Chronicle: Head Brewer James Gorry and the story so far

By Will McGuirk

James Gorry always seems to have something going on. He is a central figure in Bowmanville's music scene and its craft beer community. Bands he has been in include the Stone Sparrows, Billard Blossom and Tijuana Jesus. He was also involved in Manantler Craft Brewery, hey, beer and bands, kinda a given and given the kinda dude Gorry is, its no surprise he's off again with a new venture, Chronicle Brewing Company. The brewery's Grand Opening is Saturday Apr 28, with beers, food and tunes on tap. Jim and his co-founders are the kind of creative entrepreneur we like at Slowcity.ca so we asked him, What's the story Jimmy Gorry?

SC: You have had many projects, businesses, bands, and thats just what I know about! Where does this drive to continuously create come from? Who inspired you to look to yourself to make your own future?

JG: "I think the drive comes from just wanting to be happy. I’m happy when I get to create and I’ve been blessed with a set of interests and skill that allow me to create all the time now., I wouldn’t be in the fortunate situation that I’m in currently without my new pals and coworkers Ted and Allan. I do have an unwavering urge to create and I love to create in this community. I moved away thinking that’s what I needed to do, but it’s not the same. There will always be unfinished business in Durham Region for people like me. I think we’re all just getting started out here." 

SC: Where are you located and why did you choose that location?, as an extension why did you choose to open in Bowmanville rather than any other municipality in the area?

JG: "We are located at 422 Lake Rd, Unit 3 in Bowmanville, Ontario. We chose this location because it’s an area of town that isn’t seeing too much beyond industrial park type businesses operate. We placed ourselves in such a place not only because of the flexibility for our operation needs and future plans but because this area is in fact already undergoing some changes and we want to be part of those changes. We are in the Bowmanville waterfront neighbourhood more or less and believe this will be a nice pocket to be within an expanding community. With other great unique businesses operating down here already amidst the industrial warehouses and being so close to 2 different highway exits we thought it could be a great place to plant roots. Sometimes you have to stray from the path to discover something really great."

SC: Who else is involved with you on this venture and how did that business relationship come about?

JG: "I was actually brought into the project by an excellent fella by the name of Ted Paulsen, who is the owner/founder along with his partner Rachel. From the get go I could tell he was a really kind and smart dude. I was living out in Vancouver for the better part of last year and while I was there I made a point of connecting with him when I heard he planned to open a brewery in Bowmanville. Those talks eventually lead to an agreement that I would head back after Christmas and join up with the team as Head Brewer and when I joined the team he had lined me up with one of his best friends Allan Cowling who was hired to be Assistant Brewer. Allan and I hit it off much like Ted and I did. We all come from slightly different worlds but super quickly found that we all had some things in common. We love funk music, sci-fi, and crafting delicious beers."  

“I believe the thirst for craft beer in Durham is not about tasty beers alone, but about people coming together and feeling a new sense of community and with so many great breweries around now, it’s just another good reason reason to be in Durham Region. - James Gorry”

SC: Chronicle is an interesting name, why did you choose that?

JG: "Well it started off as something different and it was only recently that we made a pivot with fresh banding ahead of our opening. The name Chronicle Brewing comes after trying to find a way to express a central idea of what our current team was passionate about. Which is stories. Ted, who is the owner of the company, is a fanatic of fantasy role playing games, sci fi, and mythology. Myself and Assistant Brewer Allan share a lot of those interests and we all agreed that at the root of all of that is that we all really love stories. You can find valuable stories in everything , including beer! So we believe the name Chronicle gives us a vehicle to put our pre existing passions into even further to continue telling those stories. Whether it be about a werewolf, a Norse god, or a very short plumber with a Moustache in red overalls. There are so many great stories that are fun to share and if we can pair that with our passion for crafting beers than our jobs just got even better than they already were!"

SC: Is this just expanding with the growing craft beer market or is it because you can offer something other breweries can't? 

JG: "I like to think every brewery has something different to offer. A lot of Brewers share a passion for projecting character into their beers. This is something that is the same for filmmakers, musicians, and artists of other mediums. When you do something you love for work, you are more willing to put yourself out there creatively and this is very commonly the case with the men and women of the Brewing industry. We’re all artists in different ways that truly love what we do and we all have a different place in the current wave of craft beer. It’s a beautiful tide that allows us to operate in an incredible industry that is very much reared on its own community of contributors. Very much like music, art, filmmaking, etc.. So While that is a good question, I liken it to asking “why more music? Why more art?...” to sit down and witness someone else’s creativity and passion and get a glimpse into their story can teach you a lot about the human experience. The urge to be seen and heard and create and share your creations with others. I believe the thirst for craft beer in Durham is not about tasty beers alone, but about people coming together and feeling a new sense of community and with so many great breweries around now, it’s just another good reason reason to be in Durham Region."

SC: What will your signature brew be?

JG: "We’ve currently got a pretty dynamic range of 6 beers in our fermenters. I imagine by the time we open on April 28 we’ll have a couple extras. As of right now we’re planning to remain market flexible and kind of throw some of our favourites at the wall and see what sticks with customers."

Kinda like Gorry's approach to life it seems, try it all and see what sticks.

Get your Irish on: Five craft beers to help celebrate St. Patricks Day

By Glenn Hendry
Guest Writer

'Tis almost St. Patrick's Day, when everyone is Irish, if just for the day. But rather than adding green dye to your beer (please don't), there are a few readily available beers - many made right here in Durham Region - that can make your St. Patrick's Day experience just a little more authentic.

