From an experience…
Asking Matt Reiner, co-owner and brew master at Rorschach Brewing Company, to define “craft beer lifestyle,” prompted a response that began this way: “Someone who does this, I think, does this because they’re looking for an experience. They really want to try something new and experiment.”
Opening on April 23, 2017, Rorschach Brewing Company is the result of years of experimenting with brewing processes for Matt and his three partners, Chris Ristevski, Mohan Pandit and Ben Ragan.
…to the Rorschach Brewing Company experiment
Walking into Rorschach Brewing Company is coming into a very comfortable, yet curious space. You’re seemingly walking into a house, but with a front yard that’s been converted into a patio full of picnic tables. (Note: the patio will get tons of sun in the summer – I wished it wasn’t March!)
Enter the front door, and it’s somewhat like a very trendy hotel waiting area with a high ceiling and skylight. Like a hotel waiting area, except the front check-in counter is a bar, and there’s a large, grab-and-go beer fridge beside it with shelves of Rorschach swag across from there.
This long, narrow space towards a short hallway plays out like a channel, directing traffic towards the dining area. Here, picnic tables divide the room in two: on the west side, a banquette with tables and chairs; on the east side, 4-top tables with chairs looking out to the park next door through a series of large windows.
The dining area looks at the brewery’s production area to the south side of the room. And then there’s upstairs.
Down a long hallway, you can find yourself on the rooftop patio with its own bar. It’s a little oasis, tucked away from the traffic on Eastern Ave, and shaded by tall trees that hide the patio from the city surrounding it. (See the full Rorschach photo gallery here.)
The community…
Located between Leslie St and Coxwell Ave on Eastern Ave, Rorschach Brewing Company resides in a building that was originally built as a house in 1917. There was then an extension added – and then another one. It’s a unique space, I’ll repeat.
Residing there prior to Rorschach, Le Papillon on the Park was a fine dining restaurant and wine bar. Rorschach now utilizes the kitchen for its own full food menu: breweries with a full kitchen can sometimes be hard to find, so take note.
Rorschach Brewing Company has a close relationship with the Leslieville Farmers’ Market who spends many weekends of the summer in Jonathon Ashbridge Park, next door to the brewery. When the market’s shed was broken into last year, Rorschach held a fundraiser for them, helping to build back up what had been stolen.
…and the craft beer community
Like many breweries on the east side of Toronto, Rorschach Brewing Company is a part of the Toronto East Brewery Collective. It’s a group made up of ten founding breweries on the east side that come together to accomplish projects they would not be able to complete on their own.
Brewery tours, both by bus or by running group, are planned throughout the year, with stops at a variety of the breweries involved. Check the Beer Bus for schedules of bus tours, or Culture Athletics for their latest “Brews Cruise” run.
The people of Rorschach Brewing Company
I had a chance for a brief chat with Violet Hill, a bartender at Rorschach Brewing Company. She got into craft beer because a previous job had her go for her Cicerone® (beer sommelier) certification: “That job was terrible, so I work at Rorschach now,” she informed me.
If the job got you into craft beer and sent you towards your Cicerone® certification, then it wasn’t entirely “terrible,” Violet, I must say – at least they got that right. But then again, I’m totally convinced that Rorschach Brewing Company is the better spot to work.
She provided me with a quick response to describe a ‘craft beer lifestyle’: “Socially acceptable alcoholism.” I then requested she pair her favourite Rorschach beer. Her pairings reflected her sense of a craft beer lifestyle.
“My favourite Rorschach beer is the ‘God Complex,’ a super saison at 9% ABV. I’d pair it with the movie, ‘The Great Gatsby,’ because it’s a fancy, boozy beer for wealthy party-goers. And again, I’d pair it with a little black dress because it suits every occasion, and makes you feel fancy.”
To me, those pairings scream “socially acceptable alcoholism.” Nicely done, Violet; nicely done.
Getting into it with Matt
I sat with Matt Reiner for a more engaged conversation about Rorschach Brewing Company, their history and ‘craft beer lifestyle.’
I wanted some basic info from Matt first, though, and he happily provided the story behind the Rorschach name. The crew of four owners started out home brewing in 2006. When, in 2015, they had made the decision to “go all in” and open their own brewery, they sat thinking of a name for their beer, starring at a pint.
