So Cheers, and thank you for your spirit of perseverance.
The Extra Mile IPA was crafted with the conscious beer drinker in mind. After the early success of the flagship Trail Blazer Golden Ale, we knew our next beer needed to be something bursting with the hoppy flavour our palettes craved. We took our favourite parts of our favourite IPAs - the Citra and Centennial hop flavours - and stripped out all the stuff we didn’t like: the heaviness, the high sugar content used to balance the ever increasing hop additions and the high alcohol content. What we were left with blew us away: a crisp, full-bodied, and ultra crushable light IPA.
After a few successful backcountry gear-tests with our friends, we knew we were onto something. The Extra Mile is an easy drinking beer that’s difficult to put down, but at only 99 calories and 3.5%, you really don’t have to! Now the Extra Mile is available at a growing number of LCBO’s across the province, and has become a fan favourite in our community.
We are particularly proud of our first non-alcoholic option to hit the market - our Dry Run Pale Ale. It was time, we knew, to develop a beer for the athlete and adventurer who doesn’t want the alcohol, but still wants to scratch that unique itch that can only be satisfied by a crisp, cold beer. After a few different iterations, we knew we had something special when we canned our first batch of the Dry Run. It’s distinct beer flavour comes from a unique blend of Citra, Centennial and Azacca hops, as well as organic barley, Newfoundland sea salts, and oats.
Uncompromising on quality ingredients and bursting with electrolytes, Dry Run has become a daily go-to for us at Rally HQ - a welcome addition to the roster and the perfect answer to staying social while keeping fresh and clear. Dry Run inspired the “all pop, no wobble” ethos that we have come to love at Rally. If you haven’t yet converted, we suggest giving it a shot. We will happily deliver it directly to your doorstep.
“Learn By Doing” has always been deeply entrenched in our company’s culture - more out of necessity than anything else. When a group of people who know nothing about the beer business set out to create a beer brand, you have to figure it out on the fly. This approach has led to many missteps, but we always take a “fail-forward” approach. This is particularly true when it comes to our can design. I’ll never forget the first time we saw our cans on the shelf at the LCBO: An order came in and we rushed to the store to see our beer alongside the many wonderful craft beers of Ontario - our first “we’ve made it” moment. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find it anywhere… This was because, unbeknownst to us, LCBOs merchandised their cans in the cardboard trays. Our beloved “Rally” logo was covered perfectly by the brown cardboard tray in the fridge, leaving only a dark green, wholly un-eyecatching top of the can for shoppers to see. Back to the drawing board…
It was a matter of weeks before we’d unveiled our brand-new design - the one you see today. Clean, bright new cans, the logo appropriately moved to the top-half of the can and new eye-catching coloured trays. We also took the opportunity to rename our Golden Ale, and the other beers that were coming down the innovation pipeline. Trail Blazer, Extra Mile, and Dry Run were all born with the rebrand, and we can’t wait to continue to introduce more products that similarly reflect our adventurous and active community.
We loved our old cans, and they will always hold a special place in our hearts, but we feel our new and improved design symbolizes the modern, innovative nature of our company, and it brings our whole family of better-for-you beers together, dressed for success.
This year also brought us our first major sports partnership with Spartan Canada, the country’s biggest obstacle course racing company. Spartan Races do more than test you physically and mentally: they reveal your true, unbreakable potential one epic obstacle at a time. Spartan and Rally are a perfect fit. What better way to celebrate testing your mettle, breaking a sweat, and pushing your limits than with a refreshing electrolyte beer. The can-do attitude brought by the Spartan Team, along with their enthusiasm for getting people outside, breaking a sweat together - we were all-in from the get-go.
Our partnership kicked off right in our own backyard, at Blue Mountain outside of Collingwood, Ontario. Over the course of the weekend, 7,000 athletes of all skill levels competed on a gruelling, muddy course designed specifically to push them to their limits. Rally was proud to be their reward, and we were thrilled to see so many amazing individuals toasting their achievement at the Rally Beer Garden. Team Rally was even lucky enough to participate in one race, where Diesel persevered over Spencer and Matt in a close finish on the 5km/20 obstacle course. We made lots of friends, shared lots of laughs, and had an incredible first event. We look forward to many more events with Spartan in 2022 as we settle into our role as the Official Beer Partner of Spartan Canada. Thanks to the team at Spartan for being on this journey with us!
We couldn’t be more excited to have partnered with Farm Boy in 2021. Known for its exceptional product and particular attention to local vendors, Farm Boy has grown its footprint significantly throughout Ontario in recent years. We were honoured to be welcomed onto their shelves early in 2021, and it continues to be an incredible partner to us.
The amount of people we hear from that discovered our beers at their local Farm Boy is incredible. Both our Trail Blazer Golden Ale and our Extra Mile IPA are available in all licensed Farm Boy locations across the province, so next time you’re grocery shopping for the best ingredients and food products in town, be sure to wander through the beer section and grab a few cans of your favorite better-for-you beer!
This year, our partners at Don’t Mess With The Don outdid themselves once again. Leading the charge on preventing Metrolinx from unabashedly destroying the Don Valley and other sensitive ravine spaces for their own gain, DMWTD has worked tirelessly to protect the urban greenspaces that we rely on so heavily.
This year, we have worked with them on several trash clean-ups, awareness rallys, and invasive species removals all geared towards protecting the Don Valley ravine system that we love so much. Together, we have removed hundreds of bags of trash, removed countless pounds of harmful invasive species, and planted native gardens that will ensure local plant and animal species can find a safe habitat along the shores of the Don River.
Follow along at DMWTD’s Facebook Page to learn more about upcoming events, and keep an eye on Rally’s instagram to volunteer with us at clean up events in 2022!
In addition to Don’t Mess With the Don, we had the pleasure of working with incredible organizations this year like Jack.Org, Movember, Protect Our Winters, Amici Camping Charity, Camp Ooch, Trails Youth Initiatives, Charlie’s Freewheels, Brown Girl Outdoor World, and many more!
Once again, from all of us here at Rally Beer Company, THANK YOU to each and every one of you for keeping us going this year. We have lots of good things in store for 2022, and we are grateful to have you along for the ride. Stay safe, be well, and all the best as you kick off 2022.
Cheers to a great year, and we’ll see you on the trails in 2022!
-Team Rally
