Spring Mill Distillery to be located at the Metalworks development on Arthur Street

Beer baron John Sleeman is getting into the hard liquor business.

Sleeman will be operating a micro distillery that is scheduled to open later this year at The Metalworks development at 43 Arthur St.

The name will be Spring Mill Distillery, of which Sleeman is president and CEO.

"It's a personal project. We're renovating the inside of the Metalworks building. We've got some of the equipment in there and we're hoping to be ready a little closer to Christmas," Sleeman said in a phone interview.

"We're aiming for that. We need a few things to go right, timing-wise. It's not that we've had a lot of problems, but when you're ordering equipment from Scotland and England and various other places, it takes a while to get it all in and hooked up."

There will be a distillery available for tours, a bar area and a retail area.

Initial offerings will be gin and vodka. Whisky will be barrelled but not be available for a while.

"We're going to be making four types of whisky, unfortunately it takes three years to get whisky out of a barrel and even three years is pretty young," Sleeman said.

There will eventually be a restaurant as part of the development, but Sleeman is not involved in owning or running that.

Sleeman said the distillery won't be open late and isn't meant to be a bar in the traditional sense.

"We're aware we are in a residential neighbourhood and we're certainly not planning to be a 2 o'clock in the morning type of place

"We will certainly have a bar in there so people can come in and sample our products and we'll have Sleeman beer in there and other products."

The distillery has applied to the province for a by the glass manufacturer’s limited liquor sales licence and are on the Guelph City Council agenda for Nov. 19 seeking its support.

The application is for a micro distillery that will sell alcohol by the glass and also include a retail store.

“The licence will allow us to offer our customers the opportunity to sample a selection of our spirits in order to educate our customers, provide an enhanced tourism experience, and educate customers about the art of distilling,” Sleeman wrote in a letter to council.

“It is critical to the success of our store launch, during the December shopping season, that our application not be delayed due to the Municipal Election.”

Just over two years ago, Fusion Homes received a $1.2 million heritage grant to help refurbish five of the buildings on the former Woods factory site.

That money came from a special city fund and comes in the form of tax relief spread out over 10 years.

At the time the developer said the money would help attract a “year-round tourism anchor with a province-wide, potentially national reach” that will also create an estimated 15 to 20 jobs.