Harley Smith, Longwood Brewery partner and brewmaster, has boosted production and distribution of Telegraph Project Pale Ale to support Telegraph Cove which was heavily damaged by fire Dec. 31. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)

Nanaimo brewery ramps up pale ale production for Telegraph Cove fire relief

February 4, 2025 // by Chris Bush

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Nanaimo’s Longwood Brewery is expanding its distribution of Telegraph Project Pale Ale to support Telegraph Cove on Vancouver Island, which suffered a devastating fire that destroyed several of its buildings Dec. 31.

The pale ale has been in production as a seasonal beer distributed on the North Island for several years, with $1 from the sale of every four-pack supporting the Telegraph Cove Whale Interpretive Centre.

“We created this for them in 2021, I think, for a fundraiser for the Whale Interpretive (Centre), but it was only distributed through the Cove itself and a couple stores, Port Hardy and Port McNeill. Most of it was sold through Telegraph Cove’s little liquor store and on tap,” said Harley Smith, Longwood Brewery partner and brewmaster. “It wasn’t a great big fundraiser for them; it was just something we put together for the interpretive centre.”

Smith said his partner Tracy McLean spearheaded the original Telegraph Cove pale ale venture and the marketing and distribution expansion following the fire.

“We were naming a beer for them in the restaurant on tap – the Telegraph Project Pale Ale,” Smith said. “But then she (suggested), ‘why don’t we package it for you?’ So they decided to put together a label.”

Telegraph Cove put the brewery in contact with Port McNeill artist Kathy Harder, whose painting of Telegraph Cove titled A Passage Through Time became the artwork for the can label.

After the fire struck, Smith and McLean made arrangements to increase the beer’s production and distribution to support Telegraph Cove’s recovery.

“We contacted the people that we deal with at Telegraph and said, ‘Hey, you guys have GoFundMe pages going. Why don’t we just release this beer with wider distribution? It’s already set up as a fundraiser beer,’ and so they were all in,” Smith said.

The beer’s label has been updated to explain what the product’s sales now support and distribution has been expanded. The fundraising portion of the beer’s sale proceeds are now split between the Whale Interpretive Centre and Telegraph Cove Resort.

Smith said January is normally a quiet time for the brewery, with the tasting room and store closed, but the fire and public demand for the supporting pale ale has him tracking down emergency supplies of barley so the brewery can produce more Telegraph Project Pale Ale. The latest batch has been distributed to private liquor stores in Nanaimo, Victoria, Campbell River and other north Island communities, as well as the Lower Mainland.

“This stuff happened and everyone took off their ‘Dry January’ suit,” Smith said.

Longwood Brewery is running the fundraiser program until Sept. 1.

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