Brewers Journal Canada - Spring 2021

THE

MAGAZINE

FOR

THE

CANADIAN

BREWING

INDUSTRY

BREWERS J O U R N A L

C A N A D A

SPRING 2021 | ISSUE 20 ISSN 2398-6948

SPLIT RAIL BREWING COMPANY A catalyst for community in Manitoulin Island 36 | BIG RIG: 26 | HARD SELTZERS: EVOLUTION IN OTTAWA THEIR ROLE IN YOUR BREWPUB

57 | THE LATEST FROM THE HOMEBREWING COMMUNITY

WE GO AGAIN…

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ello, and welcome to the Spring edition of The Brewers Journal.

So, if you think you’re doing something worth shouting about, tell us. You can enter one, or all of the categories on offer.

As we continue to emerge from a challenging period not just for brewing, but for broader hospitality, we look to brighter months ahead.

For full information on all of the categories, and how to enter, visit: www.brewersjournal.ca/awards

And with that in mind, we are proud to announce the Brewers Choice Awards.

Designed to recognise the very best in brewing, we want to put the best of the best in the spotlight.

LEADER

The Brewers Choice Awards are split into eight categories: Brewery Of the Year, New Brewery of the Year, Brewer of the Year, Young Brewer of the Year, Beer of the Year, New Beer of the Year, Branding of the Year and the Lifetime Achievement Award.

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And to do this, we need you.

There is a wealth of incredible beer being produced in Canada. The best beers deliver fantastic flavour and awe-inspiring aroma, they’re consistent and leave a lasting impression whether it’s a one-off brew or a year-round number that offers up that sought after reliability.

These beers are being produced by brilliant breweries of all shapes and sizes, some new and some older. Some employ an individual and others offer employment to dozens, or more.

In this issue, we spoke to three different breweries but ones bonded by a commitment to quality, consistency and community.

When Andrea Smith & Eleanor Charlton created Manitoulin Island’s first craft brewery, they ensured residents and visitors to scenic gore bay had great beer to choose from. but Split Rail Brewing Company’s purpose has always been more than the production of liquid itself. And that means being part of the community, promoting inclusivity and giving something back.

At Big Rig Brewery, they’ve come a long way since starting out in 2012. Under the stewardship of founder Lon Ladell, they’ve made a lot of great beer, made a lot of great (and famous) friends and made a lot of people happy along the way.

Elsewhere, The Calabogie Brewing Company started out in Ontario back in 2015. In the years since, they’ve expanded and also added a new location in Kanata. And on the backdrop of a global pandemic, they’ve launched a new cooperative designed to help fellow breweries thrive and succeed in these challenging times.

As always, you’ll find much, much more in this issue, too.

Until next time!

Tim Sheahan Editor

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CONTENTS

Comment | E- Commerce Brew Ninja provide the full lowdown on selling your beer online

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Comment | Branding Why a focus on emotional returns will grow your business exponentially

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Meet The Brewer | Split Rail Brewing Company Manitoulin Island’s first craft brewery on being part of the community, promoting inclusivity and giving something back.

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Focus | Hard Seltzers First Key Consulting ask if it’s worth adding a hard seltzer offering to the beers you produce at your brewpub?

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Comment | Sustainability Advice on achievable sustainable practice from Stephen Rich

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Technology | Dispense What your beverage gas gauge is actually telling you!

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Meet The Brewer | Big Rig Brewery How Big Rig Brewery has come a long way since starting out in 2012

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Science | Yeast Yeast Harvesting: Knowing the right time to pitch

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Science | Biotransformation Escarpment Laboratories on why brewers are right to be interested

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Comment | Accessibility Why washrooms are the most important part of your establishment

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Focus | Architecture How Apostolos Sigalas has a vision for bringing old, unwanted buildings back to life. And that’s good news for the world of beer.

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Brewery Tour | Calabogie Brewing Company Cooperation and community in Ontario

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Comment | Hard Seltzers

Is it worth adding a hard seltzer offering to the beers you produce at your brewpub?

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Meet The Brewer | Split Rail Brewing Company

Manitoulin Island’s first craft brewery on being part of the community, promoting inclusivity and giving something back

CONTACTS Tim Sheahan Editor tim@brewersjournal.ca +44 (0)1442 780 592 Jakub Mulik Staff photographer Johnny Leung Canada Partnerships johnny@brewersjournal.ca Sheena Strauss Homebrew Journal knwl.on.tap@gmail.com Richard Piotrowski Publisher Richard@brewersjournal.ca Magdalena Lesiuk Graphic Design GraphMad@gmail.com CFJ Media 2275 Upper Middle Rd E #101, Oakville, ON L6H 0C3

36 Meet The Brewer | Big Rig Brewery

How Big Rig Brewery has come a long way since starting out in 2012

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Focus | Architecture How Apostolos Sigalas has a vision for bringing old, unwanted buildings back to life. And that’s good news for the world of beer.

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SUBSCRIPTIONS The Brewers Journal Canada is a quarterly magazine mailed every Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.

Subscriptions can be purchased for four or eight issues.

Prices for single issue subscriptions or back issues can be obtained by emailing: johnny@brewersjournal.ca

CANADA One year: $39 INTERNATIONAL One year: $49 The content of The Brewers Journal Canada is subject to copyright. However, if you would like to obtain copies of an article for marketing purposes high-quality reprints can be supplied to your specification. Please contact the advertising team for full details of this service. The Brewers Journal Canada is printed at Print Buy, 15 - 1253 Silvan Forest Drive, Burlington ON, L7M 0B7

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be: reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without the express prior written consent of the publisher. The Brewers Journal Canada ISSN 2398-6948 is part of Reby Media, 42 Crouchfield, Hemel Hempstead, Herts HP1 1PA. It is published quarterly in Canada by CFJ Media, 2275 Upper Middle Rd E #101, Oakville, ON L6H 0C3, Canada. Subscription records are maintained at CFJ Media, 2275 Upper Middle Rd E #101, Oakville, ON L6H 0C3, Canada. The Brewers Journal accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of statements or opinion given within the Journal that is not the expressly designated opinion of the Journal or its publishers.

Those opinions expressed in areas other than editorial comment may not be taken as being the opinion of the Journal or its staff, and the aforementioned accept no responsibility or liability for actions that arise therefrom.

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NEWS

NIAGARA COLLEGE’S TEACHING BREWERY HAS MARKED ITS 10TH ANNIVERSARY

THE MILESTONE WAS MARKED BY A VIRTUAL “BREWUNION” FOR A GROUP FROM THE FIRST CLASS OF BREWMASTER GRADUATES – WHO, IN JUNE 2012, SET FORTH AS PIONEERS IN WHAT WAS THEN AN EMERGING CRAFT BEER SCENE.

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hey joined college staff and president Sean Kennedy who led them in a special toast: “To history, and the trailblazing first class that put NC on the map.”

Located at NC’s Daniel J. Patterson Campus in Niagara-on-the-Lake, the Teaching Brewery is home to the groundbreaking Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Management Program.

Class after class of graduates have seeped into the industry over the past decade – many as brewery owners and brewmasters who continue to craft their own award-winning brews.

Steve Gill, general manager of NC’s Learning Enterprises, is proud of the past decade’s accomplishments.

our Teaching Brewery continues to lead the way in Canada’s growing craft beer industry today.

He said: “When we first opened the Teaching Brewery, there was nowhere else in the country that post-secondary students could gain the hands-on brewing skills they need to succeed in the industry, and

“Each beer brewed at our Teaching Brewery is a ‘resume in a bottle’ for our students, and the multitude of awards won for student-crafted brews is a testament to the quality applied education and training that our students bring into the industry in Ontario and beyond.”

The brewery is a living laboratory for Brewmaster students where they gain hands-on experience producing beer on campus.

The College’s first student crafted brew, First Draft Ale, is still being produced, with slight variations in the ingredients each year, and, more recently, as Beer 101 Pale Ale – part of the popular series of 12 varieties of beers bearing the Beer 101 label.

These award-winning brands are available for purchase, along with Small Batch Brews from class projects. Proceeds from sales support student success.

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NEWS

PRECISION FERMENTATION PARTNERS WITH THE 5TH INGREDIENT ON SOFTWARE INTEGRATION PRECISION FERMENTATION, THE LEADING BREWERY OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE FIRM, AND THE 5TH INGREDIENT, A LEADING BIOCHEMISTRY TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS PROVIDER, HAS ANNOUNCED THE INAUGURAL INTEGRATION OF REAL-TIME FERMENTATION DATA WITH A BREWERY OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.

Also, a unified view into both production histories and fermentation outcomes in one interface powers more complete production analyses, helping brewers ensure top beer quality, consistency, and profitability.

“We are thrilled to be part of another first in our industry,” said Jared Resnick, founder and CEO of Precision Fermentation.

He added: “Accessing real-time data from the BrewMonitor Sensor Hub from Beer30’s software suite allows brewers to track, from a single dashboard, all operational actions and ingredients that produce each batch, side-by-side with precise outcomes of these factors as data is streamed directly from inside the fermentation tank.

“Beer30 excels in management of all elements that go into each batch, including precise ingredient information, tank management, CIP tracking and so much more.”

“With this new integration, we continue to pioneer and evolve a new wave of brewery data management software,” explained Pulkit K. Agrawal, founder and CEO of The 5th Ingredient.

“We are committed to helping breweries #BrewBetterBeer and helping brewers take a more confident, proactive approach to their processes, rather than a reactive one.

From a quality perspective, the first 3-4 days of fermentation are crucial, and with BrewMonitor fermentation data sent directly to Beer30, breweries have even more flexibility to make better data-driven decisions, powered by smart sensor technology.”

This integration is available immediately to BrewMonitor and Beer30 users and limited-time discounts are available for new licenses of each product.

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rewMonitor, Precision Fermentation’s flagship Internet of Things (“IoT”) solution, will deliver live fermentation data – dissolved oxygen, pH, gravity, pressure, temperature, and conductivity – directly into The 5th Ingredient’s flagship brewery management software, Beer30.

Automated fermentation data collection enables brewery staff to save time and effort by dramatically reducing the need for manual fermentation sampling and logging.

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E- COMMERCE

SELLING YOUR BEER ONLINE

SETTING UP AN ONLINE STORE TO SELL YOUR WARES MAY SEEM LIKE A DAUNTING TASK, AND YOU MAY WONDER IF IT IS WORTH THE EFFORT, ESPECIALLY AS THE END OF THE PANDEMIC SLOWLY COMES INTO SIGHT AND RESTRICTIONS EASE. HERE, SHEA MARTIN, THE FOUNDER AND CEO OF BREW NINJA, A B2B SAAS MICROBREWERY MANAGEMENT COMPANY, SPEAKS TO ONE SUCH BREWERY THAT HAS GONE ON THAT JOURNEY.

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here is no doubt that the internet has been changing people’s shopping habits for years. Consumers have consistently been shifting their spend from brick and mortar (B&M) stores to online stores (anyone heard of Amazon.com?)

The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly accelerated that trend: A report published by Adobe shows that, within

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There has been a shift in the consumer mindset which will make ordering online their first option, rather than the option they look to if they can’t find the goods they want (at the price they want) locally.

Purchasing alcohol has long been one of the bastions of the B&M stores. Due to the industry regulations, quality control issues, and the consumer desire to have the goods in their hands in a short timeframe has made alcohol sales resistant to going online.

a few months of the pandemic, US consumer online spending was up almost 80 percent from the previous year.

However, restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic forced many small brewers to close their taprooms, forcing them to find creative ways to get their wares in the hands of their loyal fans. Selling beer online was one way to continue to sell wares while staying within the COVID restrictions.

The pandemic has brought a lot of change to our daily lives, and a lot of that change will remain long after the pandemic is gone. While people will go back to spending more money at B&M stores once pandemic restrictions are lifted, it is unlikely that they will fully revert to pre-pandemic levels.

Setting up an online store to sell your wares may seem like a daunting task, and you may wonder if it is worth the effort, especially as the end of the pandemic slowly comes into sight and restrictions ease.

While everyone’s situation is different, this article will explore one brewery’s journey in setting up an online store during the ad-

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vent of the pandemic, and their plans for the store going forward.

PILE O’ BONES Pile O’ Bones brewery is based in the city it was named after... Regina, Saskatchewan.

If that doesn’t make sense to you, the “Coles Notes” history lesson goes like this: Pile O’ Bones is an anglicization of the original Cree name for our city, oskana ka-asastēki, (often shortened to Wascana or Oskana).

The name was changed to Regina after Edgar Dewdney, who “just so happened” to own land in the area, declared it to be the Territorial capital and made himself rich in the process.

The Cree name was dropped in favour of “Regina” in honour of Queen Victoria, but Pile O’ Bones, Wascana, and Oskana all carry on in extensive use throughout the area.

The Pile O’ Bones Brewery is not uncommon in the industry. A small group of top-notch home brewers and beer lovers came together to start a brewery.

Where their story gets interesting is the growth they have seen from their humble beginnings.

The original POB brewery location was in the lower level of an underground parkade in downtown Regina. They used this location to build their brand, distribution, and fanbase. As their success grew, they built a new state-of-the-art brewery next to one of Regina’s crown jewels, Mosaic Stadium.

The new facility featured a great taproom, complete with patio, digital menus, and a collection of pinball machines.

you have heard this story before? Well not so fast, the team was not ready to go down without a fight. You have likely guessed that setting up to sell their beer online was to be their saviour.

I spoke with one of the founders of POB, Brent Babyak, who took me through their journey of setting up the online store which ultimately kept revenues up, and kept staff employed. Many breweries think about setting up an online store to sell their beer (who wouldn’t want an additional channel to get their goods in the hands of fans), but wonder what is involved, and will it be worth their time.

Obviously, the situation is different for every brewery, but hopefully the experiences shared by POB will help you in your decision and your journey.

What made you decide to sell your beer online?

As the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the globe, each region rolled out their own restrictions to help stop the spread.

“I have answered that question a lot! Well, we were forced to shut our doors!” - Brent Babyak, GM, POB In Regina the restrictions meant bars and restaurants were not allowed to have guests dine in, but in a move to help keep such businesses alive, they were allowed to sell take-out. But POB wanted to take it further: by doing online sales and delivery, they could reduce contact by eliminating the need to come in for takeout, keep revenues up, protect their investment in their staff and not have to

lay people off (by transitioning front of house staff to working on preparing and delivering orders).

COVID brought about a movement to support local businesses — the team at POB had a goal to contribute to that as well.

Rather than just creating a portal to sell (and deliver) their products, they decided to sell beer and spirits from other producers in the province as well.

There had always been a goal to create an e-commerce site, but prior to the pandemic, the goal was to have the portal sell POB branded merchandise, and selling beer was not a focus.

What were the initial questions that you needed to answer before proceeding?

“What method are we going to use to sell?”

- BB Luckily in this day and age, no one has to hire a development team to build them an e-commerce site, but there was still a decision to be made on which platform would be best. POB investigated WooCommerce, Wix/Square, Shopify.

The initial version was done on Wix, and within a week they migrated to Shopify.

What was the hardest part of setting up the store? What part took the most time?

Coming up with a vision, and choosing a platform for e-commerce took a fair bit of thought. But once that part was set up, the next hurdle was getting items sold to be reflected in POB’s inventory platform.

They set their taproom apart by not only featuring their own beer, but beer from craft breweries around the province. The kitchen attached to the taproom featured a tenant who migrated their famous (in the city) Mexican cuisine from a food-truck into the new kitchen.

