Fredericton Gets A New Distillery Just In Time For Summer
HANWELL–After living in Ontario for a decade, two New Brunswickers have returned home and are about to open a new distillery in the southwest outskirts of Fredericton.
First Light Distillery co-founder Jen Stewart confirmed plans to open a distillery in an online conversation with Huddle.
Stewart, and her husband and co-founder Kevin Stewart, plan to host a June 11 grand opening event for the distillery, which is located at 73 Fairway Dr., in the Hanwell Business Park, just down the road from Black Galley Distilling.
First Light includes two buildings; one that houses the distillery itself– where it makes its signature gin and distils its cream liqueur that it sells by the bottle.
First Light also distills vodka and rum – but only sells those at its onsite tasting room.
Ashley Erb, a spokesperson for First Light, told Huddle in an email that the distillery has plans to bottle and sell its rum and vodka outside of the tasting room soon.
First Light also plans to add spiced rum and vodka seltzers to its roster in the coming months.
While there are plans for whiskey in the works as well, Erb noted it needs to be aged three years in the barrel before that can be sold.
The tasting room will feature a small, curated cocktail menu, including drinks like the Elder Wand and Ruth’s Raspberry Sour – named after the owners’ dog – and a variety of New Brunswick-brewed craft beers from breweries that include Trailway Brewing Co., The Cap, and Half Cut Brewing. For its June grand opening, the distillery will also host the Street Greek food truck.
Erb says the owners have several other partnerships planned and advises guests to “stay tuned.”
Information released from the distillery noted the tasting room can accommodate 195 people and is built with a 17-foot brick wall, as well as a large garage door that will be opened when the weather is nice and a large bar with custom arch shelving.
The distillery also has one patio and a second one will be built by the start of the autumn.
To make its rum, the distillery has partnered with Crosby’s Molasses in Saint John. It also buys potatoes from local farmers to make its vodka.
The Stewarts wrote that New Brunswick appealed to them as a place to open a distillery on account of their many friends and family members in the province.
“We wanted to be closer to everyone. We really love the way of life here in the Maritimes and really came to appreciate it while living away,” wrote the Stewarts.
They originally moved to Toronto with the intention, all long, of eventually moving back to Fredericton.
While working in Toronto, the Stewarts were inspired by the distillery districts and craft spirit makers in larger cities, and wanted to bring that energy to the Maritimes.
“During our time away, we frequently visited distilleries around the Greater Toronto Area (Kinsip, Spirit of York, etc.) and developed an interest in spirits. The more we talked about it, we quickly realized this was something we wanted to bring more of to our hometown,” they wrote.
Sam Macdonald is a Huddle reporter in Moncton. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].