Jeff Green | May 19, 2021
Craig Sindall, a teacher at Napanee District Secondary School, bought the farm property next to his home on the Camden-Portland Boundary about 12 years ago. It had an old barn on it.
“Originally, I was going to knock the barn down,” he said.
But if he had done that, there probably wouldn't be a Harrowsmith Brewery.
The barn was being used for storage, and about 4 years ago he decided to renovate the barn, which it turned out, is over 175 years old
“When we were working on it, we found a beam that had April 1845 marked on it, so it is at least that old,” said Matt Sindall, Craig's son.
Matt was an avid home brewer, when he wasn't working on software development, and the plan for the barn renovations was to make it into a brew pub. As the renovations revealed the capacity of the building, another use emerged.
“In 2018 we did a wedding in the barn, and we did 3 or 4 more in 2019 and it became clear it was a good location for a wedding venue,” said Craig, “but of course none of that happened in 2020 and this summer is not looking good either. We have been using the time to do work on the property.”
They are planning to put in a kitchen this summer and to develop the property as a seasonal grill-based restaurant and brew-pub, perhaps doing take-out in the off-season, as well as being an active wedding venue as demand for that sort of facility is sure to be high in the summer of 2022.
In the meantime, plans are also in place to build a small batch brewery for the brew pub, which would also include beers from other craft brewers in the region, and from other parts of Ontario.
“We decided that the business needed some cash flow, and to get known, which is why we have started to do some contract brewing with Spearhead in Kingston,” said Craig.
Matt has been working on the recipes and all of the other logistics around making 3,000 litre batches, enough for 6,000 473ml cans of beer, and getting them into the local market.
The first Harrowsmith Brewing Company beer, Spike's Corners Hazy IPA, hit the local market, last week, in 3 locations: McCormick's Store, the Yarker Lucky Dollar Store, and Gilmour's in Harrowsmith. And the Godfrey General store now has it as well.
Spike's Corners is the original name of Harrowsmith, and it ties in with the historic barn and some of the traditions the Harrowsmith Brewing company is trying to celebrate. The can has a classic look, and incorporates an old map of the village and the brewery logo. In line with the local roots of the company, it was designed by Carly Lucic, who lives in the Yarker area.
The beer is more modern, however. It is a hop forward west coast style IPA, with lots of flavour, and it packs a bit of a punch at 6.2% alcohol. It is the first of 4 beer styles that Matt is working on, as staple beers for the company. The second, a Lager, is coming in early July, followed by a Wheat Beer later in the summer and an Amber Ale in the fall.
As with any new business, a lot depends on the market, and Matt and Craig are working on bringing Spike's Corners to all of the small LCBO outlets in Frontenac, and L&A Counties in the coming weeks.
Those include locations in Kaladar, Cloyne, Inverary and Sunbury, in addition to the stores in Harrowsmith and Godfrey where it is already available.
So far, sales have been good.
“It's great to get out there,” said Craig, “and to see what people think of the beer and what we are planning. With COVID our plans have changed, but we are thinking we may be able to open the pub in the fall, depending on what happens.
“We're pretty excited.”
(Editor's note - To prepare this article (following a hot tip, and purely for journalistic reasons) we went to Gilmour's first thing on Monday morning. There were three cans left from the first shipment last week. More has been delivered since then.
Mini beer review – thumbs up – pairs really well with spicy food. Also a good stand alone beer.)
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