This June, Adam’s Pale Ale is back. Sea Change Brewing has updated the recipe for 2024, but the mission is the same — to raise funds for those suffering with ALS, and to get beer drinkers talking about a fatal disease that affects about 3,000 Canadians.
“We think it’s an opportunity for people to have a beer together and talk about ALS,” says Pete Nguyen, a partner in the brewery.
“That’s the thing about the beer culture we have. Drinking the beer is one thing. But having the conversation, hanging out with a friend, is another. So, to connect that communication aspect, that’s huge for us.”
Adam’s Pale Ale is named for Adam Rombough, who suffered from ALS. The disease eventually claimed his life, but not before he became a major voice for those suffering from the deadly condition.
“He said that he refused to die slowly,” says Kris Andreychuk, who had been a friend of Rombough’s since they were kids. “He wanted to live quickly. He did live large in his very short time that he had remaining.”
Andreychuk and his wife were introduced to each other by Rombough. They have a son named Adam.
Last year, Adam’s Pale Ale earned nationwide fame — celebrities such as Ed the Sock and Raine Maida of Canadian rockers Our Lady Peace posted photos of themselves with the brew. And, it even received an endorsement for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
This year, 96,000 hectolitres of the pale ale is being produced. That’s enough for 14,000 cans and about 30 HL left over for kegs
According to the ALS Society of Alberta, it costs about $240,000 for a patient to manage the disease. Andreychuk says that Rombough was financially solid because of his successful construction business, but that he understood that other ALS sufferers and their families were not as fortunate.
“So he had the means to manage this very expensive disease, to live in as much comfort as he possibly could. But he knew how expensive and out of reach that was for so many people. His desire, as he put it, was to raise a shit-ton of money and raise awareness.”
Rombough got around in what Andreychuk called a “love child of a wheelchair and a quad,” but he donated it back to the ALS Society after his death.
Nguyen said, before Sea Change took on the campaign, he knew very little about ALS. But through this process, he’s visited the warehouse where wheelchairs and equipment are kept — so ALS sufferers have some aids they can access.
“It’s uncool to talk about, the financial needs to make you live comfortably before you go.”
But Adam’s Pale Ale has made it cool to talk about.
“I feel so indebted to Pete and Sea Change,” says Andreychuk. “They’ve shone a light on ALS that didn’t exist before.”
A craft brewery is not a licence to print money; it’s a heavily regulated industry, from strict building and zoning regulations to complicated liquor taxes. The start-up costs are immense. Inflation has made the cost of ingredients just that much pricier. But, Sea Change has consistently taken on social causes. Its Prairie Fairy brew benefits Fruit Loop, an organization which supports the 2SLGBTQ+ community. It’s partnered with St. Albert firefighters and paramedics to make beer that benefits the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
“It’s selfishly personal, a lot of the causes we take on,” says Nguyen. “There’s always a way to make it make sense — to be a brewery and also have a social conscience. The hardest thing is that we can’t do all of them.”
(NOTE, as of June 6, 2024: Due to a potential “seam issue” with lids, the release of Adam’s Pale Ale in cans has been delayed till further notice. Kegs are unaffected, and 10 per cent of all sales will go to ALS-related causes.)
