Rainhard Brewing Company

In the beginning…

When I asked Jeremy Sachedina, my host at Rainhard Brewing Company, what “craft beer lifestyle” meant to him, he explicitly said that what is “craft” is, precisely, something that is produced by hand. The heart of Rainhard Brewing Company seemingly beats to this philosophy of ‘production by hand.’

In preparation for my visit to Rainhard, I did some research into the history of the area in which the brewery now resides. I found that the story of the area, long known as the “Stockyards,” is very much a part of the story of the city of Toronto itself. And Rainhard, I believe, is helping to bring this area from its industrial past into a more residential, community-based future.

…there was the Stockyards.

By the late nineteenth century, Toronto was known, both in Canada as well as in the UK, for its substantial meat processing industry. For over 100 years, the area around Keele St and St. Clair Ave West was a hub for this industry, adopting the name the “Stockyards” in 1903.

The success of the Stockyards was due to its location with access to trains, but, with the advent of the trucking industry, the location became less and less convenient for transporting livestock. Eventually, all government operations in the area closed their doors in January of 1994.

Enter Rainhard Brewing Company

Private meatpacking companies continued to operate in the area until 2014. As they were moving on, the area was beginning its renaissance, and Rainhard Brewing Company has had its hands in helping to make change here.

Opening in May of 2015, the brewery does not merely brew quality beer, but also houses a large tap room ready to serve the community. It’s a sizeable area, with a number of picnic tables set up beside an L-shaped bar. Barrels are displayed at the other end of the room behind a projection screen. Pinball machines flash lights against the front wall. Fermentation tanks sit in the back behind everything. (For the full gallery of photos, click here.)

There are a lot of events that can be held in a space like this. And Rainhard takes advantage of its space, holding local restaurant and food truck ‘pop-ups’ within the brewery on a weekly basis (Grandmama’s Waffles were there with their colourful and delicious waffles the day I visited). The brewery sometimes has local musicians perform, and in the summer they host a punk rock show.

With pop-ups, performers, picnic tables and pinball machines, the community can certainly come together and feel comfortable here.

And while Rainhard has provided a space for the community to come together to have fun and unwind, Rainhard also encouraged development in the area in another way: by bringing their friends. Both Shacklands and Junction Craft breweries moved in on either side of Rainhard on Symes Road in 2017 and ’18, respectively, creating a craft beer hub for the community to grow around.

Building a Craft Beer Community

Craft beer helps build communities, and with these three breweries, the Stockyards is ripe for expanding its community. Indeed, the breweries’ presence have not gone unnoticed, as the area is beginning to be known by a different name: the “Aleyards”.

While the three breweries support each other in numerous ways (often they borrow each others supplies when one is out of stock of something, e.g.), they all have their own unique philosophies and aims with their products. Rainhard Brewing Company prides itself on its commitment to produce everything it can by hand. Grain is mashed by hand, and it is also mixed by hand; Jordan Rainhard, the owner and brewmaster, built the taproom bar himself, by hand.

The concern with using one’s own hands in order to have the utmost control and to pay the closest attention possible to the details is a philosophy that drives the Rainhard brand. Great products often need that personal touch. And, as Jeremy was clear to tell me, you don’t have “craft” unless you have hands making it.

The People Behind Rainhard Brewing Company’s Beer

Jordan Rainhard is the owner and brewmaster at Rainhard Brewing Company. He leads a team of 9-10 employees, and I had the pleasure of speaking with a few of them when I visited.

This included Mat Diorio. Mat’s a brewer on Jordan’s team, and is an excellent compliment to the brewery’s philosophy. Confident and focused, he insists that his favourite Rainhard beer is “the next one [he] is making.” The statement expresses an attitude of not simply always striving to improve, but also knowing full well he can. I like that.

Mat also insists that “pants are the enemy.” Comfort is important, and apparently pants don’t cut it here at Rainhard.

This was a good lesson for me specifically: I certainly now know that I will not be pairing any Rainhard brews with pants. With statements like Mat’s, it’s obvious that these beers were never made to wear pants. Their beers are clearly made to be more free, and made to have less constraint, than anything in pants…

So conversely then, pantless beers: now there’s a pairing.

No Pants? Then you DO get Service.

Kenny Conway, a cellarman and brewer, not only loves Toronto, the film “Scott Pilgrim VS the World” and the Rainhard brew, “Brett Coast” (an IPA brewed with Brettanomyces yeast), but also, like Mat, he is a hater of pants(!).

I really wasn’t quite sure what to think about this ‘no pants’ thing at this point, but their collective working philosophy, expressed this way, certainly seemed to hinge on feeling comfortable. Given their commitment to producing by hand, maybe this made a lot of sense.

