A very special beer is being brewed in northern Virginia, and the story behind it is both heartbreaking and heartwarming.
Kerri's Cure is named for a young mom battling stage 4 cancer. When she and her husband, Matt Rose, learned last year Kerri was pregnant after years of trying, they were elated. Then in her 27th week of pregnancy, they learned she had stomach cancer.
“It’s not a diagnosis you ever want to hear at any age,” Matt Rose said. "We're very happy that Lance is OK."
Because of the cancer, baby Lance was delivered early in September.
Kerri Rose is hospitalized. Chemotherapy didn't work, so she's receiving immunotherapy treatment.
Matt Rose runs Forge Brew Works in Lorton, and when fellow brewers learned about what he and his wife faced, they jumped in to help.
“It hit us pretty hard, and we're like, What can you do?” said Casey Jones, who owns Fair Winds Brewing. “So we immediately turned to, Let’s do what we do well. Let’s brew a beer.”
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Word went out, and 20 brewers answered the call, gathering Thursday to make a very special batch of Belgian pale ale.
“Beer is always a nice thing, but a good beer for a great cause is even better,” said Kristi Griner of Capitol City Brewing Co.
All 20 breweries will soon offer the beer in their taprooms, and the proceeds will help with Kerri Rose's medical bills.
“We want it to sell very well, because the dollars go to her if it sells, right?” Jones said. “So we want it to sell well and sell fast.”
“'Overwhelming' is the word I've been using a lot, because it is,” Matt Rose said. “So many good people here. It just makes you feel like everybody's on your side.”
On top of raising money, the brewers hope the turnout also will lift Kerri's spirits.
“It lets Kerri know in a very visible way, that it’s not just cards and flowers in the hospital room,” Jones said. “There's a whole bunch of people that are pulling for her, and there's going to be a whole bunch more that are going to be drinking in taprooms.”
Kerri is overwhelmed, too, Matt Rose said.
“She broke down one day into tears, just like, everybody has been so nice and so amazing to her,” he said.
The special beer will be on tap Jan. 29 at these breweries:
- Adroit Theory Brewing Company
- Adventure Brewing Company
- Bad Wolf Brewing Company
- Caboose Brewing Company
- Capitol City Brewing Company
- Corcoran Brewing Company
- Crooked Run Brewing
- Fair Winds Brewing Company
- Forge Brew Works
- Heritage Brewing Company
- Lost Rhino Brewing Company
- Mad Fox Brewing Company
- Ocelot Brewing Company
- Old Bust Head Brewing Company
- Old Ox Brewery
- Ornery Beer Company
- Port City Brewing Company
- Spencer Devon
- Tin Cannon Brewing Company
- Pro Re Nata Farm Brewery
Visit the GoFundMe page for Kerri Rose.