The head on one of their pints dissipated to a point that looked as if there was some sort of rorschach ink blot floating on top of the beer. Joking about the image appearing to them, they suddenly recognized that a rorschach can in fact be a perfect metaphor for beer drinking.
A good beer is always good because it manages to balance its flavours. A rorschach, of course, is a mirrored image, perfectly balanced. The metaphor, though, plays out even better with the rorschach test itself: the point of the test it to extract very specific information about the person taking the test. Anything can been seen in the rorschach; everyone sees a different image. Similarly, everyone has their own impression of the taste of any given beer.
And back to the response
A creative name like Rorschach’s spurs the question of its origin. I loved the story, but then I loved Matt’s work to define a ‘craft beer lifestyle’ even more.
Experimenting with experience was how Matt began his response. He went on to include further insight. The experimentation is one that revolves around style – a craft beer lifestyle is not one that sticks to any brand, but once a style is determined as pleasing, then trying every possible rendition by as many breweries as possible is part of the fun.
One who engages in such a lifestyle likes to judge beer and know how to judge it properly. It’s also about being local and individual: “Craft beer is not a Big Mac,” Matt stated.
Perhaps the best part of his answer, in my opinion, was the addition of noting craft beer’s ability to create community and be a “hub” for it. “It’s the space between work and home, where we all come together to unwind.”
As the discussion itself began to unwind into more friendly banter, this was the moment I had been waiting for. Matt hooked me up with three of Rorschach’s beers as I said my goodbyes, and then I took off to have some fun pairing them.
Pairingwith… Rorschach Brewing Company’s “Reminiscence” Mexican Lager
The “Reminiscence” Mexican Lager is a light and refreshing offering that is available year round from Rorschach Brewing Company. It is also a wonderful pairing with this typewriter from Toronto Typewriters.
The malty-sweet, crisp lager is the sort of clean flavour profile and mouthfeel that both keeps you coming back for more and keeps your head straight. It’s slightly floral aromas and crackery taste is the kind of beverage that, as its name suggests, will keep a confident connection to your memory. In other words, its friendly 4.9% ABV shouldn’t cost you your night to forgetfulness.
Looking back, there are a few items that scream vintage. This delightfully vibrant baby blue typewriter is a perfect throwback to a more romantic writing experience. It’s the type of experience that has you more connected to the tool you use to produce; and one where every stroke of a key provides the specific DNA of that particular machine to the paper you write upon. When one looks back at the work produced, one will reminisce about the typewriter that they used to execute that work, as the typewriter used is one with that work: “the message is the medium.”
Reminiscence’s bright yellow can art, sleek and sexy, pops wonderfully against the background of the baby blue typewriter (and add some pink paper to really create your own rainbow!). As I scratch my head, searching for the correct words, it’s my memory I rely on write. With Rorschach’s Reminiscence lager in tow, I remain refreshed and clear-headed, ready to start striking typewriter keys.
Clickity-clack – clackity-click; crackery-crisp: I recall – now bring this beer to my lips.
Toronto Typewriters
Toronto Typewriters is on a mission aimed at “bringing back the art of communication” – “the medium is the message!”
Fuelled on a philosophy of the analog, Toronto Typewriters pushes a beautiful and old technology back into the fray. With no “delete” button and no “un-post” option, the work completed on a typewriter is one that works for a stream of consciousness; an authentic expression of thought as the thinking itself is processed.
As your thoughts begin to fill the paper in front of you on the typewriter, an instant gratification of witnessing that take place is inspiring and pushes for further creativity.
This form of writing has been making a recent resurgence, with films like 2018’s “California Typewriter,” a documentary featuring avid typewriter users, such as Tom Hanks and John Mayer, making a case for the typewriter’s place in today’s culture. Toronto Typewriters has been dong this for a while now.
Chris Edmondson, the founder of Toronto Typewriters, has been interested in how the mechanics of things work – taking items apart and putting them back together again – from a very young age. When he came across a collection of old typewriters at a garage sale many years ago, he fell in love with aesthetic, history and mechanics of the archaic items in front of him.
