New Brewery-Restaurant, The Fermentary, Set to Open in Lowell

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Your Whispers staff brings you an update on a restaurant, bar and small brewery coming to Lowell this summer: The Fermentary Public House.

Larry McCallister of Cave Springs and Jennifer Muckerman of Summers (Washington County) are the co-owners of the establishment, at 1000 W. Monroe Ave., which is aiming to open by the end of this month or early July.

McCallister, a risk program manager for Arvest Bank, has experience as a homebrewer and was named 2024 Brewer of the Year by the Ozark Zymurgists, the homebrew club of Benton County. (We, too, had to look up “zymurgist”: one who practices or studies zymurgy, the science of fermentation.)

Muckerman, who received her brewing education at Chicago’s Siebel Institute of Technology, has extensive experience, including as head brewer at Half Full Brewery in Stamford, Connecticut, and stints at Marble City Brewing Co. in Knoxville, Tennessee; Trailhead Brewing Co. in St. Charles, Missouri; and JJ’s Beer Garden & Brewing Co. in Fayetteville.

McCallister provides the finance and strategic guidance for The Fermentary and Muckerman handles operations.

“I’ve always been fascinated with fermentation and making beer, wine, mead, ciders, all kinds of stuff,” McCallister said. “And, you know, as you do, I sort of had this dream, ‘Well, what if I opened my own brewery?’ Turns out, Jennifer had the same dream.”

As for the name of the establishment, “We’re called The Fermentary because we’re not just beer; we’re also getting engaged with the government to get a permit to manufacture pickles and other fermented foods,” he said. Ciders, meads and distilled beverages are part of the long-term strategy.

“We’re wanting to go down that route of not only having a brewery but having a restaurant that has a full-service experience,” McCallister said. It will be serving “English-style pub food,” he said. “And we want a full-service bar so it’s inclusive of everyone, not just beer drinkers.”

The Fermentary will have a 15-barrel system, and the goal for the first year of operation is to brew 1,000 barrels of beer.

The Fermentary is using food vendors, Performance Food Group and US Foods, to start, but it wants to eventually incorporate local farms into the menu.

The brewery occupies about 2,000 SF of the 4,000-SF facility, with the restaurant occupying the other half.

The Fermentary will seat about 70 and employ 12 workers.

Their combined investment in the business is about $250,000, he said.