The brewery will officially open its doors May 11 at 5 p.m. Sandhu and Spinney met when Sandhu was studying business at McMaster University and Spinney was at Mohawk College. Vallins is the executive chef at Maple Leaf Tavern in Toronto. The brewery will start with signature brews Young Rival and Chanan and it expects to brew 75 to 100 varieties of beer through the year. The brewery can produce 1,900 litres in a batch and up to three batches a week. Along with beer, they will serve gourmet snacks such as butter chicken sausage with mango chutney, and lime black pepper yogurt and chilli fennel sausage with tomato jam, aioli and fresh oregano. Merit Brewing will be open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday to Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. The food will be made on site, including pickled vegetables. The brewery will have a retail space selling beer, hats and T-shirts from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Eventually they plan to sell the sausages and pickles in the retail space, too.