A fascinating side of this for Chris is that typewriters are no longer manufactured, so getting your hands on one and breathing life back into something that has remained dormant for as long as 50 or even 90 years is incredibly gratifying. One can’t do this to a cell phone: once it’s dead, it’s dead. The analog form of a typewriter, on the other hand, is something that can always be reworked and adjusted back into working condition (with enough sweat, blood and tears).
Chris puts his sweat, blood and tears into the Toronto Typewriter’s project. The project is one that covers everything typewriter: from sales of typewriters and their accessories through repairs and rentals for props in film, photography, television and events, Toronto Typewriters covers everything to do with typewriters.
Typewriter and ink ribbons can be purchased directly on the Toronto Typewriters website as well as at all three of the Arts Market locations.
A passion project for Chris, he loves the typewriter. In his words, “[since] they aren’t manufactured anymore it creates a lot of interesting challenges which I love! I can’t afford muscle cars so they give me that satisfaction.” Most of us can’t afford muscle cars, Chris, but I might be willing to start writing rough drafts for this blog on one of your typewriters: they’re beautiful, and I don’t think my fingers can resist.
Pairingwith… Rorschach Brewing Company’s “Hedonism” Raspberry Sour IPA
THE POST THAT HAD TO COME DOWN…
I provide here an edited version of the text from the original pairing, but the picture did not get the approval of the artist. I speak about this further below…
The “Hedonism” raspberry sorbet sour IPA from Rorschach Brewing Company is part of a series produced regularly by the brewery. While not necessary always available, there’s a very good chance at least one rendition is around at the brewery when you visit.
The fruity beer is a funky pairing with a mural painted in downtown Toronto. I’ve focused specifically on the poker playing fish in the mural to really emphasize the luck one hopes to have living any sort of hedonistic lifestyle.
The aqua blues and green grass of the mural are wonderful contrasts to the opaque, deep purply-pink colour of the sour IPA. Packed with raspberry puree, the beer slaps the drinker in the face with big, tart juice flavour. With its creamy mouthfeel, balanced taste and mildly dry finish, Hedonism delivers pleasure Epicurus would approve.
Playing poker involves an element of clinging to the belief, no matter how many hands don’t seem to go your way, that you will extract enjoyment (i.e., poker chips) from the players around you. One that sits there in this state, believing they are top “dawg” at the table, but really continuing to fund everyone else’s enjoyment is known, in the poker world, as a “fish.” A table full of fish playing poker is one table that is going to bounce the pleasure all over the place. It’s one table I’d certainly call “hedonistic.”
With luck on your side, enjoyment is sure to come your way; and with a Hedonism sour IPA from Rorschach Brewing Company in your hands, make no mistake that the pleasure will tickle your eyes, nose and mouth.
Pour a glass; take a big gulp; but don’t dive into the waters if you’re just going to be a “fish”: enjoyment’s in the glass, but not at the table unless you’re a “dawg.”
The artist
To my utter surprise, the artist did not want to be featured on the blog. They felt that their work was being “exploited” to sell a beer. I reached out to them more than a week in advance of the post, and then again earlier the week of the post – but no response. So I posted… And then the artist started crying to me about the post.
Quite ridiculous, considering most of the responses to the post focused on the artwork and ignored the beer. Quite ridiculous, considering I work to promote both sides of the pairing equally in the post.
The idea of the blog is to celebrate creative, passionate people doing the things they love. I intended to celebrate this artist’s work, and extend my experience with it to my audience, many of whom do not live in Toronto where they can see it.
Quite ridiculous, considering the artist is a graffiti artist: if you don’t want your work to be used publicly, then make it in a private space, I’d say. Quite ridiculous, considering one of the most recent Instagram posts to feature the artist’s work promoted Forever 21 and Mickey Mouse at the same time. I guess good beer just isn’t in this artist’s diet.
I say that, but then the artist did tell me (in a round about way, albeit) that he would have been happy if the beer was a Pilsner Urquell. A wonderful beer, to say the least, but not an item I’m likely going to pair anytime soon.
It’s more work than I would like to admit to create all of this. To create it and then have someone accuse me of wrong-doing and insist that I delete my work (when I am trying to celebrate their work) is, simply, a kick in the groin. I didn’t have to delete it either. The artist really has no control over that work.
