Canada Day, the biggest holiday of the summer season, is a day where fireworks go off and parties go on. We celebrate our nation in the most Canadian of ways – a two-four with some friends and a barbeque. Fredericton residents will have a new way to celebrate this year with the grand opening of Graystone Brewing on July 1st. The brewery will make its new home at 221 King Street and claims the distinction of being the first brewery and tap house experience in downtown Fredericton. Beer aficionados will rejoice in the massive selection of over twenty different New Brunswick craft brews.
“We have been very fortunate to have some local breweries like Trailway, Maybe and Grimross step up and offer access to their systems. As a result, we will be able to open Gray Stone earlier and the transition to our new equipment should be much less bumpy. The brewing community is very collaborative as opposed to competitive, and they have been awesome to work with,” says Ian DeMerchant, a brewer with the company. Wes Ward, the owner of Graystone says, “We are all friends and want each other to succeed. I would love to see collaborations continue in the future.”
“What sets Graystone apart is attention to detail. Starting with the beer right through to our tap house. We want to provide the full experience to the craft beer drinker. I really think people will agree when they get a chance to visit the brewery. I think people of Fredericton are just excited to be part of such an exploding craft beer scene here. Graystone’s opening is just rounding out the already great scene we now have in Fredericton. One thing I’m sure people are excited about, or at least the people living in the town plat, is our location,” says Ward.
The project has been in the works for years and they are ecstatic to be finally opening their doors. According to Ward they have already started thinking past the grand opening, to a bright and shining future, namely the capacity of their incoming brewing equipment, “The biggest thing will be the arrival of our full system. As of right now we only have two 10bbl fermenters. When our full system arrives we will have a 10bbl brew house, five 20bbl fermenters, one 20bbl brite. That’s pretty special.”
Graystone’s Brewing is definitely going to be special and a major attraction in the downtown core of the city. If you’re around Fredericton for the holiday, head down to Gray Stone Brewing from 11am to midnight to experience New Brunswick beers, food and games to kick off summer right.
For more information visit www.graystonebrewing.com