FREELAND, P.E.I. — Moth Lane Brewing owner, Eric Wagner, has brewed a new lager and he’s giving away the proceeds.
Wagner says he started the 45-keg batch on Jan. 2, just four days after a vicious fire destroyed the Tyne Valley and Area Community Sports Centre.
“When the rink burnt down, I thought, ‘What am I going to do to help out here?’ So, once I had a tank empty, I made a light lager.”
He decided to donate the proceeds of all the kegs the batch produced to the rink’s rebuilding fund.
The beer was kegged last Tuesday and he was expecting all of the kegs to be on tap by the weekend.
The response to the new Rink Rat lager, he says, has been good.
“The servers will have fun with this, as well. A fun name,” he predicts.
“I kind of wanted to make a beer that would move pretty quickly and that people who never even tried craft beer before would try,” he says, explaining why he went with a light lager.
Adam MacLennan, who was manager of the old rink and is chairing the fundraising committee for the new one, gravitates to the name Wagner put on the special batch.
“For those who spent a lot of time around the rink, we’d all consider ourselves rink rats,” he says.
MacLennan acknowledges the fundraising committee is placing a lot of hope on Tyne Valley making it into the Top 4 of the Kraft Hockeyville competition for a chance at winning $250,000, but he admits that doesn’t come close to putting a new rink up.
“I think it’s great,” he says of Moth Lane’s offer, pointing out the fundraising committee needs all the support it can get.
He is appreciative of all of the other fundraising initiatives taking place in support of the building fund.
The Moth Lane offer, MacLennan says is "another feel-good story.”
For Wagner, supporting the building fund is important.
“I played hockey there when I was younger; all my kids went there,” he says.
He adds, “Please ‘rink’ responsibly."
