About Us

The Peacemaker Story

Peacemaker Brewing Company – Our Story

It all started as a dream. Todd Reardon had been brewing his own beer for years out of his garage in Syracuse and dreamed of how great it would be to have his own brewery.  It also started with love.  Love of a band from Tempe, Arizona.  Todd is a huge fan of the band Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers.  The idea to open a brewery inspired by the music of the band was born during a “backyard bbq” concert the Band held in Todd & Stephani’s backyard.  As plans began, Todd decided to incorporate the bands logo into his logo with beer names also inspired by the band’s songs.  Todd had designed the logo and reach out for the band’s permission.  He had it.  The dream, the plan, the desire.  And someday, he would pursue a brewery, someday…

Someday happened a lot quicker than he anticipated.  After speaking with a lawyer about trademarking the name, Todd was told that if he didn’t use the name commercially within a year, he would lose the trademark.  Not to worry however, his lawyer also represented a brewery by the name of Twisted Rail, and they were selling their equipment from their original location as a package deal; a turn-key brewery.  When a brewery falls in your lap, someday becomes now, and your dream of opening a brewery becomes reality. 

As we moved toward the opening set for November 11th,  a friend of Todd’s asked him if he knew there was a connection between the name Peacemaker and Canandaigua.  Just a short distance from our original spot, there is a plaque commemorating this connection. On November 11th, 1794 there was treaty signed between the US Government and The Grand Counsel of the Six Nation of Indians called the Pickering/Canandaigua Treaty calling for peace between the groups. This treaty is also known to many as the Peacemaker Treaty.  On November 11th, 2016 Todd and his wife Stephani opened Peacemaker Brewing Company.  It was also Veteran’s Day (Todd is a veteran of the US Navy). The stars have aligned, and Peacemaker began to build their reputation as the neighborhood brewery.

It was the perfect day to open.  The small brewery of 750 square feet at 20 Pleasant street in downtown Canandaigua had a small staff, a three-barrel brewing system, 7 beers, and a lot of enthusiasm.

There was trivia night on Thursday’s, a mug club, and music which all continues to this day. Music has always been a huge part of the Peacemaker Brewing Company story.  Besides being inspired by his favorite band, Peacemaker also began featuring live music.  Weekends and some weekdays you could find a great local artist performing live in front of “The Tanks”.

Peacemaker Brewing has since moved about a half mile away from its tiny original location in the old train station. Now located at 39 Coach Street in Canandaigua, this has become our home & “Chosen Spot” with a 7 barrel brewing system & a pretty impressive outdoor space that is often filled with people during the summer. Tuesday nights we have a dedicated group of runners that run year round no matter the weather, on a typical Wednesday night we have Xtreme Music Bingo, & Thursday night we have trivia, live music happens on Friday, Saturday & sometimes Sunday out in our Beer Garden year round. In the late fall, winter & spring you’ll find this music in our heated tent.

We are different, and we plan to stay that way. Come into our still small brewery on any day of the week, and most people seem to know each other. Often, they don’t actually know each other when they step in, but by the end of their visit, their circle of friends has just grown. We want to remain that special neighborhood brewery, a place where people stop in for a pint of what’s new or an old favorite and get engaged in the music or the comradery and stay a while.

We have a small kitchen & we are always trying to improve our offerings based on the equipment & limited space we have.

If your reading this, you are here & we thank you for coming, we hope you enjoy yourself, tell your friends & come back to see us soon!

Cheers!