Initially the distillery was planned as a microbrewery, an experiment in turning excess barley into whisky. St. George's Distillery now produces in excess of 1,500 litres of alcohol a year. Marks and Spencer began selling own-label English whisky in October 2013 which is distilled at St George's.

The founder of the distillery, James Nelstrop, described manufacturing whisky in Norfolk as a dream forty-five years in culmination. His son, Andrew Nelstrop, was the main contractor in the building's construction. The barley now used by the distillery is sourced in Norfolk and historically would have been exported to Scotland's whisky makers.

The premises were officially opened by Prince Charles in March 2007. In 2010 there was a fire at the distillery, which reportedly was only minutes from burning down stock reserves. Nobody was injured and production returned to normal soon after.