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cowbell
From Barn to Bar It's a brewing story eight years in the making but now, in 2017, Cowbell is putting Blyth, Ontario well and truly on the brewing map with its new 26,000 square foot destination brewery.
David, built Sparling’s Propane, which grew to be one of the largest propane retailers in Canada before it was sold to a national energy company. Steven, David, and the third generation, Grant have taken this business expertise into craft brewing. Despite opening in August 2017, the beginning of the Cowbell story can be traced back eight years when the
by TIM SHEAHAN
wheels were set in motion for economic development underway across Huron County. Blyth was identified by
I
a study as an area of renewal and one means to help
n the first 12 days we have had seven thousand people through the doors. It’s an incredible feeling
catalyse that was to open a brewery. Initial suggestions put out included a brewpub but it
and we are really appreciative of that.”
wasn’t long before the idea of a full-scale setup started to
take hold. Handily a site to build said brewery on was only
The people behind Cowbell want Blyth, Ontario
and the people of Blyth, Ontario want Cowbell. It's
no surprise that Grant Sparling, general manager and vice president of the new brewery couldn’t be happier.
a stones throw away. In the 1970s, as Sparling’s Propane grew, Grant Sparling’s grandpa purchased the neighbouring farm
A brewery's ability to play their part in transforming
from a gentleman called Robert Henry and it has been
an area is well known, they can even help raise property
in the family ever since. Over the years, the family has
prices in some cases. But it says a lot about Cowbell’s
donated land for the construction of the Emergency
immediate impact on Blyth that the main image on the
Services Training Centre and two soccer pitches, but they
Blyth, Ontario page of TripAdvisor is that of the brewery
retained acreage, that would eventually become home to
itself. Not bad for a business that, at the time of writing,
Cowbell Brewing Co.
had been open little more than three weeks. Cowbell is owned by the Sparling family, one that has
This land at the corner of Highways 4 and 25 was formerly a cattle farm – which served, in part, as
entrepreneurial roots in Blyth, Ontario, going back three
inspiration for the brewery’s name. Beyond the name,
generations. Grant Sparling and his sons, Steven and
Sparling explains, the family recognize that farmers
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Autumn 2017
Brewers Journal Canada