Brothers ‘fool around’ with new brewery
Beer business born in a basement set to open Friday in Cambridge
CAMBRIDGE — Keith and Wayne Saunders are the Cambridge brothers behind Jackass Brewery, which opens its craft beer doors on Friday at 4 p.m.
So, which one is the brand’s titular beer-brewing burro? Both actually.
“He’s the No. 1 jackass. I’ll come in No. 2 for that,” Keith Saunders said Thursday as he tidied up around the four-fermenter operation, with small saloon and seats, at Sheldon Drive and Conestoga Boulevard.
“That’s just something we always called each other growing up. We like to fool around and joke around. We just thought to do something different and be funny.”
The Galt-raised Saunders boys, who live two doors apart in south Cambridge, will have batches of an orange juicy India pale ale, an Irish red and a chocolate hazel nut porter ready for the grand opening. A cranberry hibiscus is on the way, too.
The brewery will open daily from 4 to 8 p.m. for now. There are no other staff, just Wayne and Keith, who had been brewing out of Wayne’s garage for
about three years. Before that, it was a basement operation.
“We enjoy the craft,” Keith said.
Now, after a year and a half of planning and work, they’re ready to open up in a little industrial plaza near Hespeler Road.
But they aren’t ready to ditch their day jobs for bray jobs at their new brewery.
Wayne, 42, will continue to work in building maintenance in Brantford. Keith, 39, will carry on with his windshield repair gig while the brothers take a crack at running a five-barrel, 600-litre system.
“It’s definitely a trick,” Keith said of the juggling act.
But it’s worth it for two siblings who enjoy a flavourful pint over the offerings of big beer purveyors.
“We like to taste our beer,” Keith said.
And based on the craft beer explosion around them, so do consumers.
Four Fathers Brewing will open soon across Highway 401 in Hespeler.
North Works Brewery is just over on Stafford Court. Barncat Artisan Ales is nearby on Industrial Road. Rhythm and Brews aims to open across from the Bishop Street potato chip factory by April. Grand River Brewing is down in Galt.
“People have finally decided that, when they want to drink beer, they want something with flavour that’s different, right?” Keith said.
People have finally decided that, when they want to drink beer, they want something with flavour. KEITH SAUNDERS Jackass Brewery