HOW DID IT WORK OUT? After all the hard work getting ready for launch day… It was a hit — busy seven days a week, exceeding all expectations. But six months into their new found success, COVID-19 hit, and local restrictions forced bars and restaurants to close their doors.

With your doors closed, it is hard to sell beer, and keep staff employed... maybe

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With that setup, the tricky part was integrating a delivery fee with the order. The delivery fee had to be a separate item in the store, but the question was how to ensure that the delivery item was added to every order.

Luckily, the Shopify platform has a deep ecosystem of add-ons, and POB found an add-on that would automatically add a delivery item to the order if certain products were chosen. This has since become simpler, as Shopify has added this as a built-in feature to their enterprise tier product.

What are the biggest pain-points of maintaining the online store?

The most time consuming part is keeping inventory in the store up to date with the POB’s inventory management system. POB uses an inventory management system called Brew Ninja, which has an upcoming feature to synchronize inventory with Shopify - but because this feature is not ready yet, POB has had to find other ways to make this work.

After spending a significant amount of time in trying to make this work automatically using 3rd-party tools such as Zapier, POB has found that it really doesn’t take much time to manually adjust inventory once a week.

What is your workflow for the online store from ordering through fulfillment?

Orders are placed through the Shopify platform, a Zapier ‘zap’ then takes that order and delays until a certain time of day before creating a delivery order in the application used to schedule deliveries.

The delay is key, as it ensures all delivery tickets are created at the cutoff time for same-day delivery. The fulfillment team then prepares the orders, puts them on the truck, and the delivery vehicles go out and get the product in the hands of the consumer.

How has this workflow evolved from when you first launched?

Originally, POB delivered in multiple cities.

So the original workflow included a cloudfront which determined which city the user was in, and then directed them to an e-commerce site specific to that city. POB has since ceased deliveries in other cities which have simplified this workflow. Shopify introducing the local-delivery feature has also simplified the workflow removing the need for another 3rd party service.

What plans for improvement do you have?

The next goals for the site are to finally be able to sell branded merchandise through the site. Ironically, pre-COVID, the primary goal for POB’s e-commerce site was to be able to just sell merchandise!

“This inventory situation is still something I would like to see improved” - Brent Babyak.

Brent hopes that changes to the tooling they use such as Shopify and Brew Ninja will solve this for them as the platforms evolve.

What was the biggest mistake/regret you have from setting up the online store?

“I do wish we had started off with something more simple” - Brent Babyak.

By simple, Brent is referring to the level of automation he attempted to set up in the beginning. He feels that getting the e-commerce site up and manually handling the synchronization of orders and inventory should have been version 1.0. Then replacing one piece at a time with automation; as each piece of automation proves itself to work and add value, move on and solve the next pain point. Attempting to get all pieces of the automation working at the same time meant that when troubleshooting, there was also the issue of determining which component of the system was actually failing.

One lesson worth mentioning is the impact of mistakes was mitigated by getting an initial system up early, and learning from their mistakes, rather than waiting until they felt they had it perfect. In other words: iterate towards perfection, rather than working on the system until it feels perfect and launching… sometimes done is better than perfect!

Are you satisfied that your goals have been met with the online store?

“I would say the short answer is yes, and the long answer is we ended up accomplishing more than we originally wanted to do” Brent Babyak.

How have online sales affected your walk-in sales, and taproom sales?

Due to the COVID pandemic still ongoing, this is a very tough question to answer.

During the pandemic, restrictions were lifted and the taproom was allowed to open again for a period.

During this period the taproom was at its (COVID-restricted) capacity nearly every night, yet people were continuing to use the online store, indicating that (at least during a pandemic) the e-commerce site was not hurting traditional sales in any fashion.

What was the most surprising thing you learned in setting up online sale of your product?

While Brent answered this question with a “no real surprises”, breweries should be very aware of what their regional legislation allows them to do.

The team at POB was very aware how the regional legislation worked around selling beer online, and delivering it the

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last mile because the legislation was new, meaning it wasn’t long ago it was a topic of conversation.

But you do not want to go through the effort of setting up an online store, only to find that your local legislation does not allow delivery to the consumer, or other similar restrictions which would reduce the value to the consumer.

If you could give one piece of advice to another Brewery setting up online sales for their beer, what would it be?

“Just go for it!” says Brent. While we have covered a number of the challenges in setting up the store, and their execution was not flawless, they found that their customers were pretty understanding of hiccups.

Brent feels that customers recognized that the purpose of the e-commerce site was to keep their local breweries up and running, and do some good for their staff and customers at the same time, which bought them some leeway if there was an issue in the system that led to an issue with an order.

Do you anticipate that you will keep running the online store after the pandemic?

Brent says the site pays for itself at this point, and there is no reason to stop running it after the pandemic. With the setup that POB has gone with, their cost scales with their revenue, so if sales did slow down, the costs would scale down as well. Brent feels that even if the pandemic ended tomorrow, it would still be worth the effort of setting up an e-commerce site, but cautions everyone should do a cost-benefit analysis as part of making their decision.

CONCLUSION After speaking with the POB team, three overarching lessons began to solidify: “Just go for it”, iterate, and “it gets easier”.

There is likely never a perfect time to start setting up your online store. There is always other work to do, but if you don’t take that plunge, it may never happen. In Brent’s case, he was sipping an iced beverage on a beach in Mexico as news of the pandemic swept into his home territory, bringing restrictions that would greatly affect his business.

It wasn’t the perfect time, but he got on the phone with his team and began formulating a plan to get the online store up and running. Before he was even able to find an alternate flight home, they had the first version of the store up and running. The first version wasn’t perfect, but they had taken that first step and the rest is history.

Creating an award winning beer is a road paved with the duds that didn’t taste like

If you could provide a playbook for a brewery setting up online beer sales, what steps would it contain? u Envision

how the store would work from a customer’s perspective, and map that experience out.

u Determine

how orders will be fulfilled.

u Determine which u Determine u Iterate:

products you will be selling online.

your vision. The POB store makes it clear that setting up an online store is no different.

So as you embark on this journey for your brewery, be prepared to iterate on your design, your workflow, and your tooling.

The result is that your e-commerce site and workflow will continue to get better for both your brewery and your customers.

The tooling changes! While the article does not do a deep dive on the technical part of setting it all up, it is clear that the tools available to accomplish this get better every day. (In fact, you could argue that it is a silver lining of the pandemic.) A great example from this article, is Shopify adding the local-delivery feature which allowed POB to simplify their tech-stack.

This writer works for Brew Ninja (www. brewninja.net) which makes a brewery management software. The pandemic brought about a feature in Brew Ninja which allows breweries to upload their product catalog to a Square online store with a single click, with sales from the brewery’s Square store directly affecting their inventory in Brew Ninja.

A similar integration with Shopify is also planned. The point being that the tools required to set up and maintain an e-commerce site for your beer are getting better all the time… having said that, don’t forget Brent’s words of wisdom; don’t wait, “Just go for it!”.

the services and software you will need to have in place.

examine what isn’t working, and adjust accordingly.

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FOCUS ON EMOTIONAL RETURNS TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS EXPONENTIALLY WHEN YOUR CUSTOMERS SHELL OUT THEIR HARD-EARNED COIN FOR YOUR FINE PRODUCTS, IT’S ONLY NATURAL TO THINK THEY’RE COMPLETING A BASIC FINANCIAL TRANSACTION - MONEY FOR PRODUCT. THAT’S A KEY METRIC OF YOUR RETURN ON INVESTMENT (ROI) IMPACTING EVERY PART OF YOUR BUSINESS.

by Wayne S. Roberts President Blade Creative Branding Inc. Toronto, Canada

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hile that interpretation of ROI is true, in a technical sense, something far more profound is also happening. And the sooner you understand the importance of it, the better you can tailor your customers’ experience with your brand to grow your business more sustainably and profitably.

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Start by considering that “money for product” is only a visible expression of a phenomenon every brand should recognize: People don’t actually buy anything.

What they’re actually doing is investing a currency far more valuable than money. They’re investing their trust, their faith, their expectations of satisfaction and the opportunity to continue enjoying what you brew.

They may even anticipate sharing their discovery with others and being an influencer of friends and family to burnish their own personal brand by being associated with yours.

Seems like a lot is at stake for a six-pack, no? That is until you realize they don’t just buy, they buy in with their emotional currency. And that underlying reality should prompt you to focus on the Return on Emotion (ROE) you want to realize at every touch point of your brand.

ROE STARTS WITH ALLIGATORS, SORT OF Human beings fancy themselves as rational creatures, possessed with a clarity of mind, a disciplined thought process and a discriminating perspective as to what products or services will meet their needs.

Including fresh, tasty beer!

We’re also self-deluding knuckleheads who aren’t so much rational as rationalisers, hell-bent on acting on our emotions without even knowing it most of the time. We can’t be blamed for this because it’s how we’re made.

Deep inside all of our heads is the “reptile brain.” This small bit of our massive noodles includes the brain stem and cerebel-

lum, right at the top of our spinal cord. It acts like a super-fast but simple-minded librarian who takes all the stimuli, that come in from our five senses, and shoots them into the higher functioning parts of our brain, so we can think about how we feel. Like, for example, which beer we want to buy. And why.

It all happens fast because your brain is an electric device. So, the path from emotional stimuli to rationalization clips along at 186,000 miles per second. It’s no wonder we often don’t notice how emotional our purchase decisions really are.

THE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING ROE The dynamics of how and why your customers buy in to your brand is rooted in another reality many businesses are starting to embrace. It’s a perspective our agency pioneered about 20 years ago when we began talking about brands as communities.

In our view, brands are destinations that people (figuratively) take up residence in.

They live in these brands because their decision to buy in defines them in a way that supports their own set of values. Values they see in your brand, your promises and your beer.

When those values align and all the emotional boxes of trust, satisfaction, prestige (and more) are ticked off, those customers lock in, provided you keep delivering on your promises.

Seeing your brand as a community, and not just as a transactional business model, makes you more agile in creating the emotional connections necessary to grow your business.

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The real kicker comes when your customers’ emotional investment transforms them into spontaneous advocates for your brand and your beer. Then, simple arithmetic takes over: Growing the brand community = Growing the business.

THE FORMULA FOR SUCCESSFUL ROE The return you’re looking for when you focus on emotional currency is based on the three R’s of brand community building: Reaction, Relationship and Retention.

REACTION Your brand imagery and messaging must have emotionally charged elements in it.

Knowing what those emotional triggers are is what we do during our Brand Breakthrough Experience™ at Blade. Emotional discovery is one of the key exercises we take our clients through to discover what will move customers to buy in.

Mapping out your brand journey and narrative is also critical. That story will intrigue your customers, prompt them to invest emotionally and to share the story with others. So, keeping it simple and memorable is essential.

Done properly, your brand messaging and imagery will create the reaction you want, at the right moment in time, so your existing customers stay with you, while potential customers seek you out to satisfy their desire to be part of your community.

RELATIONSHIP Successful brands in every sector, including beer, invest in relationships. It’s fundamental to brand community building. The more you invest in the relationships you value, the more rewarding those relationships become to all parties.

When relationships are neglected, it won’t matter how great the beer might taste. The lack of attention your community expects will always leave a foul aftertaste.

Consistency is also important and not just your fonts or your style guide. Your product and customer experience are far more relevant. No amount of fancy branding elements will fix subpar product or inattentive customer care.

Look after all the people in your community, internally and externally, and your

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business will flourish because you’ll have an expanding group of emotionally invested stakeholders.

RETENTION When you accept that emotional currency drives every transaction, it energizes you to create a brand, and by extension a community, where loyalty is a given.

That loyalty is based on delivering on your promises, by maintaining a connection to your customers on your media platforms, and by building relationships in your brewery and in the wider community. The result is a customer, and even employee base, that is stable and growing sustainably.

When you add product or service innovation that either responds to or anticipates customer needs or desires, you kick the whole works into higher gear for exponential growth - all the while binding your community to your brand through that high-value emotional currency.

That’s because a more connected and respected customer will gladly part with their money if they feel their emotional currency is being invested in a brand that values them.

They feel more confidence and less risk.

Ignoring emotional currency misses an ideal opportunity to learn more about how to connect with your brand community.

And while the bottom line will always be about ROI, focusing on your customers’ ROE will ensure a happier balance sheet in the long run.

BIOGRAPHY Wayne S. Roberts is president and founder of Blade Creative Branding in Toronto. His agency’s work in the brewing industry includes strategic and creative assignments with Upper Canada Brewing, Steam Whistle Beer, Creemore Springs and, most recently, Ramblin’ Road Brewery Farm in Norfolk County, Ontario - a recipient of the Premier’s Award for Agribusiness Innovation.

IT WORKS WHEN YOU INVEST, TOO. Companies who regularly gather, analyze, and use insights about their customers’ feelings are more profitable than those who don’t. Getting in touch with how your customers feel has never been more affordable, too. With a broad range of analytic tools, content and ad measurement programs, and even good old-fashioned surveys and interviews, it’s doable. It may not be cheap, but it’s worth it to invest in emotional currency.

In fact, the Harvard Business Review found that customers become more valuable as they become more emotionally connected to their brands. They visit you more often in person and online, exhibit less price sensitivity, engage with your content, follow your advice, and recommend you to others.

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MEET THE BREWER

SPLIT RAIL BREWING COMPANY

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hen Susan Snelling contributed to a fledgling company’s kickstarter campaign back in 2015, she got a t-shirt in return. Some six years on, that donation has resulted in much, much more.

“I found it fascinating,” she recalls. “There were these people asking if we wanted a craft brewery on Manitoulin Island. And of course, I thought yes! And if we real-

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ly wanted it, then they needed our help.

I contributed to the campaign and got a nice t-shirt as thanks!”

The duo of Andrea Smith & Eleanor Charlton had found a love for brewing in a garage but it was time to make their passion professional.

Thankfully for Smith, Charlton and the residents of Manitoulin Island, their funding campaign proved to be a success.

Donors such as Snelling received their t-shirt while others had their names engraved on the brewery’s taproom bar — patrons that are still regular visitors to this day.

“It’s about the people. It always was and always will. They are the fabric of this business,” says Snelling who, along with Barb Erskine, would build on that early support for the brewery by going on to invest in Split Rail Brewing Company in 2018, becoming co-owners in the process.

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WHEN ANDREA SMITH & ELEANOR CHARLTON CREATED MANITOULIN ISLAND’S FIRST CRAFT BREWERY, THEY ENSURED RESIDENTS AND VISITORS TO SCENIC GORE BAY HAD GREAT BEER TO CHOOSE FROM. BUT SPLIT RAIL BREWING COMPANY’S PURPOSE HAS ALWAYS BEEN MORE THAN THE PRODUCTION OF LIQUID ITSELF. AND THAT MEANS BEING PART OF THE COMMUNITY, PROMOTING INCLUSIVITY AND GIVING SOMETHING BACK.

CRAFT AND THE COMMUNITY Smith and Charlton came into the world of beer, not from a professional brewing background or an outside industry such as IT, but professions as a social worker and special education, respectively.

“They wanted to start a brewery that would create local jobs, contribute to the local economy and produce some great beer,” says Snelling. “This part of the world is very seasonal, so year-round jobs are hard to come by. By opening

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a brewery, they could provide some stable employment.”

