Derek Roberts

Historic Grist Mill On the Land

The goal is to “ultimately create a farm-to-table restaurant.” Wade Roberts

Article/images by John Campbell

How Fogorig Brewing came to be goes as far back as the mid-19th century, when a Scot, Sir Thomas Allan, built a stone house and a grist mill on land he had been granted west of Hoards Station.

The two buildings remain to this day and it was their imposing presence – and a For Sale sign – that caught the eye of Wade and Elizabeth Roberts as they drove one day along County Road 8 two years ago.

Their son Derek and his wife, Heather Anderson, ended up buying the 66-acre property but a partnership was formed to develop its potential, which is that it’s “a great place for a brewery,” Wade said.

It was “a natural kind of fit,” because “it’s something that Derek (has) always wanted to do,” having been a home brewer for many years, and his wife’s parents, as well as his mother, had all been born in Scotland.
Wade owns a business in Hamilton that sells pumps, boilers and heating systems. Elizabeth is a retired professor of nursing. Derek is a trained French chef who’s worked in private clubs and at corporate banquets, and Heather is employed in the financial services industry.

Derek Roberts

They named their brewery by combining the name of the village where Allan was born, Fogo, with ‘rig’ the Scottish word for ridge.

Fogorig has a handful of core beers – pale ales, lagers and a pilsner – along with an array of flavoured ales, such as black raspberry sour, that it will change regularly.
“We brew modern-style craft beers, very fragrant, very light, very drinkable, very enjoyable,” Derek said.

A brewery consultant is assisting them in developing new beers.
“It’s been a busy couple of years (working) non-stop” to get the place in order, which included turning the barn into the brew house and replacing the roof on the mill, Wade said.

Restoring the mill, which had become “quite neglected,” is proving to be “a tremendous challenge.” Their investment has been “considerable … close to seven figures,” Wade said.
The septic system alone cost close to $100,000 and the brew house contains roughly $400,000 worth of equipment.

The family has also installed a full water treatment system so it can condition the water to produce harder water for ales and softer water for pilsner.

“I don’t feel (it’s) a gamble at all,” Wade said. “It’s going to be extremely successful … We’ve taken time to study the market … (and) we’re using the best ingredients we can get.”

Wade Roberts

The goal is to “ultimately create a farm-to-table restaurant,” he said. The mill will include a tap room and event space, with seating for about 80 people.

A drive shed has been turned into an “outdoor pour station … basically a bar,” Wade said, and vendors will be brought in to serve food. Live entertainment is part of the mix.

The new venture is “a way for me to grow old in business and not have to be employed by somebody else,” Derek said.
“We decided when we found the place that the best way to monetize (it) was to make it … a destination craft brewery,” by combining “our love of creating things … with our entrepreneurial spirit,” he said. The “ quickest return and the most enjoyable for us (was) to go the brewery route.”

Until there’s a restaurant to open, a food truck will operate on the premises and offer “a seasonally rotating menu of simple easy-to-execute tasty dishes,” Derek said.

“You need to be unique, to be different, to be memorable,” he said.

To learn more about Fogorig at 2445 County Road 8, visit https://www.facebook.com/fogorig.