Rouge River Brewing Company, in Markham, Ontario, has some pretty unique claims to fame. They are the first craft brewery in the city, of roughly 329,000 people, just outside of Toronto; they were one of only two Ontario breweries to win multiple gold medals at this year’s Canadian Brewing Awards and they are quickly being recognized as one of the premier sour beer brewers in the country.

Rouge River began five years ago as an idea between three people: Jordan Mills, Stephen Barato and Aldo Scopazzi. The three were big craft beer fans who always found themselves in Toronto for beer launches. One day they thought to themselves ‘why isn’t there something like this in Markham?’

That put them on a path to get serious about brewing. They invested in small system and in October of 2016, they opened Rouge River. Mills, the brewer among the group, traces his roots as a home brewer back to 2011 after working in marketing for Mill Street Brewery. At Mill Street, he really developed his interest for certain styles. Styles he began brewing at home and that can now be seen when visiting Rouge River. “There weren’t many IPAs back then,” said Mills. “It was the first beer (a double IPA) that got me excited. I started home-brewing to make the beers that I was exposed to and enjoyed.”

Now, brewing on a 1000-litre system, Mills has the ability to brew medium-sized batches that allow Rouge River to always have a diverse menu.

Mills calls Rouge River’s style very American, in the sense that it takes a lot of inspiration from West Coast IPAs and other hopped-forward beers. He notes they have also really gotten into New England style IPAs.

One thing you will always find on their taps is a sour beer, which has become their niche, something that happened almost by accident. “We always have at least one sour on tap. It’s funny because when we started, I didn’t really have any experience with sours. I think the novelty of it helped. Things are changing now but last summer there weren’t a lot of sours out there.”

Now, Rouge River has become known for their sours. On my visit, I had the chance to try five different ones. “We mostly do kettle sours, that are a quick turn around, and a few barrel-aged sours,” said Mills. “Especially for summer, sours are such a refreshing drink. You have the acidity, they are lower-alcohol and we typically are fruiting or dry-hopping them, which makes them even more refreshing.”

Their quality sours were recognized at the 2018 Canadian Brewing Awards where their Citra Apricot Sour took home a gold medal. “It was our standard kettle sour process, with a big addition of Citra hops and apricot pure being added right to the fermenter,” added Mills.

That wasn’t the only award they picked up. Their second came in the Black IPA category. “There are not a lot of black IPAs out there. I was inspired by what I thought one should be,” remembers Mills. “Ours was a 7.9 per cent, with a minimal touch of roast. It was a deceiving beer, while it was black in colour it had a light flavor. If you didn’t look at it, you probably wouldn’t know you were drinking a black IPA.”

While Mills says the recognition of the awards is always nice, it doesn’t necessarily translate into sales. He recalls winning the American Pale Ale category in 2017, but people were more interested in when their next sour was coming out.

Keeping up with tastes is just one of the challenges for Rouge River. Getting their beer into more local hands has been the other. While they are in a handful of bars in Markham, they would like to expand that. In addition, they are on numerous rotating taps in the city of Toronto. “It is an up hill battle, there is not much of a craft beer culture in Markham yet,” added Mills. “If you are looking for a bar that serves craft beer, no one really specializes in it. It has been an experience developing the market but it has been a slow and steady improvement.”

Currently, the best spot to get Rouge River is at the brewery. Rouge River’s goal is to build the taproom clientele and make it a community spot. By doing that they also ensure their customers are getting the freshest beer possible.

“Demand creates more demand,” said Mills. “The fresher your beer, the better it tastes and the better it sells. You have to manage output, if you are producing too much and it sits around it is not going to taste as good when someone buys it.”

If you are a fan of sour or West Coast style beers, checking out Rouge River is definitely worth the stop. The fact that this small brewery has already been recognized on the national scale three times in two years is impressive and it’s only a matter of time before they further develop the craft beer culture in Markham.

Cheers!

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