While Smith and Charlton entered the world of beer from social work and education, Snelling and Erskine are trained psychologists with Snelling running a consulting business, primarily in the field of public health.

“When I came on board with the brewery in 2018, it was more of a strategic level

rather than the day-to-day operations, but since COVID hit I’ve been involved in a more hands-on way,” she says. “It has been a learning opportunity and one I’ve enjoyed playing a part in.”

As four co-owners, the quartet all bring something different to the business. But one common bond is the values they share. Something that appealed to Snelling when the chance to invest was initially discussed.

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“We are part of a small community so everybody knows everybody,” she recalls. “So when Andy and Eleanor asked us if we would be interested in investing I told them: ‘Well, we don’t know anything about beer, other than drinking it.’”

But what they did have was that value alignment, and a community orientation focused on social responsibility.

“They approached us because they thought that we might see the world in the same way as they did. And I think that has held true,” Snelling adds.

And when it comes to beer, patrons of Split Rail can expect six core beers that comprise of Copper Lager, Amber Ale, Hawberry Ale, Gore Bay IPA, LoonSong Oats Stout and Manitoulin Gold Pilsner. They are complemented by seasonal one-offs such as a recent Mint IPA brewed to celebrate St Patrick’s Day. “We like to keep things approachable but also interesting, incorporating local ingredients and giving people something new to try,” says Snelling. “We place an emphasis on our taproom servers to ask people what they like and what kind of beer they normally drink.

“If they’re not used to the craft world, we will try to relate with something similar.

We like to give them a little bit of coaching about the range of flavours and aromas that you can find in craft beer.”

“And that will often result in visitors trying, and enjoying beers that they might not normally gravitate towards.”

“Our oatmeal stout is a beer for people that really love that style. But some will look at it and think it’s too dark to enjoy,” Snelling explains. “But if you were blindfolded, you wouldn’t pick it out as a dark beer because it’s very balanced and it’s very smooth.

“And sometimes a visitor might be persuaded to try it in a flight and so often they’ll come back and say, ‘You know what, I’ll have another one!”.

And bringing people into their space is something of high importance to Snelling and the team.

“I feel as women in the brewing industry, we are somewhat the outsiders. I won’t say that we haven’t been welcomed,” she adds, “but we are certainly low in numbers in terms of representation. However that is changing and there are lots more women in the industry now than there was a few years ago.”

She explains: “But I think the sense of how important it is to us that people feel welcome and feel part of what we’re doing stems from us not being able to assume that in our journeys.”

“We’ve had to find our own way into the industry. So maybe it’s a heightened sensitivity to what it’s like to be an outsider. And the value that people bring from those different perspectives.”

“We feel that we bring something maybe a little bit different to the industry, and, you know, we think serving a diverse clientele is probably bringing something good to us as well.”

And that extends not just to the people they provide beer for, but also inspiration, too.

“We once had a woman from the US come to the brewery a couple of years ago and talked to Andy. She told us that she had been in before but finding out Split Rail was run by women gave her the confidence to open her own brewery, too,” she beams.

“Seeing us literally gave her the belief to do it as well!”

Snelling is understandably proud of the impact the brewery had on that particular individual. She also gets great satisfaction from the team spirit that defines Split Rail, especially in a sector that can sometimes be accused of over-working its employees.

“Our approach has always been to ask: What do you like to do? What works for you?. Of course we need to think about the operational side but what’s important is looking at what gives people satisfaction in their jobs,” she says. “Research shows that it’s not always just about money. It’s being part of something, being respected and being given an opportunity to bring your unique skills into what you do. And we really try to do that as much as possible.”

They wanted to start a brewery that would create local jobs, contribute to the local economy and produce some great beer,” Susan Snelling, Split Rail Brewing Company 22

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And with team members that have been part of the brewery since day one, that approach is clearly effective.

they’re not buying beer, it’s because they’re not able to serve the way they are used to.

“I think it shows in our beer, too,” Snelling believes. “If people want to do a good job then surely it can’t help but show up in the quality of the product.”

“But we’re grateful that we’ve been able to keep our storefront open through the whole pandemic, literally selling beer out of the window. We decided early on that we still had good beer, we still had to keep people employed so we just had to look ahead and push on.”

Like so many businesses, the ways in which patrons can enjoy the products from Split Rail has been impacted during the last year. But the brewery has adapted in this time and the team can also look back at the fortunate timing of a recent investment in a canning line, too.

She says: “Well, we’re hurting, of course.

When licensees like bars and restaurants are not purchasing your product, then that’s a hit for us. But it’s also a hit for them because there’s a reason why

we weren’t sure if a major expenditure was sensible,” she recalls. “But we believed in what we were doing, looked to a time after this pandemic ends and went ahead with it, which was the right decision to take.”

And as the world, hopefully, begins to emerge from lockdown restrictions, Snelling and the team at Split Rail are optimistic about the months that lie ahead.

Split Rail Brewing Company started out packaging its beers in bottles before making the foray into canning through a mobile canning service. An investment in their own in-house canning line was set for delivery in March 2020, and they had a decision to make.

“We’re hoping to open the patio very soon.

We’re coming into summer, we have safe outdoor space and I think there will be a lot of pent-up demand from the community,” she says. “I’m looking forward to seeing people on the patio, enjoying a beer with people they haven’t seen in a long time.

“I remember the conversation asking if we should go ahead with it or cancel the purchase. There was so much uncertainty,

“For us it’s about playing a role in the community we’re proud to be a part of and always making people feel welcome.”

We feel that we bring something maybe a little bit different to the industry,” Susan Snelling, Split Rail Brewing Company SPLIT RAIL BREWING COMPANY BEERS u Copper Lager u Amber Ale u Gore Bay IPA • ABV: 5% • ABV: 5% • ABV: 5% • Water, malted barley, hops, yeast • Water, malted barley, hops, yeast • Water, malted barley, hops, yeast • Copper in colour, with toasted whole • Dark caramel colour with soft nutty and • Burnt orange in colour, this balanced, grain and pecan notes, and a slight flohoney layers, this ale carries lingering British-style IPA presents a gentle floral finish, this flavourful lager is smooth, toffee and subtle forest-floor notes. ral bitterness with hints of toffee, citrus, refreshing and versatile with food. toasted whole wheat and fresh cut u LoonSong Oats Stout wood. u Hawberry Ale • ABV: 4.7% • ABV: 5% • Water, malted barley, LoonSong oats, u Manitoulin Gold Pilsner • Water, malted barley, hops, yeast, hops, yeast • ABV: 5.1% Manitoulin hawberries • Dark and luscious with layers of coffee, • Water, malted barley, hops, yeast • Amber-rose in colour from the handmolasses, burnt chocolate and hints • Golden and crisp, this Pilsner - named picked berries, this ale boasts caraof soft smoky-sweetness, this smooth after Manitoulin’s rare ‘Manitoulin Gold’ mel, walnut, and pastry influences with Stout features organic oats from LoonLakeside Daisy - offers notes of apple, hints of earthy-tart hawberry.

Song Farms. herb and a mild citrus hop character.

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HARD SELTZERS

BREWPUBS AND THE HARD SELTZER OPTION

IS IT WORTH ADDING A HARD SELTZER OFFERING TO THE BEERS YOU PRODUCE AT YOUR BREWPUB? HERE, DR. CHRIS COLBY FROM FIRST KEY CONSULTING, TAKES A CLOSER LOOK AT THE SECTOR’S GROWTH, AND OFFERS A WEALTH OF ADVICE ON THE PRODUCTION OF THIS POPULAR BEVERAGE.

P

ackaged hard seltzers continued to show strong sales through 2020 [I], and their sales are predicted to continue to grow in the next several years [II]. In addition to numerous craft production breweries, many brewpubs are also brewing and serving hard seltzers to boost their bottom line [III].

Tap accounts are also opening up at bars and restaurants [IV]. Brewpubs have many options when it comes to serving hard seltzers. These may increase customer satisfaction and drive return visits.

Packaged hard seltzers are brewed by fermenting a high gravity sugar wash [V].

Later, this fermented sugar wash is diluted and cleaned up — most often by filtering through activated carbon.

Then, the flavouring is added. The flavouring may be accompanied by an addition of

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sugar or acid. The flavouring may also contain preservatives.

Brewpubs have the option of fermenting the beverage at working strength. Most brewpubs are not set up for high gravity brewing and a working strength fermentation should yield a “blank” seltzer that requires less cleanup.

A brewer taking this option could also opt to add the flavours when the sugar wash is mixed, prior to fermentation, saving a step.

Depending on the flavouring, this may add nutrients to the sugar wash, and therefore require a smaller yeast nutrient addition.

However, the fermentation would need to yield an acceptably clear beverage, as carbon filtration would remove any flavouring present during the fermentation.

Additionally, fermentation may remove or lessen flavours from the beverage. Also complicating matters is the fact that many flavourings contain alcohol, and this would have to take into consideration — both in terms of how the final alcohol content of the beverage is impacted and if the brewery can legally do this.

Before attempting a full-sized batch using this method, the brewer should have at least one successful small-scale test fermentation.

Another approach would be to brew an unflavoured base beverage. If the brewpub makes a “blank” hard seltzer, this will allow the beverage to be cleaned up by fining or filtration. And the flavouring could be added at the bar. A single serving tank of clear, flavourless hard seltzer could yield a variety of flavours at the bar.

The simplest approach would be to concoct one or more mixtures of flavouring, sugar, and acid. A measured amount of the flavouring mix added to the blank hard seltzer would yield a flavoured hard seltzer. If fresh fruit juice — as opposed to fruit extract —

is used as the basis for the flavouring, the particulates in the juice could mask small amounts of haze in the blank hard seltzer.

Fresh fruit juice — or any flavouring that isn’t an artificial flavour — could also appeal to customers who desire natural ingredients.

In that case, any slight haze in the beverage becomes a feature, not a bug. Adding juice to the blank seltzer at the bar would likely appeal to many. However, because of the sugar content, juice should not be added to kegs, growlers, or crowlers. This would also apply to any flavouring that contained sugar.

Informal studies have shown customers prefer a sweeter, more flavourful beverage in a blind taste test. However, when selecting hard seltzers at a store, the Calorie count becomes the major determining factor [VI].

If a blank seltzer is flavoured at the bar, the Calorie count will not appear on the glass.

Thus, a brewpub could produce a more flavourful (and sweet) version of the beverage, if desired. A brewpub would also have the option of offering sweet or “unsweet” versions of the beverage. Brewpubs should consider how many options — different flavours and perhaps levels of sweetness — to offer. In some ways, more are better, but too many could slow down the bartenders and waitstaff. An excessive number of choices may also bewilder customers.

A brewpub could treat their seltzer flavours in a similar manner to the types of beer they offer — offer a core number of yearround flavours, perhaps with an option to sweeten each, and a rotating flavour of the month or season. If the region is known for any agricultural product that could be used to flavour a hard seltzer, that would be a good option for one of the offerings.

Flavourings in a hard seltzer will taint the serving lines. Another advantage of pushing a blank hard seltzer is that it won’t flavour tap lines, allowing the brewpub to switch from seltzer to beer, if needed.

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Brewpubs that wish to serve hard seltzers (as similar to canned seltzers as possible) may need to rebalance one or more lines of their draft system to dispense a more highly carbonated beverage. Hard seltzers are generally carbonated to around 2.8 volumes of CO2, whereas typical craft beer is served at 2.5–2.6 volumes of CO2.

In order to serve seltzer carbonated to a higher degree, the length of the tap line (or vertical distance traversed) will have to be increased. Installing a tap line with smaller interior diameter (ID) tubing will also work. Unless the brewpub has reason to believe sales of their hard seltzer will be strong, dispensing hard seltzer at normal beer levels of carbonation would save the hassle.

Finally, the glassware used for hard seltzer should be something other than a shaker pint. Although there is no “official” glassware for a hard seltzer, a straight-sided glass is what most hard seltzer advertisements feature.

The brewpub additionally has the option to serve the drink over ice or to garnish it with a wedge of citrus fruit or a cocktail skewer of cherries and orange (or any other combination that makes sense).

Serving the seltzer over ice will, of course, dilute the alcohol content. De-

pending on how sensitive the brewpubs customers are to that, it may make sense to dispense a higher alcohol version of the beverage that becomes a 4–5% ABV drink when the ice melts. Ten fluid ounces of a 6% ABV seltzer and 2.0 oz. of ice yields a 12-oz. serving at 5% ABV. Any flavouring will, of course, also dilute the alcoholic content, so — in order to serve a 5% ABV seltzer — the brewpub would need 10 fl. oz. of 6% ABV seltzer and the total volume of the flavouring and ice together would need to total 2 fl. oz.

zer to the glass plus this much flavouring, then fill with ice (or soft seltzer). And note that the flavouring may also contain alcohol.

If the bartender mixes the drink at the bar, or adds garnish, a brewery taproom more closely resembles a traditional bar in this respect — and this is something that may appeal to some customers. Bartenders may also see an increase in their tips if customers perceived they are doing more than just pulling a tap.

REFERENCES: For a general solution for any alcohol content and drink volume, use the equation CV = CV (concentration times volume equals concentration times volume). For example, to produce 16 fl. oz. of 4% ABV seltzer from a 5.5% ABV blank seltzer, you would set up the equation like this: CV = CV = 4 (%ABV) X 16 (fl. oz.) = 5.5 (%ABV) X V (fl. oz.)

Solving for V yields 11.6 — so the drink would require 11.6 fl. oz. of the 5.5% seltzer and the remaining 4.4 fl. oz. would be filled by ice and flavouring.

Of course, you wouldn’t want the bartender to have to do these calculations each time a drink is served. The calculation would be made beforehand and a generic mix proscribed — i.e., add this amount of blank selt-

[I] www.businessinsider.com/americans-drinking-more-alcohol-2020-pandemic-hard-seltzer-sales-growth-2020-11 [II] www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2020/07/hardseltzer-sales-could-reach-14-5bn-by-2027/ [III] oct.co/essays/craft-breweries-hard-seltzer [IV] cheersonline.com/2019/10/30/buffalowild-wings-goes-back-to-the-bar [V] Colby, Chris. (2020). How to make hard seltzer: Refreshing recipes for sparkling libations.

Brewers Publications. Boulder, Colorado [VI] www.brewersassociation.org/seminars/ hard-seltzer-101-development-production-and-troubleshooting-from-a-brewers-perspective/

Illustration by. Rymie

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NO-TECH SUSTAINABILITY ACHIEVABLE SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE: THE LEADERSHIP SOLUTION

“NO MATTER THE SIMPLICITY OR COMPLEXITY OF YOUR BREWERY, OR THE TECHNOLOGY OR EQUIPMENT YOU DO OR DO NOT HAVE, HONEST AND TRANSPARENT LEADERSHIP IS THE BEST WAY TO ACHIEVE SUSTAINABILITY IN ANY ORGANIZATION. REDUCING MATERIAL, WATER AND ENERGY USE WILL ONLY BE EFFECTIVE WHEN EVERYONE BUYS-IN TO YOUR WHY. BECAUSE WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO IT, MACHINES DON’T MAKE BEER, PEOPLE DO. AND PEOPLE CAN MAKE BREWING SUSTAINABLE,” EXPLAINS STEPHEN RICH, A BREWMASTER, CERTIFIED CICERONE, PRUD’HOMME BEER SOMMELIER, AND BJCP CERTIFIED BEER JUDGE. 28

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S

ustainability has become a buzz word in all industries including brewing. Often it conjures visions of waste treatment plants, modern brewhouses, or hi-tech separation equipment. My goal is to showcase an organizational mindset and value proposition that is designed to improve sustainable efforts through leadership, rather than fancy, or expensive equipment.

