Rig Hand Craft Distillery goes hard on local.
The distilling house makes several types of brum, a rum-like drink made from Alberta beet sugar, vodka made with local grains, and saskatoon berry-flavoured mead.
Rig Hand has been in the distilling business for eight years, producing those products and more out of a location in Nisku, Alta. In the midst of a decades-long craft beer boom, Rig Hand president Geoff Stewart saw an opportunity for craft hard alcohol.
Recently, the company moved to a new building in nearby Leduc, Alta., with an old-west style storefront and miniature grain elevator facade.
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Rig Hand’s iconic glass bottle, shaped like the original #1 Leduc oil rig, can hold any number of 81 products.
“We make… about 38 flavoured vodkas, four types of gin and a wheat whiskey … single malt whiskey from barley… corn to make bourbon and non-grain crops include potatoes and molasses… for making rum and… potato vodka,” said Stewart.
Most of the ingredients that Stewart and 34 employees use for their products are bought from local sources. Much of the hard red wheat, rye, two-row Copeland malting barley and corn is sourced from local farmers. The sugar used for fermenting is Alberta beet sugar and molasses.
The distillery uses fruit grocery stores can’t sell and were going to throw away.
“They call us and we go over and pick it up, juice it, ferment it and turn it into schnapps. We’re using waste potatoes as well,” Stewart said.
As well, the honey Rig Hand uses is sourced from local bee farmers. Berries such as saskatoons, strawberries and raspberries are from nearby U-pick operations, and the garlic for their garlic vodka is from Sangudo, Alta.
The garlic vodka has become one of Rig Hand’s most sought-after products.
“We make several products specifically for caesars because it’s really Canada’s drink,” said Stewart.
He said it’s the company’s second biggest seller and “it’s phenomenal in a caesar.”
Stewart said the company’s main principle is to source as locally as possible.
“Principle number two is to employ locals. Rather than automating everything… we hire more people to do the job. We’re bottling, mashing, distilling, labelling by hand and because we conduct our business that way, we create a lot of economic spinoffs for the local community.”
The demand for Rig Hand’s alcohol has been hard to keep up with. The former Nisku site and the new Leduc facility are both near Edmonton International Airport, which enables tourists and busloads of conference attendees to join a tour or have a tasting in the tap room.
The iconic bottle is also a great souvenir.
In the distillery’s previous location about 24,000 people passed through each year.
At the expanded new site, Stewart expected 80,000 people will pass through annually.
The location has a large restaurant, tasting room and a rentable event space.
On the wholesale side, about 1,400 privately owned liquor stores across Saskatchewan, Alberta and a few locations in British Columbia, stock the Rig Hand brand.
Stewart and his team also offer courses in distilling, ranging from day workshops to week-long training for those who want to start their own businesses. He is proud to have helped establish 22 other craft distilleries in Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.
“I don’t see them really as competition to one another…. Our competition is the big multinational companies that have had control over this industry for 85 years, the big Smirnoffs of the world. We need more little guys to band together to try and steal market share from them,” said Stewart.
