Spirited pair open shed distillery

BALLARAT has a brand-new local distillery, cocktail bar and events space with Itinerant Spirits officially opening at The Good Shed this week.

Owned by Craig Ryan and Brad Wilson, the gin, vodka, and in time, whiskey venue in the Ballarat Station precinct, aims to celebrate locally sourced produce and ingredients including Grampians botanicals, and the volcanic water of Black Mount.

A masterclass space offering day, or multi-day courses, is coming soon, projected to bring 30,000 visitors to Ballarat in its first 12 months.

The name, Itinerant, has been inspired by the experiences of Mr Ryan and Mr Wilson, who have travelled the world with their families, but they said they want to keep business operations hyper-local.

“We’ve been creating a brand that’s all about wanderlust and journey, but it’s also all things wondrous about western Victoria,” Mr Ryan said.

“We look at ourselves as a Ballarat-born spirit company with aspirations to travel the globe, but really our focus right now is really ingratiating ourselves with the Ballarat community.

“We’re doing everything we can to open ourselves to the community, but support is a two-way street.

“We want to offer one of Australia’s best multi-spirit experiences, and we think it will add for the Ballarat community, and for visitors, far and wide.”

Mr Wilson comes from a distilling background as the operator of Melbourne’s Little Lon Distillery, and he and Mr Ryan have employed a few more experts, including head of distillation, James Fairlie, a Scotsman who has moved to Ballarat with his young family.

Mr Fairlie previously worked at Four Pillars Gin Distillery in Healesville and brings third generation distilling expertise to Itinerant Spirits as a member of the family behind historic Scottish distillery, Glenturret.

The new business has 20 staff, including some off site in an Alfredton warehouse, while the Goods Shed venue can hold 140 guests, and 14 jobs were created to construct it.

In its development, Itinerant Spirits was the beneficiary of State Government grants from the Regional Tourism Investment Fund and the Agriculture Victoria Small Scale and Craft Program.

Member for Wendouree Juliana Addison toured the venue earlier in the week, representing the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, Steve Dimopoulos.

“I am so excited to see the space Itinerant Spirits has created in the historic Goods Shed building,” she said.

“The distillery will be a major drawcard to the Ballarat Station precinct and the entire region.

“Ballarat is well and truly on the map as one of Victoria’s craft spirit and small batch brewing hotspots and Itinerant Spirits is creating yet another drawcard.

“More visitors mean a big boost to our thriving Ballarat businesses, and for the region.”