The Leadership Solution to sustainability contends that 75 percent of what is required to achieve sustainability is leadership. Equipment, fancy or not, are simply tools. Leadership directs values, action, and results.

Let’s imagine our goal as a brewery is to achieve sustainable brewing and business operations. That means we will put forth an effort to reduce water, material, and energy. We are only going to use materials that achieve our goals, and only enact policies that also support those goal, and we are not going to forget about recycling.

The big question though, is why. This is something you must determine on your own. Are you building a sustainability program because it fits your core values?

Because local regulations are forcing you to? Or because of competition, costs, or all the above? Be honest with yourself – all these reasons are valid – because any means to reduced ecological impact are good means.

The reason why you need to be honest about your why, is because this is ultimately going to become the tool that you and your leaders use to create an organization that intrinsically values sustainability – and therefore achieves it.

I’m suggesting that there are two main routes to applying practice in order to

achieve our sustainable reduced ecological impact goals. We either invest in technology and equipment in order to reduce impact, or we implement procedures that have smaller individual impacts on the big picture, but slowly add up to achieve success.

There’s a problem with both. Equipment is expensive, and added detailed work is challenging. We need low-cost and low or no-tech solutions. With genuine and transparent leadership, practice is a viable solution.

Start with leadership. Think of sustainability as a mindset, not a function, or set of tasks. The tasks become ways that we’ll achieve sustainability, and indeed there are going to be many of them. And those tasks will only be effective if your team believes in them, and in fact, practices them.

It’s like asking your team to take gravities everyday during fermentation. Sure, it’s less work and effort to not take gravities – but because your team knows the task will improve quality, and they believe in the brewery’s quest for high quality beer, they would never even question that task. Taking gravities becomes common sense. Sustainability is more work. To make that work built into daily function, just like taking gravities, everyone needs to understand and believe in your why.

I’ll reference a great business and leadership coach, Simon Sinek. In his book, Start with Why, Simon describes the Golden Circle that drives the most successful businesses. He argues that some businesses prioritize their value proposition to the public with what they do, how they do it, then why. But the most successful business starts with why.

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you need to evaluate your business practices and set out smart goals.

So, figure out your why, and set smart goals.

Then if you are honest and transparent, and if you involve your team to help define your why, you’ll ensure that you build long-term and sustainable buy-in from your team.

You also need to ensure that buy-in is transparent across the board. Owners, brewers, taproom staff, delivery team, EVERYONE. This is where leaders must lead by example. Why would a brewer wear gloves when handling caustic if he or she sees the Brewmaster throw caution to the wind?

Let’s look at this example applied to sustainability. A traditional brewery may say: our water/beer ratio is amazing, because we have the best technology, and that’s how we win. If we start with why: we want to make the world a better place, by reducing our ecological impact, so we consume less and only use sustainable materials.

Which of these perspectives do you think will best motivate your team? Start with why.

I also want to point out – your why doesn’t need to be altruistic. Saving money is a valid why. Just think what your team could do with $X in reduced costs because of your sustainable efforts… Upgraded lab equipment? Replace some old gauges around the cellar? Save for a new can-line? Buy more pull up banners for the sales team?

These are all valuable and honest reasons to reduce costs by improving sustainability that should genuinely motivate your team.

Your why doesn’t have to be saving the world, it can be saving your brewery. And in turn you’ll help save the world.

The next step is setting departmental goals.

And throughout the process keep the good-old SMART rule in mind to help you define how you achieve your why. Once we know why we’re focused on sustainability, we need to determine how to achieve it.

You can’t just tell people to be sustainable,

Why would a Rep bother filling in call notes in Salesforce if they see that Sales Manager never takes notes? And why would you put in the extra time and effort to focus on sustainability if your boss doesn’t? Everyone must believe.

To that end, if everyone buys-in, you then need to ensure that everyone understands how their role contributes to the why that they now believe in. This goes back to the SMART rule – you have to build the steps to achieve your collective goals first – then you can break it down by department and role to define how we all succeed individually, and together. This can take time and depending on your organization it’s likely best achieved step by step, and one goal at a time.

So, we get it. We believe in why the effort is worth while, and we understand how we’re going to achieve those goals - but what do we need to get there? We’re not going to invest in equipment or technology yet – let’s see what we are capable of first!

There are countless practical ways to reduce impact through conscientious practice – lets run through a few quickly.

This is a simple and effective way to reduce water consumption. Squeegee first, then wash.

Every brewer has been here before – you spill yeast, hops, wort, beer, well, everything. Everything hits the floor eventually.

Then you grab a hose cause it’s nearby, and maybe it’s fun, and you spray for a few minutes until the floor runs clear. That’s a lot of water down the drain.

As a leader, if you can make it easier, and even fun for your team to grab a squeegee and hit the floor before they grab a hose, you will save water. This is a daily task – it will add up in water savings.

The two best ways to do this are by making it easy to find a squeegee and make the task easy.

SQUEEGEE THEN HOSE In the generic brewery layout example (next page), you can see the washdown hoses in blue – you’d probably have one on your brew house, one in the cellar, one by packaging, and maybe one by the bulk fridge.

Make it easy for your team to find a squeegee, if not easier than finding that hose.

Drop one on each side of your brewhouse, one of those can help with the cellar, then add another to the cellar, 2 in packaging, and one by cold storage. Now there is some incentive to start cleanup by squeegeeing first to reduce the hose needs after.

The final step is a quality squeegee. If you give your team a squeegee that is purpose built to do the job properly, and is easy to push or pull, you will really drive up the probability that someone will actually grab one.

DILIGENT TANK PURGING Diligent tank purging can reduce your CO2 consumption as well as DO pickup. They key is only purging what you need. Ensure that you push CO2 from the bottom slowly to create a blanket and not turbulent flow mixing CO2 and air. Test for CO2 or Oxygen at the outlet with a meter or sniff test. The build an SOP showing pressure or flow rate, and duration. Build one for every different tank you have so that purging is always consistent, complete, and not excessive.

SPUNDING FOR NATURAL C02 Spunding is an easy way to lock in carbonation towards the end of fermentation – as well, it can be contribute to improved aroma, foam retention, and general beer quality. By spunding your beer you’ll end up with more natural carbonation by the time you hit the BBT, and require less additional CO2 to hit your target.

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just owners or managers – everyone should get involved so they feel and believe in the why. Only then will every one execute consistently.

PRACTICAL PRACTICE There are a hundred other ways to achieve your sustainability goals though simple, low-cost, and low-tech practices. Here are just a few others to consider: Measure so you know exactly where you stand. If you are not accurately measuring water, electricity, co2, etc., you can’t set a baseline or realistic targets for improvement.

Consider capturing your CO2 produced in fermentation for use later. There are solutions available to small breweries that were previously unrealistic without scale.

Think about where your materials come from. Ingredients, cans, shirts, promo materials, etc. Did you save 5% on those shirts, but they had to travel 10,000km to get here? What’s the carbon footprint?

Never forget about recycling. Build a recycling plan for your operations – consider that the needs in the office will be different from the needs in brewing, packaging, warehouse, and taproom. Talk with your local waste and recycling authorities, I’m wiling to bet they’d be happy to help.

SIDE STREAMING EFFLUENT Side Streaming your waste away from drains can have a significant impact on the load you apply to your in-house or local waste treatment system. The less you send to a treatment system, the less energy and water is ultimately required to treat it.

Not only can this improve your ecological impact, but it can reduce costs – especially if/when taxes or fines are applied to waste or BOD load as is happening in many regions around the globe.

Typically, a brewery will side stream waste from the Lauter Tun and Hop Back, but much else ends up going to the drain.

Finding creative ways to collect all waste and send it to less impactful destinations, or even beneficial locations along with spent grains can require a lot of planning

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and effort, but the resulting impact can be significant.

CONSISTENT If you want to ensure company-wide buy in, you have to ensure that your why and how is consistent across the organization.

Don’t tell your team sustainability is important in brewing, but not in packaging.

The same is true in retail, and is a department often overlooked. If you are shrink wrapping your can or bottle trays, or selling swag, food items, or other goods packed in plastic bags, boxes or single use materials, then you are not following your values. Those choices communicate an inconsistent message to your team that contradicts your goals and slowly breaks down team buy-in.

This is why engaging your whole team during this process is important. Not

Are there sources of water that hit the drain typically that you could reuse for wash, toilets, or cooling? This is very plant dependant, and isn’t always a simple solution, but worth looking into.

Finally, ensure that you conduct routine objective audits, and hold yourself and your team accountable. Be honest and transparent with your successes, but more importantly, with your failures. It’s the only way you’ll define a better solution.

No matter the simplicity or complexity of your brewery, or the technology or equipment you do or do not have, honest and transparent leadership is the best way to achieve sustainability in any organization.

Reducing material, water and energy use will only be effective when everyone buys-in to your why. Because when it comes down to it, machines don’t make beer, people do. And people can make brewing sustainable.

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WHAT YOUR BEVERAGE GAS GAUGE IS ACTUALLY TELLING YOU! YOUR CO2 GAUGE CAN TELL YOU WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW, BUT ONLY IF YOU ARE ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTION, OR TAKE THE TIME TO LEARN TO INTERPRET THE DATA, EXPLAINS DAN BROADDUS, MASTER DRAUGHT BEER DISPENSE TECHNICIAN AT CANADIAN BEVERAGE SUPPLY.

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n my role at Canadian Beverage Supply, I am the guy who answers many of the technical questions about Beer Dispense equipment.

Having been a 10+ year field installer, between 2 busy markets, and now 5 years at CBS, I have spent countless hours helping colleagues, clients, friends, and end users unravel the mysteries of the Beverage Dispense Universe Certain issues keep cropping up by way of confused calls or emails. One very common query is about what the reading on the Beverage Gas, Tank Pressure Gauge is indicating, since it can’t possibly be reality.

Well, hopefully, it’s telling them a truth. Unfortunately, like a lot of truths, it may not be the truth that they are hoping to hear.

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How often are you at an event or party and ask about or look at a gas gauge, see 500 PSI, and think, “Oh, we should be fine.”

Then the shock and horror sets in, when, 45 minutes later, your little gas cylinder has belched its last breath, halfway through the sample you are pouring for the local Beer Critic or Food Writer.

What your gauge is telling you depends on the type of gauge, and what it is reporting on. The first question is, what sort of gas is in the tank? The second question is, what gauge are you looking at? 3rd, what does the gauge measure, and in what units?

The gases we most commonly interact with, as it pertains to beverage dispense, are carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen (N2).

Sometimes, we might be dealing with beer gas, AKA Aligal , AKA G-gas, these are simply Trade and Trademark names for specific Blends of CO2 and N2, which may, or may not be the best choice for your beer system However, these gasses are often a “better” choice than doing nothing. Tackling that subject is sticky and controversial, so it must be left a while longer.

Let’s keep to the basics, for now. CO2 and N2 behave very differently. All gases interact with our environment differently, because they have very different molecular structures, and very different masses.

One of the ways we determine how these gases interact with our world is by figuring out what their critical temperatures and critical pressures are. Bear with me through this next little bit. It’s quite important.

Critical Temperature: The temperature, above which, a gas cannot exist in liquid form.

Critical Pressure: That point, below which a gas may not exist in liquid form, when at Critical Temperature. Critical Pressure will lower as temperature drops below Its own critical point. If critical temperature is exceeded but pressure is maintained inert gases will act as super fluids.

The point at which these phenomena meet is sometimes refered to at the Liquid/Vapor point. This can also be affected by altitude, but this is less relevant, so for now, let us pretend every bar is within 1,000 ft.[300 m] of Sea Level.

CO2, compared to other gases, has a fairly low critical pressure, and a fairly high critical temperature. At the temperatures in which we interact with it, it will store as liquid in your cylinder, or bulk tank.

Nitrogen however, has an exceptionally low critical temperature and a remarkably high critical pressure. When we are interacting with nitrogen, it is stored as a high-pressure gas. When we are dealing with a beer gas, these facts do not change. The CO2 will be in liquid form, underneath a vapor space of high pressure N2. How exactly they “mix “ is again, part of that controversial topic, of previous mention.

First, I feel we should tackle bulk CO2. These are those big, stainless steel tanks, permanently installed at a restaurant. They usually hold between 200 and 300 lb of liquid CO2.

On these tanks you will find two gauges.

One will be a pressure gauge that usually covers a range from 10 PSI, to 160 PSI. It will usually be set between 90 and 105 PSI. This gauge is measuring the tanks output pressure. You will also find a gauge reminiscent of a gas gauge in an old car. It is usually rectangular, though sometimes circular.

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It will usually be at the center of the top of the tank. And it will have a needle that denotes such things as 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, and F for full. This gauge is measuring the approximate liquid level of the remaining CO2. The accuracy is not often superb, nonetheless, it will usually give you the information you require.

CO2 that comes in a cylinder, will be attached to a primary regulator.

Sometimes this regulator is attached directly to the valve on the tank. Sometimes it is mounted on a wall, or a BagIn-Box[BIB] rack, and is connected by a high-pressure hose.

These regulators usually have a tank gauge, usually with a range of 100-2000 or 3000 PSI, and one or more output gauges, which top out at pressures which range from 30 to 160 PSI, in most instances. Sometimes, they only have an output gauge. On rare occasions, they will have no gauges at all, but these are irrelevant to our conversation.

If you are using Pure CO2, unfortunately, your tank gauge is all but useless. Since your CO2 stores as liquid, if even the tiniest amount of liquid remains in the tank, the needle on your tank gauge will remain at whatever the critical pressure is for the temperature of the tank. Usually this is between 800, and 950 PSI.

Wrench I mentioned

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If the gauge is dropping below 700 PSI, be prepared to change to another tank within the hour. Unless the tank is very cold, pressure this low means that you have evaporated all the liquid CO2. Depending on the size of the cylinder, and the volume of usage, this could last only a few minutes, or might last several hours.

The only way to tell how much CO2 is left in a small cylinder, is to weigh it. CO2 cylinders are usually classified by Content Net Weight, at least in North America. Most cylinders will have a stamp informing you of the tare weight.

This is the weight of your cylinder, when empty. However, if dealing with a cylinder above 20 lb, the risk of moving it usually outweighs the potential reward. A ruptured gas cylinder will take off like a rocket or torpedo, and will easily pass through a cinder block wall, and still be carrying enough force to pop your head like a grape. So, unless you are Wile E Coyote, or have experience moving cylinders safely, don’t do it, you imbecile!

If you have nitrogen on site, to feed your gas blender, the gauge is an accurate indicator of the gas remaining. If your cylinder says it has 1,000 lb, which is just shy of 70 bar, then the gas remaining is equal to 70 times the volume of your cylinder.

An example would be to take a q sized cylinder, which stands about two and a half feet tall, and holds (very) roughly 5 gallons/19L. Chances are your gas blender puts 40% nitrogen into the blend, which is dispensed at 24 psi, or 1.655 bar.

40% of this would be .662 bar. Using our example of 1,000 lb/69 bar, your 5-gallon vessel will be able to displace an additional 345 gallons of product.

