Natick Brewer Fundraises For ALS Amid Coronavirus Downturn

NATICK, MA — Thomas Wilber was hoping to do a big fundraiser this spring for a disease that has hit close to home. Then coronavirus came along.

The founder of Kells Beer Company in Natick is among a handful of brewers in the state who signed up to participate in an annual fundraiser run by Ales For ALS. The Yakima, Wash., nonprofit donates hops to brewers. Brewers then return a portion of proceeds earned from beer made with the hops to the charity to benefit the ALS Therapy Development Institute. Most of the hops used in U.S. beer production is grown in Yakima.

Wilber participated in the fundraiser last year, but for 2020, he doubled his hops order, intending to sell a lot of beer to support the charity. Of course, breweries and all restaurants across the state were forced to close to the public on March 17 under Gov. Charlie Baker's stay-at-home order.

"It's been fairly devastating," Wilber said.

Kells has forged ahead, selling two different beers this spring to support ALS research: a pale ale and American blonde ale for summer. The pale ale was brewed in honor of Wilber's friend who has been battling ALS for 10 years. The beer is called "#3" in honor of Wilber's friend's high school sports number. The second beer is named "#4" in honor of Lou Gehrig (and other Boston sports legends).

Breweries across the state have been crippled by the stay-at-home order. Retail sales, especially for small brewers like Kells, typically account for only a small share of sales.

"The retail side was a minuscule portion of our business," Wilber said, noting that his regular customers have made a point to keep dropping by for canned beer.

Baker's plan for reopening Massachusetts calls for bars to reopen in Phase 3, which might not come until the end of June, if not later. Phase 1 began on Monday, and each phase is supposed to last at least three weeks.

Wilber has actually found a new source of business through another charitable effort. He's brewing two beers (one currently sold out) to help support the Walpole Food Pantry. He's also hoping that warm weather and the Memorial Day and July 4 holidays will help him get through to the when the downtown Natick taproom can reopen. Kells takes orders online for curbside pickup on weekends.

In the end, Wilber said, he and his business partner decided that they would "go down swinging" with the brewery's charitable commitments — kind of like Gehrig.

"The bright side is, there's a lot of people out there looking past this," he said.