The Local Brewery Comes Home To Parham Fair

Jeff Green | Aug 17, 2022

It’s been a long year for Jen and Stephen Trussell, and their brewing business, the Local Brewery.

A year ago this week, they had a booth at the Parham Vendor’s market. It was an event that was put on by the Parham Agricultural Society because they could not run the Parham Fair for the second year in a row, because of the continuing COVID situation.

The Trussells had a logo and some swag for the new brewery, and were planning to purchase the former Hinchinbrooke School, and grounds, from Central Frontenac Township. Their idea was to open a brewery, tap and tasting room, and multi-use space for other businesses, and the public, to enjoy.

They saw their project as a way to kick start a revitalisation of Parham. As the community that is closest to Kingston in Central Frontenac, Parham and Hinchinbrooke District have seen the largest growth in property sales, and construction, of the four Central Frontenac Districts, during the COVID property boom, but a dearth of commercial enterprises persists.

It was COVID that had brought Jen and Stephen to Central Frontenac a year earlier. They had been living in Newmarket, where they were busy with their careers. In fact, in 2019 and early 2020 Jen had a chance to come home to Parham, where she was raised, to take over Goodfellow’s Funeral Home from her father Dave, who was set to retire.

“The timing was not right for that, and given all the changes taking place in the funeral industry, it was not the right move for us,” said Jen, who is a trained funeral director.

When COVID hit, a month or two later, and their kids were home all the time, and Stephen was laid off temporarily from his job, a move back to Central Frontenac suddenly became a good option, so they bought a house in Sharbot Lake.

After their return, opening a brewery in Parham (Stephen was an avid home brewer who was already developing recipes) became their passion. Having done some groundwork in the time since they moved to Central Frontenac, the idea of opening a brewery based at Hinchinbrooke School seemed to be a great option.

There was also a full circle element to the project, because Jen’s mother, the late Ann Goodfellow, was instrumental in bringing Granite Ridge Education Centre to Sharbot Lake, which resulted in the closure of Hinchinbrook Public School, which had been a painful sacrifice for the local community that weighed heavily on Ann at the time.

As the summer of 2021 gave way to the fall and winter of 2022, COVID continued to slow things down, some of the issues, and costs, surrounding a renovation of the Hinchinbrooke site came into focus. During the winter of 2022, with financing options drying up, Jen and Stephen realised they had to let the school purchase go and take their business in a new direction.

Jen and Stephen decided, as many small breweries do when they are getting up and running, that the most important thing was to get into the market with beer, and so have been operating as a mobile brewery. In June, thanks to a contract brewing arrangement, the first of a planned four Local Brewery beers, Hinch 1963 Lager, hit the market. Named for the year when the property where Hinchinbrooke School was purchased, it features the clean taste of a slow brewed lager, with a bit more body and a slightly hoppy tart finish, thanks to careful use of Wolfe Island Hopyard hops. It has been well loved by beer drinkers who have tried it.

The first Parham Fair in three years is set for Friday night and Saturday, and the 130 year-old institution is keeping to its traditions while changing with the times. One of the changes is the incorporation of the vendors market that proved so successful on its own last year, and another is the inclusion of a beer tent for the first time.

That’s where the Local Brewery comes in. In addition to Hinch 1963, a new beer will be available, Lowery Mills Ale. The Amber Ale, brewed with different varieties of Wolfe Island Hopyard hops, full bodied at 5.4% ABV (Alcohol by Volume) will be introduced into the market on the weekend. The beer is named for the Lowery Mills band, which traces its roots to Parham, and the School of Rock that was started at the school back in 2007. The band, with Jordan Lowery and Jay Mills at the helm, will be returning to the Fair as the Saturday Night headliner.

A fitting time to introduce Lowery Mills Ale.

The next phase for the Local Brewery is to get the two beers they have introduced and two others that are coming soon, into the Beer Store, where they can broaden distribution throughout the region and eventually, across the province.

Although Frontenac County was slow off the mark getting into the brewing business, four Frontenac breweries have popped up over a two-year period – Harrowsmith Brewing Company, Karbon Brewing Company (Wolfe Island) Kick and Push Brewing Company, and now, the Local Brewery. All four breweries are sourcing at least a portion of the hops they use from the Wolfe Island Hopyard.

The Parham Fair kicks off on Friday, August 19. Gates open at 3pm, and the Horse Draw starts at 5pm. Friday night events also include the frog jumping contest, best-dressed cowpoke, pet show and the beer tent.

Saturday events include the cattle show (10am), the Palace, kids games from 9am, Carol Flynn music from noon-2pm, beer tent from noon on, the Demolition Derby at 5pm, and the Lowery Mills band and opener, starting at 7pm.

The Parham Fair is supported by the Ontario Trillium Foundation. Thanks to the efforts of Fair supporter Diana Meeks, the Fair received a large ($200,000) resiliency grant earlier this year, which will be used to ensure its survival and promote its growth in the coming years.