If you have a mixed gas cylinder, your Gage is sending you literally, mixed signals. As nitrogen pressure depletes, the gauge will drop until such time as you reach the critical pressure of the CO2. At this time, you will find yourself in the same place as you do with pure CO2.

So, if you are a person who enjoys recreational mathematics, and wants to dig into such things as the expansion rate of carbon dioxide, and or have the necessary skills to move and weigh compressed gas cylinders, go nuts.

If not, you might consider choosing a gas system that is user-friendly and will reduce worry. One might argue, that as a Restauranteur, you have enough on your plate. (Go ahead and moan. It only makes me stronger.) But seriously, there is enough keeping you awake at night.

Wrench

BREWERS JOURNAL CANADA

When acting as a consultant, or simply selling a beverage system, sometimes I have no say in the gas system. Oftentimes, large chains have standing agreements with beverage gas providers, and the gas system is predetermined.

When I am engaged in the conversation early enough, and able to contribute my opinion, I will recommend many Mini bulk CO2, and pneumatic beverage pumps.

The most wonderful thing about pneumatic beverage pumps is that the gas used to drive the pump, never touches the product.

This means that you can use clean, dry compressed air from an oilless compressor.

This will reduce your CO2 consumption, as well as reduce the dangers of a CO2 leak.

However, things break down, and the power might go out.

If you take the extra few seconds to vent the exhaust, from all of the pumps, to a safe, well ventilated room, you can have a changeover valve, which can switch from Air to CO2, as the source for powering your beverage pumps.

This way, in the event of an air compressor failure, you can still serve beer. If you have nitrogenous ales or coffees on offering, there are nitrogen generators available, that also provide air to power pumps.

Uh Oh! Nearly empty!

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Lastly, as evaporated CO2 mixes well, you can always employ a Gas Blender, and mix your gasses on-site, and on demand. This can be a single blend, for Nitro Ales, or multiple Blends, to account for differing needs of styles and dispense pressure requirements.

And for Goodness’ sake, spend the $5 on that cheap, stamped-steel wrench that can’t be removed from a regulator when it is on the tank. I have seen Bar Managers, AGM’s and GMs fired because they couldn’t change the gas tank on St Patrick’s Day, or during Super Bowl, or Stanley Cup Finals, etc. Imagine that conversation

The good ones want to help you succeed, as they are dependent on your ability to afford their services. In Conclusion, your CO2 gauge can tell you what you need to know, but only if you are asking the right question, or take the time to learn to interpret the data.

Cheers Dan Broaddus Master Draught Beer Dispense Technician On the socials @draughtismycraft

Boss/Owner: “Why couldn’t we sell beer for the second half of our most lucrative event of the season/year?”

Manager responsible. “Sorry Boss, but we couldn’t find/broke the cheap pliers from the Dollar Store we normally use to change the gas cylinder. The guy wanted $5 for the purpose-built wrench, that can’t be taken off the tank. But hey, you only lost $8,000 tonight, because I ignored the expert advice of a wise professional.”

There is always a solution that can minimize additional worry. Just ask your technicians and service providers.

This tank has been in use for months. The gauge hasn’t budged

Blender

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BELGIAN BREWING THE TWO BELGIAN BEERS YOU’LL LOVE TO BREW BELGIAN BEERS ARE ENJOYED ALL OVER THE WORLD. IN THIS ARTICLE, EXPERTS IN BREWING, FERMENTATION AND THE ART OF BELGIAN BREWING – STÉPHANE MEULEMANS, PHILIPPE JANSSENS AND PATRICK ZANELLO, TAKE US ON A JOURNEY THROUGH THIS MUCH-LOVED PART OF THE BEER WORLD.

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he first thing to know about Belgian beers is that there is a LOT to know. The Belgians have been brewing beer in a multitude of conditions and styles. And they’ve been doing it for centuries, dating back to at least the 12th century, with increasingly high quality standards.

So if we’re going to “get technical” about brewing Belgian-style beers, we’ll just zero in on a couple of our favourites: Abbey-style and Farmhouse-style (Saison).

To do it, we’ve enlisted the help of three accomplished experts in brewing, fermentation and Belgian beers –Stéphane Meulemans, Philippe Janssens and Patrick Zanello.

Let’s start with Abbey beers, first brewed

by Trappist monks in Belgian monasteries. When we refer to Abbey-style today, what exactly do we mean? And how does choosing just the right yeast help create an ideal Abbey-style beer?

S.M.: There is a huge range of Belgian Abbey-Style beers, varying in color, alcohol, taste and flavour. The color range is mainly impacted by the use and amount of specialty malts.

The alcohol level ranges mainly between 6-10% ABV, depending on the original gravity of the wort and the yeast ability to assimilate the different sugars in the wort.

The flavour is basically related to the raw materials used in the brewing process (e.g. malts, hops, etc.) and the yeast used during the primary fermentation.

Most of the yeasts are from the specie Saccharomyces cerevisiae. There are two families predominantly used for the main fermentation. The first, which can use ferulic acid contained in the malt and convert it

into phenols, is classified as POF+ (phenolic off flavour positive) and produces beer with a phenolic quality, characterized by a clove-like or medicinal aroma.

The other family, which is not able to use ferulic acid, produces more fermentative aromas, higher alcohols and esters compounds. The beers it produces are generally perceived as more fruity.

P.J.: The choice of yeast strain is critical to define the final profile of the beer. When the yeast does not produce phenols, the expression of fermentative aroma is much more evident. So in this respect, the genetic potential of the yeast instills specific aromas and flavours to the beer.

The other principal characteristic of the yeast is related to the assimilation of the sugars in the wort. The higher the assimilation, the higher the attenuation.

Generally, brewers use the apparent degree of fermentation as a parameter to define the end of the fermentation. During the

fermentation process, fermentable sugars are mainly converted into ethanol, CO2 and aromatic compounds. If the attenuation is high, the production of those volatile compounds are higher as well, due to the yeast.

The SafAleTM BE-256 we suggest for brewing Belgian Abbey Style Beer is POF-, and presents a high degree of attenuation, between 82 - 86%, therefore the level of alcohol and esters produced is very high, resulting in fruitier beers.

The other interesting property is that the yeast has a flocculent character that leads to fast sedimentation, helping to clarify the beer at the end of fermentation. This also allows a secondary fermentation with another yeast strain, after adding some sugar needed for the carbonation of the final beer.

Q: The origins and characteristics of Farmhouse-style beers are very different from Abbey-style. How did they evolve?

P.Z.: Saison-style beers are associated with farmhouse-style beers, which historically, varied widely in taste and aroma, as each farm brewer used their own available ingredients and brewed their own distinctive style. They were originally consumed during the summer by the workers on the farm, and during harvest period.

Modern-day saisons retain that characteristic of high drinkability, with low residual sugars generally associated with a low level of alcohol, classically between 4.5 - 6.5% ABV. Other features of Saison-style are the presence of phenols, produced by the POF+ yeast

strains, and a smooth bitterness with nice balance between the higher alcohols and the esters, with some yeasty notes. They are relatively pale in appearance, as they are produced with pale malts. A great example of this style is the “Saison Dupont,” famous in Belgium and recognized as a model across borders.

P.J.: SafAleTM BE-134 does a nice job of helping deliver these Saison characteristics. The specie of this yeast strain is Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. diastaticus, which means the yeast naturally produces certain enzymes, such as the Amyloglucosidase (AMG), that are capable of degrading most of the sugars present during the fermentation. This AMG generates glucose that will be fermented and consequently metabolized into ethanol, CO2 and aromatic compounds. Thus, the apparent degree of fermentation is very high, mostly above 90%.

According to the literature, all S. cerevisiae var. diastaticus are POF+ and use the ferulic acid present in the malt for the synthesis of the phenols, mainly 4-VG. The other interesting property of the yeast is that flocculation and sedimentation behavior is low, and the yeast remains in the media to complete the fermentation.

As the beers are produced in the spring, the temperature range is average to high.

The yeast is robust – it will typically initiate fermentation in the 18-24°C range and the temperature occasionally can freely rise up into the 30°C+ range during fermentation.

Q.: Patrick, you have an extensive brewing background, and are a certified beer

judge. Do you have a favourite beer to brew or drink?

P.Z.: I’m a fan of Saison. It is such an aromatic, refreshing beer, with great drinkability and a nice, dry finish. It always leaves you wanting another sip. I believe this style is perfect for Brazil. With such warm weather most of the year, a well-brewed Saison would appeal to a lot of beer drinkers here.

A lot of Saisons are produced here, but a lot of people haven’́t tried a good Saison yet. I suggest they do!

Stéphane Meulemans is an entrepreneur whose successful background includes over 15 years working in the hops industry and opening a Belgian craft brewery. He earned degrees in Brewing Engineering and Business Management from Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium. Since 2014, Stéphane Meulemans has been the General Manager at Fermentis, the business unit of Lesaffre in charge of developing and selling fermentation solutions for the beverage industry.

Philippe Janssens holds a Bio-Engineering degree and a Masters in Malting & Brewing Science. He has spent over 30 years in the brewing industry, including being a brewer in Africa and Belgium, and a patent engineer.

Now he is the Technical Manager & Brewer at Fermentis.

Patrick Zanello has a Biology degree, majoring in Genetics, from the University of São Paulo. He was head brewer at Colorado Brewery, and managed plants for Schornstein Brewery and Beltway Brewing in the U.S. He is now Regional Sales Manager for Fermentis, responsible for the Brazilian region.

Meet the Belgium Beer team at work. This photo was taken during the interview! Of course, social distancing is strictly respected by everyone and we organized a virtual interview.

From left to right: Stéphane Meulemans (General Manager, Fermentis), Yves Gosselin (R&D Director, Fermentis), Philippe Janssens (Technical Manager, Fermentis), Patrick Zanello (Regional Sales Manager, Brazil, Fermentis), and Dave Ratfelders (Freelance Writer).

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MEET THE BREWER

BIG RIG BREWERY

THE BIG IDEA

BIG RIG BREWERY HAS COME A LONG WAY SINCE STARTING OUT IN 2012. UNDER THE STEWARDSHIP OF FOUNDER LON LADELL, THEY’VE MADE A LOT OF GREAT BEER, MADE A LOT OF GREAT (AND FAMOUS) FRIENDS AND MADE A LOT OF PEOPLE HAPPY ALONG THE WAY.

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President and a Prime Minister walk into a bar.

Ok, well, an ex-president but you get the point.

It was the last day of May in 2019 and the team at Big Rig Brewery in Ottawa got a call.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was going to be in town the next day, and his team were on the look-out for somewhere he could enjoy a pint with a friend.

Lon Ladell, Big Rig’s founder and brewmaster, and his team were more than happy to oblige.

“The visit was set for the following day and from that point on, we had security on-site to check who was due to be in the brewery that day, as well as bomb sniffing dogs to ensure the venue was safe,” he recalls.

“Mr Trudeau came in with his people. They spent around an hour here before, with 15 minutes notice, we were told that Barack Obama would be joining them,” he smiles.

“You could say things haven’t been the same since.”

Obama was in town for a private speaking engagement, and during their visit to the brewery, the duo ventured to the bar and Ladell enquired as to what they might like to drink.

“Prime Minister Trudeau ended up having two of our Alpha Bomb IPAs and Mr Obama had a Canadian Amber,” says Ladell. “They spoke privately for a good hour, but were very gracious with their time with the team and I.”

Ladell adds: “I had friends in places like Scotland calling me to say I was in the news! It was an honour to host them, but at the end of the day it was just a couple of friends having a pint together.

“One of the wonderful things about the beer world is that it’s one of good times and good friends.”

And if you’re thinking along the saying that ‘It never rains but it pours’ then June was something of a monsoon for Ladell. But a positive one, at that.

Less than two weeks after their famous guests visited, it was announced that Big Rig Brewery had been acquired

by Foodtastic, a franchisor of multiple restaurant concepts.

Speaking at the time, Peter Mammas, the president and chief executive officer of Foodtastic, said, “Big Rig is a treasured lo-

cal brand and we are excited to welcome Big Rig into the Foodtastic family.

“We look forward to preserving Big Rig’s strong brand, while growing the restaurant system across the region. We are already looking at locations in Toronto.

This acquisition of a homegrown Ontario business is consistent with our strategy of acquiring quality brands with growth potential that complement our existing brand portfolio.

“We believe the Big Rig acquisition will leverage our marketing, purchasing and operational systems to better serve our Big Rig customers and welcome many new ones.”

Ladell says Foodtastic has proven to be a “wonderful, wonderful partner” and a relationship that has worked for both sides, especially as it enables him to continue his passion in the world of beer.

It was an honour to host them, but at the end of the day it was just a couple of friends having a pint together,” Lon Ladell, Big Rig Brewery. brewersjournal.ca

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“We were about three quarters of the way through construction of these venues when the pandemic struck. So we had to ask ourselves do we push on, or wait for better days? It felt right to test the water, get them completed and offer these services to the community in any way we could,” Ladell recalls. “It was better to get them finished and to be ready for a time when more people could visit.”

I’m a brewer at heart. And if I wasn’t brewing here, I’d be brewing somewhere else, be it in Canada or elsewhere in the world,” he explains. “I love what we’ve made here.

It’s a wonderful brand and there are many, many possibilities to realise.”

Away from the expansion into new areas, Ladell and the team also had decisions to make when it came to their existing business.

Among those possibilities is the capacity to expand Big Rig’s operations throughout Canada. And just before the pandemic took hold, they did just that, revealing they were opening two new locations in Ontario. The first at Heartland Town Centre in Mississauga, closely followed by another in Richmond Hill.

“When word came down last March, we learned about a week or two after that we were going to be able to stay open as a production facility to supply the grocery stores and the Liquor Control Board,” he says. “We had to pivot our business quite a bit and, as an operator, say ‘Okay, this is gonna be a tough ride’”.

One of the hurdles to overcome was forecasting what beers to brew and in which volumes. Ladell is a firm advocate when it comes to fresh beer, so the brewery reduced its range from 20 lines to a respectable 14.

Beers were available to purchase direct from the brewery’s venue, or via delivery, too.

Ladell adds: “At the start of this, I went from being totally devastated to thinking that this is an opportunity to look at different ways to do business, diversify our products, and start doing things in other ways.

“It has been challenging, but in some ways rewarding, too. I think whenever there’s big adversity like this, it’s an opportunity to push yourself. And you don’t grow unless you push yourself.”

And that has involved experimenting and producing an array of drinks other than beer.

“I love the beer world, but I also really just enjoy creating things,” he says. “We’ve been making grain-based seltzers for a little while and they’ve been incredibly popular.

“We are also looking at ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages and also working on some premium Gins and Whiskies down the line.

“You don’t grow if you don’t push yourself,” Lon Ladell, Big Rig Brewery.

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but he’s also a huge beer fan at heart.

We have a 350 litre, 12 column system. So, for example, we are going to yield some decent volumes, which go a long way when it comes to RTD drinks.”

The brewery’s diversification doesn’t stop there, either. With craft sodas featuring high quality natural ingredients — the order of the day.

“If we have these fantastic botanicals, herbs and spices at our disposal, then why not produce something like a non-alcoholic gin and tonic-flavoured soda?,” he asks.

Ladell is understandably excited about the wealth of drinks Big Rig can go on to create

brewersjournal.ca

“I’ve been making beer commercially since 1996. I find merit in any beer type. I enjoy hops, but I also enjoy a really clean Pilsner, or a Double Black IPA,” he explains. “And the pandemic has enabled us to revisit some beers like the award-winning Black IPAs and brew these stronger versions in small batches.

