A Franklin Township brewing company will be making its third appearance at the Carbon County Fair in 2023, while a White Haven distillery will be on the grounds for the first time.

Half-Barrel Brewing Company owner Tim Wagner said events like the fair give his business an exposure he can’t get during regular business hours.

“I can’t really handle large crowds at my property, so going around and selling our beers at fairs and other events is the main income for the brewery,” Wagner said.

When Wagner opened the brewery in 2019, he sold his beer at Insurrection Distillery, where it gained a local following. When the distillery closed, Wagner built a pole building on his property along Evergreen Road, which now serves as his tasting room.

“I started keeping records of brewing beer around 1999,” Wagner said. “I was doing the family thing and brewing when I could but then I decided to open my own brewery as a side hustle. It’s a hobby that I do for fun. People come to the tap room to hang out and have some beer and we have a lot of fun with it.”

At the fair, Half Barrel plans to offer a variety of beers including its pilsner, a blueberry beer and Summer Splash, which is a lemon shandy.

“We’re also going to have a vanilla beer that a lot of people like,” Wagner said. “Those are some of the flavored beers, but we’ll also have our regular options like the Vienna Lager.”

Holy Ghost Distillery and Tasting House, located in White Haven, will make its inaugural appearance at the fair.

“I used to travel a lot for work and sometimes my wife Janice would join me on the weekends,” owner John Sepcoski said. “Wherever we went, we normally ended up going to wineries and distilleries. About eight years ago, we left a distillery and I said I can do this and I think I can do it better. My wife said go for it and here we are today.”

Holy Ghost opened in early 2020 at the onset of the pandemic.

Sepcoski said he looks forward to the fair and meeting people who may have not heard of the distillery before.

“Word of mouth is key in any advertising plan and if we can get out and get that exposure, that’s a big plus for us,” he said. “Hopefully a lot of people like the product and want to make the trek out to the other side of the county to see us. We’re also looking forward to getting to speak to the other brewery that is going to be there. It’s always great to talk to someone else in the industry because sometimes you get to know what they’re doing and a cool partnership opportunity may come of it.”

Holy Ghost plans to offer its cocktails at the fair as well as wine from its partner.

“It’ll be a full service bar out of our portable trailer,” Sepcoski said. “Every night we’ll have a featured cocktail. We have a vast array including some rums, bourbon, whiskey, gin, vodka, etc. We’ll have some flavored vodkas and flavored bourbons as well. It’ll be a good list.”

The Carbon County Fair runs Aug. 7-12 at the fairgrounds along Little Gap Road in Palmerton.