Rainhard, Brock Street ready to take on the big guys

It had rained the whole day previously and it was a wet and dreary Sunday morning when I ventured west to cut the grass at my Mom and Dad's place in west Toronto. The weather was appropriate, however, because I was going to visit one of the city's newest breweries after my chores: Rainhard Brewing.

The setting was fitting as well: housed in a 1940s factory in the heart of The Stockyards (in what was once Canada's largest abattoir), Rainhard Brewing is located in what is now a gloomy ghost town of abandoned factories and warehouses. (It was, until 1998, also a dry part of town. Gotta love the Temperance movement!) Once found, however, it was all worth it as founder Jordan Rainhard has carved out a welcoming oasis amongst the surrounding neglect and decay.

Rainhard, who turned pro earlier this year after a few years as an award-winning home brewer, has built a 7 BBL brewery with a tap room, event space and retail store on the site - mostly by his own hands (with a ton of help from his wife Katie) - which also sports a very cool bar, made mostly of  2 X 8s.

Ale heaven at Rainhard Brewery

The beer lineup is stellar, too. On tap on the day I visited (and I was the only customer in there - c'mon, people!) was Armed 'N Citra, Rainhard's flagship pale ale, Lazy Bones IPA and his crazy nine per cent, 90 IBU Russian Imperial Stout: Hearts Collide. He has since added a IIPA, True Grit Farmhouse Ale and Day Walker India Session Ale.

Armed N Citra was very sessionable (5.2 per cent) with lots of citrus, tropical fruit and some pale malts on the tongue. Lazy Bones was even better: sweet and fruity on the nose with more dark fruits and citrus on the tongue. Tasty, but could have used a bit more punch. I brought home a couple of bottles of each and sampled the stout, which was far too complex to rate on just a wee taste. Next time.

This is definitely a brewery to watch.

Another new start-up I visited recently is Brock Street Brewing in Whitby, which held its soft opening in April - so 'soft' several thousand people showed up - and its grand opening July 4.

On tap in April was their  Blonde, an Irish Red and an American Brown Ale. Since the soft launch the four local fellows who run the place (three hail from Whitby; one from neighbouring Ajax) have added Double Vision, a 7.5 per cent Imperial Pale Ale, as well as the Brock Street Porter.

I rather liked the American Brown. It's a nutty and hoppy style I am slowly warming to and this is one of the better examples.



The Brock Street Brewery team. When four guys open
a brewery the first thing to do is...drink beer!

The Double Vision IIPA left me wanting a bit more, however. It poured very dark and was nicely carbonated but all I got on the nose was malt and it tasted of malt and  dark fruit with very little bitterness.

I expect if they ever get around to making a regular IPA it will be better.

The boys from Brock Street are the latest in a wave of breweries opening in Durham in the past couple of year, a list that also includes 5 Paddles (Whitby), Manantler (Bowmanville), Old Flame (Port Perry), and Underdogs (Oshawa), with more on the way.

The locals are already surprising some of the established breweries around the nation. Manantler earned a silver medal at the Ontario Brewing Awards in the spring for its delicious Dark Prince Black IPA and Old Flame won gold at the Canadian Brewing Awards for its Old Flame Red.

All but Underdogs will be at the Durham Craft Beer Festival, which will be ... today, damn it, so hop to it and watch them do battle for your taste buds against some of Ontario's best brewers, including Cameron's (Oakville), Sawdust City (Gravenhurst) and Great Lakes Brewery of Toronto, the two-time Canadian Brewery of the Year.

If you can't make it I'll let you know how the battle went.

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Speaking of the Durham Craft Beer Festival and Manantler (my favourite of the newbies), I have several beer reviews from the little Bowmanville brewhouse that I need to get out there.

Liquid Swords IPA

The Citra Situation was a happy surprise, as I now know that Golden Ales, if made properly, are delicious. This one gave me tons of lemon and grapefruit on the nose, followed by bright citrus, lemon candy and some tropical fruit on the tongue. Decent bitterness for a session Golden Ale.

Rye-Diculous was another good one. The aroma wasn't much - some rye, a little citrus - but it builds into a solid offering with citrus, some dry malts and pine. And rye - we can’t forget the rye! The bitterness lingers lovingly.

One of my favourite pale ales of the year was Falconer's Flight, a single hop offering that was very tart and very citrusy.Grapefruit, tropical fruit (mango, perhaps?) and lemon flavours carry this beer right past refreshing and into the delicious zone.

Roberta Blondar, another Golden Ale that was the first in a series honouring great Canadians, was citrusy on the nose with some dark fruits and even cherry on the tongue. It was sweet but not cloying, as well as light and very sessionable.

Finally, an IPA from Manantler: Liquid Swords. This classic unfiltered IPA offered plenty of lemony hops, with grapefruit and resiny flavours as well. Very nice.

Cheers!