“But regardless of what we brew, one quality I appreciate is balance. I always find myself gravitating to beers with balance. And that’s the benefit of having a smaller brew kit at the pub to complement the larger production side. It allows us to experiment and work with beers we hope our patrons will enjoy.”

Beers at the pub are brewed on a 10bbl system, while the production side boasts a 30bbl system and a family of 60bbl fermenters, outputting between 20-25,000L per annum.

And on these systems, the team at Big Rig have brewed a wealth of beer for patrons over the years. In that time, Ladell says much has changed in the local market.

“When Big Rig was starting up, there was only three other breweries in the Ottawa area within a short drive. But that has exploded and you’re now looking at something closer to 35,” he says.

“At the start of the process, you really needed to try and inform and educate the consumer because many of them only had experience in the world of macro beer. But now we find the average consumer a lot more educated and passionate.”

And that increased level of knowledge and trust, from its patrons has only gone on to drive Ladell and his team.

He explains: “We aim to underpin everything we do with consistency and quality.

When I was being trained, the philosophy was that if something is at 95%, and you have the opportunity to go another 0.2% then you do it.

“That’s the way we approach everything we do. Nothing is going to be perfect each and every time. But if you strive for it, you can rest well and be happy with the results.”

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BEST (& WORST) PRACTICES AND HOW TO KNOW WHEN IT’S TIME TO PITCH FRESH YEAST BREWERS COMMONLY REPITCH YEAST TO FERMENT BATCH AFTER BATCH TO SAVE MONEY AND COAX OUT THE COMPLEX FLAVOURS AND HIGHER FLOCCULATION RATES THAT SACCHAROMYCES YEAST CAN DEVELOP OVER MULTIPLE GENERATIONS, PARTICULARLY FROM THE SECOND TO THE THIRD. Submitted by Precision Fermentation Inc. brewersjournal.ca

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ut in order to maximize yeast function and longevity, it’s important to be strategic and maintain consistency when you harvest (AKA “crop”) the yeast and which parts to take, along with how long you store your slurry and under what conditions.

These best practices for yeast harvesting can generate seven to 10 generations from one initial purchase.

CAN YOU STORE YOUR YEAST IN THE FERMENTER? Not recommended. Because yeast acts as an insulator, the middle layer of the yeast cake that forms at the bottom of a cylindroconical fermenter (CCV) can heat up. When yeast temperature rises, life expectancy falls.

WHEN TO BEGIN YEAST HARVESTING? In a cylindroconical tank it’s wise to remove yeast slurry shortly after fermentation finishes and beer has chilled to below 40 degrees, typically within 48 hours. In an open vessel, cropping should happen once gravity has fallen at least 50%.

SCIENCE

YEAST HARVESTING

NOTE: Don’t harvest from problematic fermentations. You want your slurry to look creamy with no trub, off-flavours or aromas.

WHICH YEAST HARVESTING METHOD IS BEST? While skimming off the top of an open vessel results in cleaner, more predictable and more viable yeast for repitching, modern brewers tend to employ conical tanks more often. With their cone-shaped bottoms, CCFs allow brewers to easily discharge trub and collect flocculated yeast.

Matthew Farber, director of the Brewing Science Certificate Program at Philadelphia’s University of the Sciences, says, “To the port a brewer should clamp a sight glass followed by a t-pipe fitting with valves on each side. Attached to hoses, the two t-pipe ports can be directed to waste, yeast brink, or bright tank.”

Watch for the dark trub to clear then switch the valve to direct the healthy yeast into the collection vessel.

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WHICH PART OF THE YEAST TO EXTRACT?

and cannot settle fast enough to be collected through the bottom port.”

50% or lower,” writes White Labs President Chris White on his blog.

Regardless of which type of vessel you use, you want to crop from the middle.

This residual yeast ends up sitting on the beer too long, killing off its cells and forming off-flavours like acetaldehyde and astringent bitterness.

To prolong life within this time span, keep the yeast at 34-36 degrees in a dark space free of oxygen. Oxygen and warm temperatures reduce lifespan and cause bacteria to form more quickly.

In a conical tank, the best yeast cells to harvest settle into a middle layer at the bottom between the first layer, consisting of trub and cells that flocculate early, and the top layer, In an open vessel, discard the first, “dirt,” skim, harvest the second skim that rises and toss any subsequent ones.

Best practices:

Dial in 1-4 PSI of CO2 head pressure in

u

the tank to prevent oxidation or a vacuum when harvesting. u Because slurry contains CO2 that makes yeast expand and turn to foam, leave 1/4 to 1/3 of the brink’s volume empty. u Don’t let the trub and yeast pour through the port too fast or you’ll end up with tunneling.

Farber explains tunneling this way: “If, during transfer, a valve is opened too far, the yeast slurry flows too quickly, pulling yeast from the center of the cone. With rapid transfer, the yeast ‘stick’ to the walls

WHAT VESSELS CAN I USE TO STORE THE YEAST BETWEEN BATCHES? Before putting a yeast storage vessel into action, disassemble and soak the fittings to wipe out any bacteria, and purge the vessel with CO₂ to minimize the slurry’s contact with oxygen.

HOW DO I KNOW IF MY YEAST IS HEALTHY ENOUGH TO REUSE? Before storing and again before re-pitching, brewers should test their yeast for viability and contamination. Ideally, you’ll use yeast that is more than 95% and no less than 70% viable.

Cornelius kegs, soda kegs and covered food-grade plastic buckets make for simple and inexpensive storage containers.

However, because they don’t vent pressure, shake and vent the kegs once a day or more and vent the buckets periodically.

If a beer is contaminated, the culture will also be contaminated. Check the slurry for aerobic and bacteria, and wild yeast. Don’t use the slurry if bacteria counts are over 1 per ml, and wild yeast is over 1 per 0.1ml.

HOW DO I KEEP MY YEAST VIABLE?

ONE FINAL NOTE

As with anything, proper yeast management is key. Ideally you should use it within 1-3 days.

Always harvest from a low-gravity and low-hop beer. High gravity and/or highly hopped beers can stress the yeast and result in poor later fermentations. Don’t harvest yeast from beers with higher than 6.5% ABV.

“If less than two weeks, brewers will usually have no problem reusing yeast. After four weeks, the viability of yeast slurry is usually

You’re invested in your business So are we Partner with the only lender 100% invested in Canadian food.

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DREAM. GROW. THRIVE.

BIOTRANSFORMATION

KEEP YOUR HOPS ALIVE WITH YEAST

BIOTRANSFORMATION IS THE PROCESS BY WHICH YEASTS CHANGE LESS DESIRABLE HOP COMPOUNDS INTO MORE DESIRABLE BOLD FLAVOURS AND AROMAS. HERE, EUGENE FLETCHER, PHD. RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT LEAD AT ESCARPMENT LABORATORIES, EXPLAINS WHY BREWERS ARE RIGHT IN BEING INTRIGUED ABOUT BIOTRANSFORMATION FOR SEVERAL REASONS.

Essentially, inert hop flavours are brought to life by yeast.

he first lesson I learnt when I started brewing was that a brewer must be intentional in their choice of hops and yeasts.

Hundreds of compounds have been identified in hop essential oils but the composition and amount of these compounds depend on the hop variety.

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Apart from fermenting malt sugars to alcohol during brewing, the real craft of brewing comes to play when hop compounds are transformed in a biochemical process to add radically new flavours and aromas to beer in what is known as biotransformation.

What is biotransformation and what is all the fuss about? Biotransformation is the process by which yeasts change less desirable hop compounds into more desirable bold flavours and aromas.

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Brewers are right in being intrigued about biotransformation for several reasons. Firstly, it offers them an opportunity to be creative with their craft beers as they develop recipes to add new flavours and aromas.

Also, with biotransformation, brewers are able to save money on hops since the right choice of yeast will amplify the perception of some hops flavour compounds, thus reducing the amount of hops required for brewing.

In this blog post, I will demystify the magic behind biotransformation of two important classes of hop compounds - terpenoids and thiols.

FANCY HOP COMPOUNDS To appreciate how biotransformation works, we first have to be familiar with the chemistry of hops. Hops, as we know it, are rich in essential oils.

Indeed, of all plants, hops is the species with the most complex known essential oils.

No wonder it has been used for brewing over several centuries (and millennia even) to confer desirable flavours and aromas to beer as well as add some bitterness!

other terpenoid compound, gets converted into caryophyllene which add a note of black pepper to beer.

As I mentioned earlier, the composition and amount of terpenoids present in hop oils vary depending on the hop variety.

So next the obvious question is which hops varieties are rich in terpenes?

Scientists have only scratched the surface of hop chemistry but Cascade has been reported to have a considerable amount of geraniol. Other terpenoid-rich hops include Chinook, Mosaic, Centennial and Bravo.

Still on the topic, there has been a growing sensation regarding brewing with New Zealand hops, making them the most sought after in recent times.

This is partly because they have an interesting flavour profile since these distinctly flavoured hops are bred to generate hop varieties with a more complex composition of flavour compounds.

They are great for IPAs as they give citrusy and floral notes of grapefruit and lemon aromas. Research published this year (2021) by a group of scientists at the University of Otago in New Zealand showed that the most popular New Zealand hops including Rakau, Riwaka, Wai-iti and Waimea are rich in terpenoid compounds.

TERPENOIDS The most popular class of compounds present in hop oils are the terpenoids. Terpenoids possess strong sensory qualities.

An example of a common terpenoid in hops is geraniol which can be transformed into floral aroma compounds citronellol, nerol and linalool. Alpha-humulene, an-

The NADPH-dehydrogenase from terpenes into citronellol

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THIOLS Moving on from terpenoids, another interesting group of compounds found in hops that gets transformed into unique fruity flavours and aromas are thiols and other sulphur compounds.

Thiols constitute less than 1% of hop oils but are still able to add a tropical fruity tang to beers.

While free thiols can be found in some hops, majority of thiols are inactive because they are bound to protein-type molecules so the flavour perception of the compound is essentially “locked”.

Therefore, biotransformation of these bound thiols to free (active) thiols is an important process which makes the brewer utilize to the maximum level every thiol compound per gram of hops thus saving money spent on hops.

Thiols are referred to by a simpler version of a more complex chemical name which I wouldn’t bore you with.

The common ones include in 4MSP which add a note of black currant to beers and can particularly be found in hops such as Simcoe, Summit and Cascade. Hallertau Blanc, Tomahawk and the New Zealand hop variety Nelson Sauvin are all rich in 3MH which contributes an exotic fruit, rhubarb-like and grapefruit flavour.

THE YEAST CELL FACTORY The main force behind biotransformation is yeast. Think of a yeast cell as a factory where raw materials in the form of hop compounds are converted into desirable flavour and aroma compounds.

In these yeast cell factories are tiny factory workers called enzymes. It is these enzymes that do the conversion of the hop compounds.

For example, geraniol is converted to citronellol by the yeast enzyme NADPH dehydrogenase. Citronellol has a sweet citrusy aroma.

Therefore, hops such as Riwaka that are rich in terpenoids will release geraniol into the wort which can then be biotransformed by a yeast enzyme to produce the citrusy citronellol flavour.

Clearly, the choice of yeast is an important consideration in making a beer recipe that requires biotransformation of hop

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compounds. The differences observed in yeasts can be traced to the genetics of the yeast strain that makes some yeasts able to make active forms of the enzymes required to transform the hop compounds.

While we can’t yet share specific numbers as the studies are unpublished, we have summarized yeasts from our lineup that excel in either terpene or thiol biotransformation below.

Our own research here at Escarpment Labs has shown that some wild phenolic yeasts are able to effectively biotransform terpenoid compounds.

HOP O’CLOCK

However, the phenolic character presented by these wild yeasts is not ideal for making clean IPAs since the phenolic off-flavour masks the citrusy aroma of the biotransformed hop compound.

In our study, we also identified non-phenolic yeasts such as Cerberus, Vermont Ale and Hornindal Kveik which could equally do the job of biotransforming terpenoids.

In the case of thiols, majority of the compound remain bound and inactive.

During yeast biotransformation of thiols, the enzyme called cysteine beta-lyase releases the inactive bound thiols present in hop oils to generate free thiols that add fruity notes to beer. Information on yeasts that can perform this type of conversion is limited.

Last but not least, the timing of the hopping regime can make a great impact on the release of hop compounds that are biotransformed by the yeast.

The difference in flavour based on the timing of hop addition is literally like night and day. Typically, to maximize the amount of terpenoids extracted into wort, hops is added during the late kettle boil or early during dry hopping.

On the other hand, dry hopping or addition of hops during late fermentation is preferred to extract thiols from hops and make them available for biotransformation.

Taken together, the choice of hops, yeast and the timing of hop addition should be carefully considered in order to obtain the desired flavour and aroma when crafting one’s ideal beer.

At Escarpment Labs, however, we are actively doing some research to develop beer yeasts that are able to release bound thiols in hops to enhance the flavour of IPAs.

Also, craft brewers are getting more creative with the addition of flavourings and spices such as coriander, ginger and citrus peel.

In the meantime, some wine yeasts can do this biotransformation and can be copitched with beer yeasts as long as they do not inhibit growth of the beer yeast.

Even though this article mostly focused on biotransformation of hop compounds, some of these spices are also rich in terpenoids that could also be converted into interesting flavour compounds.

Biotransformation of terpenoids and bound thiols. The yeast enzyme nadph dehydrogenase transforms hop terpenoids such as geraniol into the citrusy citronellol flavour compound. another yeast enzyme (cysteine beta-lyase) frees bound thiols present in hops resulting in an enhanced thiol (mostly tropical fruity) flavour.

ESCARPMENT YEASTS FOR BIOTRANSFORMATION Through our research partnerships with universities and research institutes, we’ve been able to measure some of the biotransformation products and enzyme activities in our yeast strains!

BREWERS JOURNAL CANADA

ACCESSIBILITY

IF YOU CAN’T GO PEE, YOU CAN’T DRINK BEER

HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT THAT THE WASHROOMS WERE THE MOST IMPORTANT PLACE IN YOUR ESTABLISHMENT? IF YOU DON’T PAY ATTENTION TO HOW ACCESSIBLE THEY ARE, YOU ARE SINGLEHANDEDLY EXCLUDING THE WORLD’S LARGEST MINORITY GROUP, WHO (BY THE WAY) HAVE MONEY TO SPEND. SO WITH THAT, GO EXAMINE YOUR WASHROOM AND ASK YOURSELF: WHEN BEER LEADS YOU HERE, DOES THIS WORK FOR EVERYONE? ASKS JULIE SAWCHUK AN ACCESSIBILITY STRATEGIST AND THE BEST-SELLING AUTHOR OF BUILD YOUR SPACE AND BUILDING BETTER BATHROOM

by Julie Sawchuk brewersjournal.ca

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hat’s a rather uncomfortable conversation starter, isn’t it? It’s biology — everyone, especially when drinking beer (or anything else alcoholic) has to empty their bladder. But what would you do, if after consuming a couple of pints, you realized that the bathroom was closed?

You’d have a little panic, but then you would seek out other options. What if there were no other options? No toilet that you could access. Cross your legs and have another beer? Not likely.

For a lot of Canadians, access to a washroom is a make-or-break factor when deciding where they go; be it for work or socializing, everyone needs to pee. For me, it’s the first thing I think about when planning an outing — where am I going that has a washroom that is accessible for me?