Justin Lake, a bartender in the taproom, also has a thing for comfort, still wearing a sweater he’s had since grade 8. Thankfully though, he never admitted to hating pants.

Wha’cha dealin’?

I had the pleasure of chatting at more length with Jeremy Sachedina, the self-appointed “drug dealer” at Rainhard Brewing Company. Jeremy’s not so much of a drug dealer as he is a brewhead and family man. He spoke with me at length about how Rainhard Brewing Company focused on consistency and balance. Consistency: being able to repeat recipes to the exact same result, which isn’t as easy as one might think. And balance: Rainhard may be known for hop-forward pale ales, but “hop-forward” does not need to mean “bitter.” Not only do some hops produce more bitter flavours than others, but the bitterness from hops can be balanced by the malt to produce a more temperate beverage. To be sure, “hoppy” could in fact just mean something like “citrus aroma.”

In Jeremy’s mind though, the most significant thing that made Rainhard Brewing Company special was an attitude of “I’m going to do what I want to do.” Regardless of trends or what everyone else is doing, it’s their beer their way at Rainhard – and they like to get their hands in there to make sure it’s exactly their way every time.

Jeremy wasn’t dealing drugs at Rainhard, I assure you: he was dealing knowledge, humour, comfort and friendship. And I’d say that that’s exactly what Rainhard Brewing Company deals: products nurtured, with love, by the team’s own hands in a fun-loving, comfortable and friendly environment.

Jeremy was also happy (as was I) to sample 3 brews with me, as we spoke about all things Rainhard. Of course, I not only wanted to try the 3 beers, but I also wanted to have some fun pairing them.

Pairingwith… Rainhard Brewing Company’s “Armed ‘n Citra” Pale Ale

“Armed ‘n Citra” is a dry-hopped pale ale that Rainhard Brewing Company offers year round. It’s a clean, citrus-forward, medium-bitter beer that emphasizes the hop aroma by balancing the taste with smooth malts. I’d put it in the “new skool” pot, as it’s medium-haze and -juiciness speak to more recent trends in the style.

Armed ‘n Citra pairs wonderfully with this necklace from Bulletproof Love Necklaces. The one I wear contains the Rainbow Flame Aura Quartz, which is the primary stone of creativity and positivity. It’s known as the “feel good stone.”

The positivity inherent to the necklace, of course, speaks directly to the attitude of the team at Rainhard Brewing Company. Being comfortable and feeling good is a necessary component to being creative with one’s hands. Indeed, it’s an attitude they wear on their sleeves, or, in this case, I wear around my neck.

One wearing the necklace is armed with the power of positivity, just as the citrus aromas arm the drinker with an undeniably positive sensory experience. The can art, with an approaching tank, of course meets the bullet casing of the necklace halfway to happy – happy, because the bullet casing has been repurposed to hold the “feel good stone,” and because the tank approaches, not with the aim to kill, but, as the emblem on the front of the tank indicates, to shower its subjects with hops (and please don’t tell me that isn’t a happy – or perhaps “hoppy” – circumstance).

Like any great pairing, this one allows one half of the pairing to accentuate the other, and vice-versa: wear the necklace; drink the beer; and you will certainly be “feeling good.”

Bulletproof Love Necklaces

Bulletproof Love Necklaces is a project of particular love for Michelle Plett, the owner and founder. Michelle began the company shortly after having an experience with gun-violence; one far too close to home. In the summer of 2018, the front entrance of her home was struck by a stray bullet from what was a fatal gun fight outside.

Michelle’s reaction to the frightening experience was to begin a project that would allow her to respond to the problem in her own way. Having been a holistic health practitioner for more than a decade, she began to hand-make necklaces with semi-precious stones that contain healing attributes. Wanting the necklaces to speak to her experience, she repurposed bullet casings into the bails that hold the stones. She was turning the negative energy of the bullets into the positive light of the stones.

Bulletproof Love Necklaces also speaks directly to the problem it was born out of, with 10% of every necklace sold donated to organizations that help youth find alternatives to gang life.

Working in downtown Toronto, Michelle makes every necklace herself by hand. She believes that the intention of the hands of the creator – in this case, to change negative into positive – is as significant as the stones healing powers themselves.

Pairingwith… Rainhard Brewing Company’s “Sweetback’s Milk Stout”

“Sweetback’s” Milk Stout is a creamy, easy-drinking stout that offers up flavours of dark chocolate, coffee and subtle marshmallow. Its sweet finish and thin mouthfeel lead to a stout that could be drank at any time of the year and for any occasion. I should probably add that this brew won gold medals at the Ontario Brewing Awards in the back-to-back years of 2016 and ’17, respectively.

