When Shane McCarthy told his friend and now business partner Josh Domingues that he wanted to open a brewery, Domingues asked a pertinent question: “What do you know about brewing?”

The answer was not much. So they put their heads together for more than a year planning and came up with the concept for Market Brewing Company, to be located in Newmarket.

“I left the corporate world to chase something else,” McCarthy said.

The two friends who grew up playing hockey at a high level, McCarthy for the Aurora Tigers and Domingues for Owen Sound Attack in the Ontario Hockey League, both missed the community vibe of being in a locker-room every day.

“We want to create that community hub here,” McCarthy said in Market Brewing’s new state-of-the-art taproom located on Leslie Street next to the Hyundai Dealership.

Set to open later this spring, the taproom has long-tables that evoke the feeling of being in a German beer garden. The taproom will have 12 taps that will rotate through different beers including Market Brewing’s three core beers; the Beswick Lager, Bear Hug IPA and Flee to Pennsylvania Wit.

To find someone who could brew delicious beer, McCarthy looked to British Columbia where he hired Ethan Allured, the former head brewer of Coal Harbour Brewing. The two hooked-up through an online form and things progressed to a point where he moved to Ontario. His beer has been a big hit so far.

“People tell me we need something like this in Ontario,” McCarthy said. Aside from the three core beers, Market Brewing will have different seasonal creations that Allured is looking forward to doing. At the bar in the taproom McCarthy brought up the menu on a TV screen. It included a Leslie Street Pale Ale and High Treason Belgian Ale that Allured had brewed.

McCarthy, a Holland Landing resident, said they wanted their beer names to have a connection to the community. The Beswick Lager is in tribute to Newmarket’s first doctor Christopher Beswick. Flee to Pennsylvania pays homage to a story of a settlers coming from the Keystone State.

The taproom is hidden from Leslie Street at the back of the building. McCarthy said it is good for large groups to come to after hockey to enjoy a few pints and watch the game or listen to good live music, McCarthy said.