Niagara by the Barrel
Craft brewing is an interesting practice that has been on the rise for the past few years, both as an industry, and a hobby. It is the chance to experiment and see which formulations work and are trend worthy. Flavours, alcohol, colours, techniques all come together in an amalgamation of creativity and skill to craft something that can help celebrate a season, holiday, or help in enjoying the moment.
Those lucky and prepared enough, have chance to pursue a successful entrepreneurial endeavours and become industry bound.
Craft-beer lovers might find themselves overwhelmed by all of the technical aspects involved with producing their favourite brews. Knowing which grains to use, how much yeast to add, and even the quality of the water that must be used when formulating your beer will make a world of difference to the end result. Luckily, a new course offered by Niagara College is offering all of that education in a compressed 16-month-long course, making it possible to craft a career out of the art of brewing.
The Brew Master and Brewery Operations Management Course opened to the public in 2010 and has since seen an overwhelming amount of interest, says as Jon Downing, professor and brew master. “Each year for the first three years, we had close to 1,200 applicants for only 24 open positions,” says Downing. It showed him and the administration how much of a need there was for a program like this, “and one thing that Niagara College is known for is applied learning,” he adds.
The course places students in the school’s own brewery to learn about workplace health and safety practices, how to identify different beers and ingredients by using only taste and smell, as well as budgeting, marketing, and of course, learning the recipes taught to them by the brew master.
For brewing technician Roy Bang, a graduate of the course and assistant to the brew master, the vast wealth of information he learned in the program was a shock. Before he arrived, he just wanted to learn how to make beer. He did end up learning the basic steps involved in the process of brewing, but he was also educated in marketing and management. “It helped me a lot and I really enjoyed it ,” says Bang.
As a former student, he’s also able to relate to the students and commends them for their commitment and community presence. “The students have a lot of motivation to help the brewery,” he says. Bang tells the students that the brewery belongs to them, which increases their motivation and makes them want to spend more time there.,
The effort that students put into their work in the Brew Master and Brewery Operations course is not only recognized by professors, but also by the public, who can visit the campus brewery and taste or buy any of the school’s eight craft brands. Amanda Levy, sales representative for Niagara College’s Brewery and Winery, has had a chance to see the growth in popularity first hand. She points out that more and more people are discovering the campus brewery, “but as people learn that we’re here and we offer more than one type of beer, we gain more loyal customers,” says Levy, adding that even patrons from out of town have become dedicated regulars.
The brands on tap at Niagara College are the brewery’s most publically popular, flagship beer, and just one of it’s awarding winning products, Butler’s Bitter which is a historically accurate bitter made to commemorate the war of 1812. The Brew Master Series of beers available for purchase at the brewery include stout, wheat, IPA, cherry pilsner and First Draft lager, a mid-Atlantic style beer, plus half a dozen of the students’ own small batch beers, which stay on tap and change flavours from week to week and are known to sometimes offer more experimental tastes.
For Downing, the customer growth on top the overall success of the program speaks to the success of craft brewing. “It’s amazing how the public’s knowledge of beer has grown over the last five years,” he says. “When we first started, it was a bit of a struggle—breweries were still breaking into the mainstream. Now, people are lining up to buy our specialty beers. The industry is just getting bigger and bigger, and the growth is worldwide.”
Though the program is only five years old, graduates of the Brew Master and Brewery Operations course have already gone on to find careers at large scale breweries like Molson and Labatt, as well as craft breweries like Leftfield brewery. Some have even opened their own independent breweries.