What is special about me? I have a spinal cord injury that affects the way my body functions, including how I empty my bladder. I literally arrange my day according

to my need to pee; generally speaking, if I can’t use your washroom, you likely won’t ever meet me. What I eat and drink when I am away from home totally depends on the facilities that are available.

Have you ever thought that the washrooms were the most important place in your establishment? If you don’t pay attention to how accessible they are, you are single-handedly excluding the world’s largest minority group, who (by the way) have money to spend.

WASHROOMS? THE MOST IMPORTANT PLACE? REALLY? Look at it this way: what would you offer to do first? Would you help someone with a door to get into a building or would you help someone in a bathroom? You’d help with the door, right? Maybe it’s down a back alley and hard to find, or super heavy, or has an awkward handle that’s difficult to operate. Either way, you would help with the door.

Julie Sawchuk is not too shy to talk about toilets. Once you learn the secrets of accessible washrooms you will never look at grab bars the same way again.

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and tables, cozy lighting and great music.

Everyone is welcome. But are they, really?

Go examine your washroom and ask yourself: when beer leads you here, does this work for everyone?

It’s about access. Can people come in and more importantly can they “ go” as they please? Which brings us back to the importance of the washroom. If you can’t go pee, you can’t drink beer. It’s as straightforward as that.

If you are going to be drinking, you need to know that there is somewhere to empty your bladder. Most people don’t even think about it; it’s just assumed that there’s a toilet.

Unless, of course, you are someone who counts on using a toilet (or urinal) that is not :

in a tiny space down a narrow hallway u poorly lit u up or down a set of stairs u behind a heavy door

That means 1 out of 5 people are deaf or hard of hearing; are blind or have vision loss; or have a physical disability like paralysis, limited dexterity, reduced balance or strength, or have chronic pain.

This is a point-form list for a very large group of people.

Ever since we (as a society) created indoor plumbing, what happens with our bodily waste has become a private activity, always happening behind a closed door.

Sure, you know what you do in a bathroom, but do you really know what anyone else is doing, or how their body functions behind that door?

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But the bathroom? You might go so far as to hold open a door for someone, but that’s likely where your offer to help stops. The washroom is a personal space and society has taught us that no one is supposed to know or hear about what a person is doing behind that closed door.

You know you make and pour good beer.

Your patrons enjoy themselves when they are drinking and eating at your establishment, right? Your guests are comfortable with nice stools at a bar, booths or chairs

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Although wheelchair users seem to dominate the conversation about accessibility (the International Symbol of Access or ISA is the blue wheelchair symbol), we are actually a small percentage of the people with disabilities population: 21% of beer-drinking age Canadians identify as having a disability.

We assume that we do because all bodies work more or less the same ... right? Not quite. You know what happens when we assume. And that is why we (as a society) have been getting it wrong (especially in “accessible” washrooms) for such a very long time.

Here is your opportunity to look at your washrooms from a different vantage point and realize that accessibility is so much more than what is laid out in the building code.

You may think a sink set-up is obvious or easy, but little things make a big difference for safety and ease of use for everyone.

First, vision loss. People who are blind or have low vision feel their way around a bathroom — a room where no one wants to touch anything!

This is why a simple layout, with no protruding objects and good colour contrast between walls, floors and features is so important. And hand washing: a sink within reach of the soap and paper towels without having to “feel” to find them? It really matters.

How about hearing loss? Think safety. As we know, bathrooms are places for people to be alone. If you can’t hear that an emergency is taking place you need to be notified by sight. This is why having both audible and visual (strobe) fire alarms is needed in every space where someone could be alone — just one example of building beyond code .

Arms, hands and fingers function with strength and dexterity to do things like pulling the toilet paper out of the giant toilet roll, turning on the taps, pulling the paper towel out of the dispenser and opening the door. For some, asking fingers to get that next square of toilet tissue or turn and slide a lock might actually be an impossible task.

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Pulling a paper towel with two hands, evenly placed on either corner of the next sheet of paper is difficult, not just from a dexterity perspective, but also considering strength and balance. I do not have the core strength to have both my arms up and away from my body.

That half a paper towel ripped at an angle dangling from the dispenser? That was me.

spaces for people to choose which washrooms they find most comfortable allows people to feel safe and not worry about who is watching.

Before my injury, I thought that a transfer was something that happened between bank accounts. Now I transfer from my wheelchair seat to the toilet by sliding my butt and lifting it with my arms. Transfers require strength and balance and properly placed grab bars. Other people use them differently, but I need them to lean sideto-side to pull my pants down and back up again.

I’ve pulled grab bars off walls and even been trapped in bathrooms with such heavy doors that I had to wait for someone else to come along. Once bitten, twice shy certainly applies here — knowing that I might run into a difficult situation might mean I do not show up at all.

Some people require things that I call provisions of excretion: “stuff” that they need a place for when they are in the bathroom.

Access to hooks, shelves and waste disposals goes a long way to helping people while they are seated.

We also need to understand that all bodies are different. Creating gender-neutral

These are just a few of the “uncomfortable conversations” that we, as a society, have not been having about accessible bathroom design. Everybody goes, especially those who drink beer.

So yes, being able to get in is good, but being able to stay when they have to go — isn’t that more important?

Julie Sawchuk is an accessibility strategist and the best-selling author of Build Your Space and Building Better Bathrooms. Get the help you need to make your space awesome at www.juliesawchuk.ca Enlighten your team | Inform your designs | Build without barriers.

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BRINGING BUILDINGS TO LIFE APOSTOLOS SIGALAS HAS A VISION FOR MAKING OLD, UNWANTED BUILDINGS LIVE AGAIN. WE SPOKE TO HIM ABOUT WHY HIS LATEST PROJECT COULD BE THE PERFECT FIT IN THE WORLD OF BREWING. 48

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s the CEO of West Liberty Financial, Apostolos Sigalas has over 15 years of experience in retail bank financing for large residential, commercial, and business loans.

His love of architecture, history, and business enables him to analyze all aspects of a property’s potential, and has driven him to venture into the development of Resto Bars, Dt Toronto Lofts, and build Contemporary style homes.

Sigalas’s new passion - is purchasing old unused properties and redeveloping them into economically viable historic gems.

One of those gems is the former St. James Anglican Church in Downtown Ingersoll, Ontario, which has now been rebranded as “The Oxford”.www.184oxford.ca/ He purchased the property in 2020 with the intent of converting it into a commercial space that would feature several new businesses, but the one business that he truly believes would fit perfectly - is a Microbrewery We sat down with Sigalas to discuss his passion for old buildings and discuss the Oxford.

What inspired you to redevelop buildings?

I was really inspired after I spent some time in Europe, especially Italy and Greece.

During my travels through the Italian countryside and Greek Islands, I continually saw old stone buildings which were at originally built as churches, castles or even stables in small towns that were 100, 500, some maybe 1000 years old—but were recently re-purposed into restaurants, wineries, breweries, hotels and shops.

These buildings were drawing hundreds of thousands of tourists a year to these towns and creating a vibrant economy… and all along I’m thinking, why can’t we do that?

We have great buildings like these in Canada. Why aren’t we doing that?

And you saw that the Oxford had the same potential?

I read an article a couple of years ago that due to the drastic decline in church attendance across Canada, an estimated 9,000 churches and other religious spaces would permanently close over the next decade.

The article resonated with me and over the next few months I would periodically search listings to see what Churches were for sale. Most were small wooden steeple churches in rural areas.

But when I first saw the MLS Listing for St. James Church, I almost fell off my chair.

This building was around two centuries old, magnificently stone built, huge Church and Chapel, with a 60-foot tower. It reminded me of the many medieval buildings I saw during my travels in the Tuscany Countryside and Florence.

This is an impressive space. I was reading your website, The Oxford has three large unique rooms at over 3000 sq ft each, a Commercial Kitchen, Multiple Offices, Wine Cellars, 2 Loading Docks, Modern Furnace and Boiler system, and 38 Parking Spots.

Yes, that’s correct. Not only is It a beautiful building, it is very functional. Two of the rooms on the main floor are the Church and Parish which can easily be utilized for events, restaurants, and retail and with the fully operating Commercial Kitchen, you have a turn-

key opportunity. The third massive room is a full court basketball gym, which is directly below the Parish. It was when I saw the gym that I had the revelation that a Microbrewery would fit perfectly in the Oxford.

Why is that?

The gym was large enough to house all the brewing systems needed for a Microbrewery. Which means you now have a trifecta of services to offer in one location — Production, Retail, and Restaurant/Events — and all under one roof of a beautiful 200-hundred-year-old stone building.

The possibility for a Brewery who wants to elevate their brand by moving out of the industrial unit and merging their business with a prestigious landmark property is a once in a lifetime opportunity. If a Brewery wants to stand out from their competition, well the Oxford will definitely do that.

I mean, there is nothing like it in Ontario, I don’t even think Canada. Trust me, I have spent many late-nights googling Breweries and Distilleries in Canada, and I haven’t seen anything that comes close to what the Oxford offers.

I truly believe that the Brewery who moves into the Oxford will become a tourist destination, just like in those towns I went to in Italy. How could it not?

It definitely sounds like you have a great plan and vision, but the former church congregation has been active in the community since 1834. Was the church on board? Was the community okay with seeing this historic landmark change?

The Oxford has been part of the Ingersoll community for 185 years and is extremely important to the history of Southern Ontario. I mean people in the church congregation community built that church by hand, brick by brick, for no money, and all for the glory of God. So yes, in a situation like that where you are dealing with such an important historical property that involves people’s faith and memories, they are going to be protective and cautious who they will sell the building to—especially considering the Church was not designated officially as a historical landmark.

So technically anyone who bought it, could tear it down and build midrise condos-which would be far more profitable than repurposing it – by at least a few million dollars – and the congregation could do nothing to stop it from happening.

How do you convert a Church to a Commercial space? Is it a complicated process?

Yes. It is somewhat complicated with a lot of moving parts and obstacles that you would not encounter if you just bought a regular property.

First I had to meet with the Church Board of Directors and explain my vision and how by repurposing the Church we have an opportunity to save it, convince them that my intentions were authentic and viable, and have them agree to sell the property to me a reasonable price.

From there I had a series of meetings with county planners to discuss my plan, gain their support for the project, hire architects and consultants to prepare my application to change the zoning from a church to commercial use, and then book a date for the application to be reviewed at the

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Town Council. This process takes about six months and at a considerable cost and risk.

Meaning, if the Council declines the application, then the project does not move forward, I would have lost around $50,000.

Lastly, in order to be approved for the zoning change, I had to present my application to the Town Council. And again explain why I think that a microbrewery would easily fit into the building without jeopardizing it’s exterior, and that it would also create new jobs and become a huge economic benefit to the downtown core.

So I guess it’s fair to say in hindsight that it was a positive process, but were there any concerns at the council meeting.

Well, when I arrived to the Council meeting to present my application it the was packed with people, and I mean packed. The room sat about 40 people, and they actually had to bring in about 30 extra chairs to accommodate everyone, which I was told never really happened.

But there wasn’t a lot of pushback, it was just a lot of townspeople asking questions and just wanted to understand what my intentions were. There were some questions about parking and noise, which I addressed. But by the end of my presentation, everyone was on board. The council voted unanimously for it.

How has the COVID shutdown affected your plans?

Well, we purchased the property on March 3, 2020 – right when the pandemic started.

Initially, it did really affect our plans.

For the first two months we had to complete some renovations to the property like removing some offices to open up the Parish space and “De-Churchifying” the building.

Which is a word I made up that means we had to remove all religious symbols from the property—like replacing the windows, priming the walls, taking out 80 pews. Things like that. We wanted to create a blank canvas interior so prospective businessess could easily imagine how they could work the space.

When we completed the work and were ready to list the Oxford for lease or sale, we had to get very creative to attract attention— since we were in a full-blown shutdown.

What do you mean by Creative?

Well, I felt that due to the pandemic and the economic uncertainty, Brewery own-

ers would be hesitant to expand into a new space and invest hundreds of thousands of dollars into a moving and construction costs. Considering my company arranges commercial loans and business financing for exactly this reason, I thought a great way to incentivize a Brewery to move into the Oxford is to have the financing in place and made available to them—which save them the trouble and time.

So I arranged over $1.2 Million in Government Grants and Low interest loans to be made available to prospective tenants and show that the town and county are in support of a Microbrewery moving into the Oxford. Something like this hasn’t really been done before in the world of commercial leasing, so that’s what I meant be creative.

That’s a lot of money, how does it work and how has the response been?

I can’t remember the exact breakdown right now for the grants and loans, all the info is on the website—but it’s something like $40,000 in town grants and loans to renovate the Façade, $50,000 in Property Tax Rebates—which is huge. Another $350,000 in Government low interest loans for moving cost, leaseholds, and equipment.

It is really is a phenomenal opportunity.

When we got permission to allow showings and tours again in December 2020, we immediately relisted the Oxford for Lease/ Sale and advertised the $1.2 Million in financing available. The response has been amazing so far, with a handful of showings a week from serious prospects. That’s much more than I expected considering the holidays, the cold January and February we had, and the Covid shutdown.

That seems very encouraging. What has been the feedback so far?

Very positive. People who are in the event, restaurant, and brewery business immediately see the Oxford’s potential. I don’t have to explain it to them, they see it and they get it.

However, a few prospects said the Oxford is “Covid-Protocol Friendly”. Which is a term I never heard before or even considered. Basically, it means that the event and restaurant spaces are so large in the Oxford, that tables can be set up 6-feet apart from each other and you can easily serve 80 to 100 people and still comply with the Covid social distancing guidelines. This is obviously a huge benefit. It’s a new world with new consideration— and businessess need to adapt quickly.

BREWERS JOURNAL CANADA

CALABOGIE BREWING COMPANY

PLAYING ITS PART THE CALABOGIE BREWING COMPANY STARTED OUT IN CALABOGIE, ONTARIO BACK IN 2015. IN THE YEARS SINCE, THEY’VE EXPANDED AND ALSO ADDED A NEW LOCATION IN KANATA. AND ON THE BACKDROP OF A GLOBAL PANDEMIC, THEY’VE LAUNCHED A NEW COOPERATIVE DESIGNED TO HELP FELLOW BREWERIES THRIVE AND SUCCEED IN THESE CHALLENGING TIMES. 52

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om Leger, Pat Fiori, Hugh Colbert and the team at Calabogie Brewing Company they are not only brewing great beer, they’re helping others to brew it and package it also.

And that means offering partner breweries the ability to both package their beer in can, as well as add sleeved labels to them, too.

Fiori is the packaging manager (but with a remit for much, much more) at Calabogie Brewing Co. And a key reason for that breadth of responsibility is the formation of the Valley Brewing Cooperative, an initiative among five great breweries up and down the Ottawa Valley to pool ideas, resources and expertise.

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Working alongside Tom Leger, the brewery’s GM and Hugh Colbert, Calabogie’s head brewer and QA/QC manager, the company is aiming to make a difference in the beer community and in doing so, boost other brewing businesses, too.

While the cooperative breweries launched a mixed pack of their beers at the end of 2020, they’ve been working in a raft of other ways, too. Perhaps the most impactful collaboration during a pandemic were the ways they’ve packaged their beer. And that’s where Fiori comes in.

“Calabogie has a great culture, and I knew it was somewhere I would want to be part of. I know some people who have come to work here prior to myself, and it’s a brewery of personalities,” he explains.

