People in Fairfield have a new reason to raise a pint—the community is getting its first brewery.

Elicit Brewing Co. is coming to 111 Black Rock Turnpike, which was previously a Planet Fitness, after recent approval by the Town Plan and Zoning Commission.

“We've been working on this since 2021 when they first expressed interest, reached out to the town to look for a location,” said Fairfield First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick. “And it's been a lot of hard work—a lot of hard work from our economic development department and a lot of hard work from my office.”

Eli's Restaurant Group is behind Elicit Brewing Co., a brewery and restaurant that opened in Manchester in 2019. For a second spot, they looked all over the state.

“There were a bunch of towns we drove through and liked but thought Fairfield would be the best based on the location,” explained Ellis Reilly, director of business development for Elicit Brewing Co. “It's such a great community. They don't have their own brewery there, yet which was kind of a big thing. There's a ton in Connecticut, but Fairfield proper doesn't have one.”

“I knew this would be a home run for our town,” Kupchick added.

The building is 26,000 square feet and will be more than just a beer production space.

“If you want Elicit beer, you come to Elicit. But we're going to have a speakeasy in there as well, a full kitchen, private event space. It's really kind of an all-encompassing concept,” Reilly told News 12. “We're really restaurateur hospitality guys, but obviously we love beer, so we're able to infuse both.”

According to Elicit’s application, there will also be 2,000 square feet of outdoor space for patrons.

“Outdoor fire pits, cornhole, you know, just a cool place for people to unwind at the end of a long day or on the weekend. I think it's going to be a lot of fun,” Kupchick said.

The location is near new apartment buildings and right next to the Fairfield Metro Station, which was another draw for Elicit.

“People coming off the train can walk right there. It's going to be all lit up. There's going to be a walkway,” Kupchick stated.

That walkway was a contingency of Elicit getting the green light. The property only has about 130 parking spots, but the train station has over 1,500.

“Part of our approval is we have an agreement with the state that our patrons can park there, and we'll build a nice new walkway right next to the train line. Super easy—you walk right to the building,” Reilly said.

He told News 12 that interior work on the building may start next week with serious construction coming at the end of April. The hope is to open in the fall.

“It's really a nice up and coming site in Fairfield, so we're happy to be able to be part of that new development,” Reilly said.

“It's going to brighten up what I feel is an industrial area that just doesn’t look very nice at the time. Fairfield's pretty excited. I got a lot of emails from residents saying they can't wait. I think it was the most popular post on my Facebook page,” Kupchick laughed.