The owner of the Formosa Springs Brewery is putting the plant up for sale.
Brick Brewing Co. is starting a $4-million expansion plan at its Kitchener site which includes improvements to blending, packaging and warehousing.
Once the upgrades are completed, Brick will end its operations in Formosa no later than September of this year.
According to Brick CEO George Croft, the company hopes to sell the Formosa facility as a working brewery.
The Formosa site started producing beer in 1870 and has gone through many changes and ownerships through the years.
There are two salaried and 16 hourly employees, some of which will be offered jobs in Kitchener.
Brick makes Waterloo and Laker beers and Seagram coolers.
The South Bruce Mayor Bob Buckle says Brick Brewing's decision to pull out of Formosa came as a surprise. He says he had his hopes up when he was recently asked to meet with Croft to discuss the 147-year-old brewery.
"It was a quite a shock, [Croft] set up a meeting with me and to be quite honest with you, I thought it was for an expansion," says Buckle. "We have the most beautiful water you could have right there in Formosa and yes, I was definitely shocked."
With the beer market in Ontario more competitive than ever before, Buckle says he can understand Brick's desire to consolidate its operations in Kitchener.
Buckle adds he appreciates Brick's desire to keep the facility operating by including the brewing equipment in a sale of the property, and says he's optimistic beer will continue to be produced in Formosa.
-With files from Steve Sabourin