From Whitby brewers Brock Street we have their Irish Red, a traditional red ale that was the 2016 Ontario Brewing Award winner in its category. Darker than most red ales, this beer has plenty of rich caramel notes with toasted malts and a bit of smoke.
-available at the brewery and The Beer Store

Whitby is also the home of 5 Paddles Brewing and their Shillelagh O'Sullivan is billed as "the easiest drinking stout that exists." This dry Irish stout is brimming with coffee and roasted malts, with some nuttiness as well.
-available at the brewery

Porters have a long history in Ireland and Second Wedge in Uxbridge makes a very good one: Rainmaker Porter. Rainmaker is a pitch-black porter with that classic burnt toast and roasted malt aroma, with notes of dark chocolate and coffee as well. -available at brewery

Manantler in Bowmanville makes a very popular root beer porter called Root of All Evil that boasts big aromas of chocolate and, of course, root beer. It's spicy, sweet and bitter at the same time. It is currently sold out but we are hopeful of its imminent return.
- check brewery for availability.

Strong Patrick is a little stronger than most Irish red ales at 6.7 per cent. From Ottawa-area brewer Beau's, this brew brings a stiff malty backbone to the table, along with toffee, toasted malt, caramel and a touch of booze from a short spell in Jameson whiskey barrels.
-available at the LCBO.

Napanee Brewery Tasting at Brew Wizards Thursday Sep 14

The Napanee Beer Company, winner of the 2017 Ontario Brewing Awards' New Brewery of the Year, will be dropping by Brew Wizards Board Game Cafe for a tasting session.  Sampling goes 6 to 11 p.m.

Brew Wizards are celebrating their one year anniversary Thursday Aug 24 2017

Every time, yes every time I visit Brew Wizards at Celina/Bruce in Oshawa, every time I visit the board game cafe/ bar it is busy. The Brew Crew are celebrating one year in business and doing so with a week of special offers beginning Thursday Aug. 24. But as it is 2017 we have video now (pretty rad fun video too) - well they have - so less words, just press play ->

Is it a record label or label record? 5 Paddles team up with Rory Taillon for Jukebox

Beer and music pair well together with many breweries hosting in-house sessions as promo for both products and players. An enterprising craft brewery in Whitby is hopping up to the platter however and launching its own label record; no, not a record label, a label record.

The label on Jukebox stout from Five Paddles, is a turntable-ready 45 single pressed onto a detachable picture card which can be played on most record players. It will be available Saturday, Mar 4, 2017 on-site at the brewery. The track is “Jukebox” by indie rockers Rory Taillon and the Old Souls who will perform at the afternoon launch of the record label, sorry, label record party.

Taillon, who has played 5 Paddles often, says he was approached last year about the idea of a having one of his songs issued by Five Paddles.

“They'd heard about the technology for the label,” he says, “and wanted to give it a shot. They asked me if I was interested and I of course was on board right away.”

Spencer McCormack, 5 Paddles co-founder and Pierre Maheux, house staff

Five Paddles co-founder Spencer McCormack says they were inspired to create a label record by the packaging craftiness of other Ontario brewers, Beau’s and Radical Road. They knew too Highlander Brew in South River had released ‘Ox-Blood Ale’ which came with flexi-disc by Plague Vendor.

The idea of issuing a record as a label was too good to pass up by five guys who have grown their business by following their own beer gut.

“We are built around doing whatever we want,” says McCormack, “We are all brewers here at 5 Paddles and when it's your turn to brew, you brew whatever you want. If our response to ‘Wanna release a beer with a label that is a 45?’ was anything other than a high five, we'd have to wonder what the hell we are doing running a brewery.”

McCormack, Mike Bray, Ian Mills, JP Tibensky and Ed Woods began brewing what they liked three years ago in an 950 square foot industrial space in south Whitby. They had all met at a homebrewers event and take their name from the mash paddles used in the beer-brewing process. Five Paddles sold out of their three initial batches in the first four days. They have since moved to a far bigger space, almost five times the size of the original and have hired four staff. Five if you count Taillon.

“Rory is the only musician who has ever played at 5 Paddles. He was a regular at the brewery for a while and one of our employees saw him perform on Rogers and came into work and told us, you know that guy with the huge beard who loves (their signature beer) Midnight Paddler? He is amazing. We had him play at our two year anniversary party. Two songs in he covered “Dead” and “Lovely” by Tom Waits and that was it. It's rare for me to meet someone who loves Tom Waits like I love Tom Waits. You don't need to do much after that to stay in my good books but Rory is also crazy talented, his voice is huge and he is a hustler,” says McCormack.

Taillon says the song “Jukebox” is from his album It’s Not Black & White.

“It talks about drinking, but it's mostly a song written from an angry performer being heckled at a bar gig,” he says.

He’s less likely to be heckled at a bar these days as he has found a niche touring breweries instead. McCormack calls him the Official Musician of Durham Craft Breweries. His current tour includes dates at Collective Arts Brewery in Hamilton, the Second Wedge Brewery in Uxbridge and P.E.I. Brewing Co. in Charlottetown.

Although Five Paddles products are available through the LCBO Jukebox is limited to a batch of 11,000 to be sold on site. There are no plans to feature other artists on the label.

“I'd like to do more artists but, the truth is we love Rory. . . he is our guy,” says McCormack.