CHALLENGE:
The owners of Wild Lot Farm Distillery had a vision to build a new distillery that will offer craft small-batch spirits, novel RTD (ready-to-drink) spirit-based beverages and cocktails bitters. They wanted a portfolio of spirits that included vodka, gin, and RTD spirit-based beverages. Located on 35 acres of farmland in Prince Edward County, the facility contains 5000 square feet of converted space, a tractor shed turned state-of-the-art distillery and a century old barn turned tap house, retail, and events space. Products produced on site are sampled and sold on premises alongside other local wines, beers, and ciders. Products will also be sold to local licensed retailers.
SOLUTION:
FBIC partnered with Wild Lot on the development of a grain to glass method of production to allow Wild Lot to use locally grown grains that resulted in formulations for their own unique vodka and gin spirits.
FBIC also developed a line of ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages using the vodka and gin formulations as the alcohol bases. Continuing with the theme of locally grown, Wild Lot requested RTDs that would feature locally sourced ingredients and be compatible with potential future sales in the LCBO. Development focused on vodka and gin-based seltzers: peach white tea, Haskap apple, pear chai, and cherry.
Full bar-strength cocktails were also developed including a Bloody Mary inspired cocktail, a hard iced tea and a kombucha, a gin & tonic, along with stand-alone botanical bitters.
The processes used in the development of these beverages aligns with the philosophy and company ethos of Wild Lot Distillery. The selection of ingredients places an emphasis on local supplier relationships and possibilities. The procedure focuses on ensuring the delivery of clean and unique beverages, imparting only subtle nuances of flavour derived from their raw ingredients, allowing the local ingredients used in the formulations to shine through.
This project has been made possible through multiple funding sources including the Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Tech-Access Canada Interactive Visits, and GreenCentre Canada’s CONNECT Program (supported by NRC-IRAP).
