in Blyth
What’s brewing
COWBELL FARM PRODUCES A WINNER
I
f the made-up word “brewcation” or the phrase “destination brewery” aren’t yet part of your vocabulary, they soon will be. The craft beer boom has created all sizes of breweries, from quaint farm operations to brew pubs and sizable operations in former factories. But none are quite like Cowbell in Blyth, which in less than two years established itself as a go-to brewery in Southern Ontario and created a new pillar for tourism in the Huron County community of Blyth. Grant Sparling, Cowbell’s chief development officer, is quick to give credit to the village’s long-time tourist attractions – the summer stock Blyth Festival Theatre, the Old Mill, and Bainton’s Old Mill – for creating synergies needed to attract visitors inland from Lake Huron. “We see it as a matter of critical mass needed to move the needle,” he says. The allure of craft beer has drawn hipsters and hopheads from a wide area to the distinctive barn-shaped brewery at Blyth’s south edge, but it’s not all about the beer. Many guests through the summer theatre season stop to dine at Cowbell’s farm-to-table restaurant, where gourmet burgers and artisan pizzas are the most frequently ordered items. Both pair well with Shindig, the German-style lager that’s become the taproom’s best seller.
travelstyle
By Wayne Newton
Sparling said guests also include busloads of seniors on daytrips from area nursing homes and passersby who stumble upon the brewery en route to the lake. The usual demographic for craft breweries are people ages 19 to 35. Cowbell draws literally all ages, not all of whom are there for the beer. The facility’s event spaces have hosted several children’s birthday parties. During the first year, there were 200,000 guests. This “far exceeded” projections, Sparling said. With that success has come an expansion. Cowbell has purchased a former training facility
next door used by volunteer firefighters and is renovating the building to accommodate a packaging line, classrooms and offices. The expansion also adds parking. What’s needed next in Blyth, Sparling said, is a hotel. While the craft beer world has seen some hotel breweries open, that’s not in Cowbell’s plans. Just like the Sparling family invested and created the brewery to boost one of Huron County’s gem communities, they hope an investor will step up to build a hotel so tourists can extend their stays. Cheers to that. n
● FOR MORE INFORMATION • COWBELL BREWING CO. • Cowbell Farm, 40035 Blyth Road (at London Road/Highway 4), Blyth
• 1-844-523-4724 • www.cowbellbrewing.com
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January/February 2019
Lifestyle 35