The stout in fact pairs excellently with O’Keeffe’s Working Hands cream. The creaminess of Sweetback’s clearly alludes to O’Keeffe’s, with the mouthfeel coating one’s tongue like the cream coats one’s working hands. The sweet finish of the beer mimics the soothing sensation that the cream provides to any chapped, dry skin. And, with the philosophy of Rainhard Brewing Company aforementioned, one’s working hands do need some soothing attention if they are to come back to produce more delicious beer tomorrow.

Sweetback’s is the sort of stout that one can sip on during any extended period of time working with one’s hands. Grab a hold, mould and create – just don’t forget the Sweetback’s and don’t forget to mend those hands afterwards.

O’Keeffe’s

In the early 1990s, Bill O’Keeffe was a hard-working rancher living in the Klamath Basin, an area that straddles the border between California and Oregon. His daughter, Tara, a pharmacist by trade, wanted to find a solution to her father’s dry and sore hands. Together, over the following years, they developed and perfected a hand cream that soothes and moisturizes any abused, hard-working hands.

I myself have eczema, and often deal with dry hands, especially in the cold months. When a friend introduced me to O’Keeffe’s not much more than a year ago, it proved to be the best hand cream I had ever tried. I’m certainly down with O’Keeffe’s.

Pairingwith… Rainhard Brewing Company’s “Rage and Love” Sour Ale

The “Rage and Love” Dry-Hopped Sour Ale pours a deep yellow colour and is a tart-forward, juicy delight. Rage and Love is in fact a series, so while this version isn’t always available at Rainhard, the brewery usually has one (or two) versions on draft or in bottle/can at any time of the year.

This sour ale actually pairs beautifully with Muay Thai – and in this case, with Montrait Muay Thai in Toronto. Similar to lacrosse in Canada, Muay Thai was developed in Thailand for preparation for war. It intelligently focuses on using limbs that do not break easily: knees, elbows and kick strikes. And, as Montrait Muay Thai founder Peter Montrait was clear to let me know, the goal of Muay Thai is to “destroy” the opponent.

This all speaks, of course, to the entirely opaque, deep yellow colour that refuses to let anything break through, and to the near-aggressive (in a good way!) tartness of the sour ale. And so we should see quite easily then that Muay Thai pairs well with at least one half of the beer: rage.

Rage and Love though has a very clean and friendly mouthfeel with little to no carbonation. It’s juiciness, which helps balance the tartness, is like a dance of sunshine in your mouth. These aspects clearly allude to the “love” half of the brew.

“Love” is quickly found with Muay Thai as well. Not only does Muay Thai exercise a love of one’s body, as training will certainly keep one’s body in top physical shape, but it also exercises a love for one’s Muay Thai opponent. Muay Thai battles begin with the “Waikru,” a dance and prayer performed for one’s Muay Thai opponent. The dance commemorates the beautiful moment the two opponents are to share together: their Muay Thai fight.

What we find then in a Muay Thai battle is a near-paradoxical relationship: one loves the other to the point of destruction. I myself was obviously destroyed, but I thankfully had a loving pint of Rage and Love to help pick me up off the mat afterwards.

Montrait Muay Thai

Peter Montrait, owner and head instructor at Montrait Muay Thai, has been training in professional martial arts for nearly 20 years. He has the special distinction of being a registered “Kru,” an official Muay Thai instructor, recognized by the Sports Authority of Thailand. The owner of a 17-4 MMA fight record, Peter retired from fighting in 2012 due to repeated shoulder dislocations.

During the last 5 years, he has been teaching and programming Muay Thai courses, while educating himself further on things like the anatomy. It was only at the end of the summer in 2018 that he felt completely ready for the next plunge, and jumped at the opportunity that was presented to him: owning his own facility.

With classes offered for any skill level, along with boot camps and more focused sessions on pre-mobility and pads classes, Montrait Muay Thai is a friendly space in downtown Toronto that offers expert training in Muay Thai for all needs and levels. I got my ass kicked – but in a good way.

Check back next week when I’m Pairingwith… Eastbound Brewing Company!

Quick Links and Sources:

• FULL PAIRINGWITH… RAINHARD GALLERY
• OUTTAKES OF PAIRING PHOTOS
• Rainhard Brewing Company’s WEBSITE
• Bulletproof Love Necklaces
• O’Keeffe’s Company
• Montrait Muay Thai
• Blog TO, “How Toronto got the nickname Hogtown“
• Toronto Historical Association, “Junction Stockyards“
• Old Time Trains, “The Stockyard Story“
• Globe and Mail, “End of a chapter in Hogtown history after Toronto’s last pig plant shuts its doors“