With construction nearly complete, Blyth’s Cowbell Brewery is set to open to the public on Monday.
After nearly eight years of planning, and over 400 days of construction, Cowbell Vice President and GM Grant Sparling says it’s incredible to be nearly ready to fully open the facility.
“It’s almost unbelievable. It’s been a long time coming, over 400 days of construction, and it’s amazing what we’ve accomplished over 400 days," he says. The place is beautiful and we can’t wait to share it.”
The Cowbell Brewery features a full dining hall, bar, open brew area, and a full cellar and canning area in the back, with a public catwalk so the whole facility can be seen. It’s also the first full carbon-neutral brewery in the world, and first closed-loop brewery, meaning all the water used is from a well on-site, and is treated on-site as well.
Sparling says on top of great beer, they wanted to make a facility built on experience and interaction, even for people who aren’t big beer drinkers.
“We’ll have craft sodas made in house, our own coffees made in house, and of course the food and the whole experience here," he says. "So, really there’s a lot in addition to the beer, so if people don’t like beer, or aren’t old enough to drink beer, there’s still a lot here to see and do.”
The catwalk idea, as Sparling says, was a key feature in the development of the brewery.
“Our goal was to make the place as open as possible, so people could take a walk around, with a beer in their hand, and see everything that we’re doing, no matter what time we’re open. So, that’s why we incorporated the catwalk into the design, so everyone can walk around on the second floor, they’re not in our way, we’re not in theirs," says Sparling . "There’s no safety issue, they can see everything it’s all exposed, and hopefully learn a little bit about how the beer is made.”
Sparling says that on top of the already released beers, Brew Master and Director of Brewing Operations Stephen Rich will be helping release a number of new Cowbell beverages in the near future, with plans to constantly release new product for anniversaries, seasons, and events.