To avoid some silly escalation to lord knows where (and here I was more concerned about Rorschach Brewing Company than I was about PairingwithBeer), I respected the artist’s wishes and took the post down. Very unfortunate, as it was a REALLY great photo! All I can say at this point is, “Oh well (and fuck that artist)!”
The rest of us still enjoy good beer – and I’ll NEVER do a pairing with Forever 21 nor Mickey Mouse like this artist was evidently ok with… I promise you all that one.
Pairingwith… Rorschach Brewing Company’s “Malevolent Benevolence” Imperial Stout w/ Molé
The “Malevolent Benevolence” is an imperial stout series, so one version is often (but not guaranteed to be) available at the brewery. The version I have is made with molé, a traditional Mexican sauce.
This stout is also an acute pairing with this shirt from the Stuntin clothing line. The name of the beer, of course, can be translated to mean “having a wish to do evil within an intent for kindness.” The paradox here is given body in the Stuntin design: the character of Death consoles with the words, “Don’t worry, baby, everything will turn out alright.” The kicker, obviously, is the heart-eyed sunglasses Death wears while he consoles.
Malevolent Benevolence is a big mouthful of creamy dark chocolate. I don’t think I’ve ever tasted a beer as chocolatey as this one. Hints of vanilla, espresso, dried fruit and nuts come to a finish that is mildly bitter and comfortably burnt. If “everything will turn out alright” in hell, one, indeed, would probably describe that as being “comfortably burnt.”
Wearing the Stuntin shirt puts one’s own sarcasm on display. The shirt sends a message to any onlooker that you who wears the shirt is someone that is probably an optimist with a solid sense of realism. It’s a position that comes with a certain smoothness, navigating the ups and downs of the world with a positive outlook, but careful and conscious – a balanced outlook.
Similarly, the imperial stout is balanced with sweet and bitter, and it’s mouthfeel is one of utter smoothness. It’s a delicious stout, better served only slightly chilled. The kind deliciousness, though, is one that contains an inherent danger: the beer’s 11% ABV. But, “Don’t worry, baby, everything will turn out alright.”
Strut the street with this Stuntin shirt, and crack a bottle of Malevolent Benevolence: both you and your onlookers will have a smirk on your faces in no time.
Stuntin
Stuntin is a clothing brand owned and ran by Mike Scarth. Mike began printing tshirts for the band he was in out of the Toronto printing shop he owns, Astro Screen Printing. Astro currently prints for many well-established brands, and is capable of high quality work, which they make affordable for their many customers. The Stuntin offerings are similarly of high quality.
When Mike’s band broke up, he needed a creative outlet. He put his printing shop and skills to new use, and began printing his own designs. Inspired by tattoo art, Mike enjoys working with tattoo artists on new designs, and the majority of the Stuntin designs do resemble the sort of images one typically thinks of when one thinks of tattoos. Fun, with a little attitude, are the designs that Stuntin produces.
While Mike lives and works in Toronto, he is a serious Boston Bruins fan. The point of this blog is to help promote makers like Mike, but that last point may hurt his cred in TO, I fear… I do like to try to tell the maker’s story though, rather than simply talk about a brand, so I feel it’s important to mention these idiosyncratic points about the person behind the brand.
I also both empathize with Mike, while also empathizing with Leaf fans. I’m a Habs fan living in Toronto, so I feel Mike’s pain of being surrounded by “beLeafers,” but I also feel the Leaf fans here, as the Bruins are bigger rivals to my Habs than are the Leafs. Meh – neither team has much on my Habs anyways… 😉
Mike works the day at the Astro shop, and then spends his evenings working on the Stuntin brand and designs. When he isn’t working (and not watching Bruins games), he spends as much time as possible travelling. The day prior to publishing this article in fact, Mike took off to Thailand for three weeks. Bon voyage, good sir!
Stuntin is often found participating in pop-up shops and flea markets around Toronto. On a regular basis though, you can find Mike’s work at two of the Arts Market‘s locations (846 College St, and 790 Queen St E), and, of course, on the Stuntin website.
See you next week when I’m Pairingwith… Left Field Brewery!
Quick Links
- FULL RORSCHACH PHOTO GALLERY
- PAIRING OUTTAKES
- Rorschach Brewing Company WEBSITE
- Toronto Typwriters
- Stuntin
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