And to enable this, Calabogie Brewing Company invested in a truck, took on some new staff and off they went. The brewery books in a date, the team load up a van, pay them a visit, and can their beers.

“With a limited number of members, we can be much more reactive in scheduling which is a benefit for everyone,” he adds.

Following the investment in a canning line, the cooperative consolidated its hop purchasing. A move that drove down costs and removed any potential logistical issues.

Next up is the addition of a sleeving line for cans — equipment that Leger expects to be operational by July and a move that will

allow the brewery to serve partner breweries in geographies such as Eastern Ontario.

“The whole goal is to improve the process for partner breweries and drive down costs, not just for ourselves but for these businesses, too,” The canning bow in Calabogie’s armoury has made a huge difference to the Valley Brewing Cooperative’s member’s ability to package their beer during a challenging year.

But with that running smoothly, the business will be taking delivery of a raft of new QC kit this fall — kit that will allow them to test samples submitted by other breweries to generate information such as alcohol percentage, IBUs and bacterial count.

“They don’t purely focus on your skillset, instead they are hiring a personality. It doesn’t matter if you’re the best in your world at your job, if you’re not going to play in the sandbox then they’re not interested.”

And since joining the business, Fiori has been hugely involved with the Valley Brewing Cooperative, a group that also features Braumeister Brewing Co., Evergreen Craft Ales, Flora Hall Brewing, and Ridge Rock Brewing Company.

“In late 2019, we put together a brewing cooperative with four local breweries to consolidate and help drive out costs. To that end, we purchased a mobile canner and have been providing mobile canning for ourselves and our members,” says Leger. “With licensees being down due to the pandemic, this has provided a lifeline for us and our members. Not only did it guarantee canning services, but at a more reasonable cost.”

Calabogie opted for a line from Wild Goose Canning. Fiori explains that the team did speak to Cask Brewing Systems, in a bid to keep the purchase Canadian, but the business was unable to offer the setup they required at the time.

However, the Wild Goose line has been up-and-running for some time now and has been ideal for their needs, outputting at around 40 cans per minute.

“Our members are producing 15 or 30bbl batches so this is perfect for us. We’re not canning 80hl a day, that’s for sure!,” says Fiori.

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And the quality control facet of the Calabogie operation is one that’s always been of top priority for the team. Inhouse practices currently ensure that every batch of beer is checked for wild yeast and bacteria at the beginning of fermentation, after transferring to bright tanks, and in package.

Calabogie offers lab services, in addition to canning and sleeving, to partner breweries and it’s also in the process of starting a new

company to formalise its service offering that includes contract brewing.

“We want to be in a position where we can help smaller breweries with some batches for busy summer months, or perhaps to fulfill a big push for an order to somewhere like the LCBO. We’re here to give people that flexibility,” says Fiori.

The growing contract offering will see Calabogie invest in more tank

capacity — capacity it already needs to fulfil increased demand for its own beers following a positive 12 months, despite the restrictions on trade in its taproom.

“Yes we’re expanding, but we’re doing this so that we can drop our price, cut our costs down and benefit everybody,” says Fiori. “This is not about profit, It’s about savings for us and the craft beer community”.

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ENTHUSIAST

HOMEBREWING The sector, reimagined

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CONTENTS

Canadian Homebrewers Association and Canadian Homebrew Day

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You have probably heard of the American Homebrewers Association (AHA), right? Did you know that we have a Canadian Homebrewers Association (CHA)?

We reached out to the co-founder, Kathy Yan Li, to learn more about the CHA and our very own Canadian Homebrew Day that is coming up in June.

Homebrewer Focus - Chelsea From the East

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Chelsea Meisner, a food scientist pro that has been exposed to homebrewing from a young age as both her parents have been partaking in the hobby for many decades. We talk with this Eastern Canadian brewer that has won awards, brewed at breweries, and advocates for women in brewing.

Homebrewer Focus - Chelsea From the West

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Now we take you over to Western Canada to introduce you to Chelsea Tessier, an award winning homebrewer that leverages her science degree and passion for learning and exploring ingredients to brew up some truly crafty creations. When she is not brewing she is leading her local Homebrew Guild as President.

Brew Sheets

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Chelsea Meisner from the East “White Sands Tropical IPA” Chelsea Tessier from the West “PB & Date Porter”

Gadget Corner

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Paddy Finnegan from Brew4.0 takes us on a journey of measuring hydrogen ions in solution while making a Berliner Weisse. Check out his review on the Milwaukee MW102 PRO+ pH meter.

From Janes and Joes to all-out Pros From Split Rail Brewing Co. on Manitoulin Island in Spring Bay, Ontario, we chat with brewer Barret Campbell about early exposure to homebrewing, a homebrew marathon, and what exciting things are coming up at Split Rail this year.

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Women In Brewing

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n honour of celebrating women in the month of March and well, let’s be real, we celebrate all year long, we are bringing you our first Homebrew Journal that highlights women in this beautiful hobby we all have in common.

First, we bring you Kathy Yan Li, an avid Homebrewer that was on a mission to bring Canadian Homebrewers together with the creation of the Canadian Homebrewers Association. Out of this, is where the national Canadian Homebrew Day was brewed.

For our Homebrewer Features we are showcasing two awesome homebrewers and they both just happened to be named Chelsea, one from the East (Nova Scotia) and one from the West (Alberta). Both are award winning Homebrewers that share a love of the hobby, science, and both like to explore new and interesting ingredients to add to their recipe creations.

Whether you are in a homebrew club or not, let us reach out to others (distantly for now given the pandemic we are in) from outside our traditional circles and embrace inclusivity. It makes our community a stronger and better place and we can all learn from one another and create beautiful brews drawing upon inspiration from our unique backgrounds. You can make new friends while letting someone else have an opportunity to brew where they may not have had before.

Are you interested in being featured in our Homebrew Journal? Do you want a topic of interest to be covered? - don’t be shy, we would love to hear from you! We are looking for beer brewers along with people that brew cider, meads, or kombucha.

If this sounds like you, please reach out to Sheena @knowledge.on.tap on Instagram, or email her at knwl.on.tap@gmail.com for more details.

Let us continue to share, expand, and spark new ideas within our amazing homebrewing community this year and in the years to come!

Stay Safe and Well - Happy Brewing Everyone!

Homebrewer Focus

Chelsea Meisner from Nova Scotia takes us on her journey from homebrewing with her parents at a young age to becoming a Food Scientist and making her own path as a Homebrewer.

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Cheers!

Your Homebrew Journal Team: Paddy Finnegan Sheena Strauss Magdalena Lesiuk

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CANADIAN HOMEBREWERS ASSOCIATION AND CANADA HOMEBREW DAY WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CANADIAN HOMEBREWERS ASSOCIATION (CHA)?

HOW ABOUT THE UPCOMING NATIONAL CANADIAN HOMEBREW DAY WHERE HOMEBREWERS FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY PARTICIPATE IN THEIR FAVOURITE HOBBY TOGETHER? I KNOW I DID, SO I REACHED OUT TO KATHY YAN LI, WHO IS THE CO-FOUNDER AND A CURRENT DIRECTOR OF THE CHA AND SHE KINDLY TOOK THE TIME TO SHARE WITH US A LITTLE ABOUT HER HOMEBREWING JOURNEY ALONG WITH HOW THE CHA CAME TO BE AND WHEN THE NEXT CANADIAN HOMEBREW DAY IS. 60

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Featuring Kathy Yan Li from @CanadaHomebrews

H

omebrewing has always been about community for me.

I was first introduced to the idea of homebrewing in university, when a friend of mine approached me to start a homebrewing club. None of us knew how to make beer, and we quickly realised that we couldn’t legally make beer on the cheap to sell to house parties for a quick buck. So we decided to offer weekly brewing sessions for our members. We got permission to use a spare kitchen space on the second floor of the student union building, and every week, we’d tow our brew pots, convection hot plates, beers in primaries on a homemade dolly into the service elevator and brew something.

In 2012, I attended my first National Homebrew Conference in Bellevue, WA. That was the first time I had a taste of what homebrewing could be. Despite being from all across the US, everyone seemed to know everyone. There was a friendly camaraderie in the atmosphere, and no one sat alone.

The seminars were educational and catered to varying levels of

experience, the club night was inspiring and just so much fun. Just talking homebrew with complete strangers, brought together for the sole shared interest in brewing, for three days straight left me buzzing for weeks. It was then I knew that I wanted to have something like that in Canada. But we needed a national homebrewing body like American Homebrewers Association to run it. It took me a few more years to figure out what the best way to start one was.

The Canadian Homebrewers Association was launched in 2018, after a successful Kickstarter campaign garnering over 270 members from all across the country (and a few from overseas!). I had spent the year before travelling to as many different homebrew competitions across Canada as I could chatting to Canadian homebrewers to see if there was any interest in a national homebrewing organization— Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg — and

Canadian Homebrew Day 2019 from Ottawa with Members of Barleyment Homebrew Club Jockey Box

BREWERS JOURNAL CANADA

the answer was yes. I depleted all my AirMiles that year, and made a lot of new friends across Canada.

The idea of a national homebrewing body isn’t new. Before us, there was the Canadian Amateur Brewers Association, but it was predominantly serving the Ontario and Quebec populus, and quietly dissolved in the early 2010. I knew that in order for our new organization to succeed, it needed to truly represent homebrewers across Canada. So we created seven regional positions on the board, with two general positions, in hopes to achieve just that.

One of the first events that we launched was Canadian Homebrew Day - a day to celebrate homebrewing in Canada. It falls on the first Saturday of every June, a date that was picked for its high likelihood of being a warm one for everyone.

This year, it falls on June 5, 2021, and for

the first time, we’ll have a couple of official recipes to commemorate the day.

With the pandemic still in action, we’ll be planning a day of online seminars and brew days.

For our members, we run a monthly Speaker Series showcasing Canadian homebrewing and brewing experts about a variety of topics including mead and cider.

We ran our very first online homebrew conference for our members last September and, hopefully one day, we’ll be able to run that conference in person. There is a recipe database that we’re gradually adding to, a library of old homebrew club newsletters that we’re gently archiving, and a members discount program that we’re slowly building. For the community, we host a quarterly homebrew club presidents meeting online so club presidents from across the country can share and discuss the challenges and successes of running a club.

The Canadian Homebrewers Association is run entirely by volunteers, and while still in its infancy, I believe that there’s so much more to be done. In the future, I do hope that the CHA can be used to help make pushes for homebrew legislation changes, record and document homebrewing history, and of course, hold a homebrew conference in person. The homebrewing community is such a fantastic community to be a part of, and I can’t wait for everyone to meet each other.

If you are looking to join and support the Canadian Homebrewers Association visit canadahomebrews.ca and while you are there checkout the perks that come with a yearly membership. A Brewers Journal Canada subscription, Prud’homme certification discounts, and discounts at various supply shops across Canada are a few you may be interested in.

Canadian Homebrew Club Speaker Series, February 2020

National Homebrew Competition 2018

Canadian Homebrew Day 2019 from Ottawa with Members of Barleyment Homebrew Club

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Canadian Homebrew Day 2019 from London with Members of the London Homebrewers Guild

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CHELSEA FROM THE EAST BREWS AND DESIGNS AWESOME FEASTS THIS LONGTIME HOMEBREWER FROM NOVA SCOTIA, HAS A UNIQUE STORY AS HOMBREWING RUNS IN HER GENES! FROM HER FIRST EXPOSURE TO BREWING WITH HER PARENTS AS A YOUNG GIRL, CHELSEA HAS CONTINUED TO EXPLORE THE WORLD OF FOOD AND BEVERAGE PURSUING HER LONGTIME CAREER AS A FOOD SCIENTIST. WHEN TAKING A BREAK FROM FORMULATING NEW PRODUCTS AT WORK SHE IS DESIGNING NEW RECIPES FOR HER NEXT BEER. OH AND DID I MENTION THAT SHE IS ALSO AN AWARD WINNING HOMEBREWER? 62

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F

rom the moment I first started talking to Chelsea and learning more about her, I continue to be intrigued!

Her brewing journey began at a very young age, helping her parents on their brew days.

A decade later, it has grown into having her own homebrew system and brewing herself.

I learned about some of her extensive work within the Food and Beverage Industry, designing products ranging from juices and sauces to plant based foods and cannabis edibles, doing quality control, and more. One can imagine how her professional work as a Food Scientist and her passion for science and learning would be very beneficial to her Homebrew world.

Chelsea has also had the opportunity to apprentice at a craft brewery in the US and, during her time, designed a new beer that was sold at the brewery.

Chelsea also participates in brewing competitions and, as a matter of fact, was the first female brewer to participate in a PEI competition and placed 2nd. In 2019, she was the grand prize winner of the Maritime Home Brew Challenge which included being able to brew and package for sale her 1st place recipe at Gahan House in partnership with PEI Brewing Company in Charlottetown. Chelsea has also been passionate about supporting fellow women in beer within Homebrew clubs and the community!

Chelsea Meisner o Instagram & Faceboook @ladyscotiabrewing o Twitter @ladyscotiabeer o Brookside, Nova Scotia o Clubs over the years: Brew Free or Die Homebrew Club, and PEI Brew Broads

o Homebrewing for 10+ years o Brews Beer and Komboucha

CHEL SEA B REWIN G AT A BREW ERY

Brewing Runs in the Family to Making Your Own Path My parents introduced me to homebrewing! Any time I brew with my parents is my favourite homebrew experience. It is where it all started for me and when I get the chance to go home and create a beer with them on the wood stove I cherish each moment. They have been brewing beer for over 40 years so I grew up with beer making as part of my life — from helping bottle beer on the kitchen floor as a kid, to eventually helping brew the beer as I got older.

I had an interest in it and as I started my studies as a Food Scientist, I dove into the world of beer science and have been fascinated with brewing ever since.

I have been brewing on a consistent basis for probably 10 years now. I started in my 3rd floor two-bedroom apartment where the spare room was the “beer” room. I had the opportunity to apprentice at a microbrewery in New Hampshire which allowed me to learn more about the brewing process and how a small scale brewery operates. This gave me the knowledge to apply to my homebrewing skills and fed the habit of homebrewing on a consistent basis.

As a Homebrewer, I am often influenced by trying new and different things. As a Food Scientist I am very intune with new flavours and combinations so I like to see what I can experiment with in brews - different yeast

BREWERS JOURNAL CANADA

strains, unique hops combinations, or trying a new ingredient. To put it simply, I just enjoy creating new brews.

The Brewhouse I started brewing using partial extract/grain combinations in my recipes in a large stock pot on the stove. Everything happened in my small kitchen and the beer was stored in the spare room. I stayed with the partial brew method for several years but was able to improve my storage conditions based on where I lived. Then I graduated to a mash tun, larger kettle, and propane burner. It was game on at this point as I switched to all grain brewing. I have a fairly smooth operation at this point and good cool storage in my beer room in the basement, so I can keep a good supply of beer on hand year round.

The newest addition to my brew equipment is a very nice grain mill! I have a “water cooler” mash tun which has worked great for me for a few years now. I have an outdoor set up with a propane burner and brew kettle. When I had a garage, this setup was a wonderful year round activity.

I am garage-less now which means I have not been able to brew as much as I wanted to this past winter.

A couple years ago, I won a conical fermenter in a homebrew competition which I absolutely love. I named her Fermy. I use Fermy for all my brews except sours. I stick to standard 5 gallon primary pails to help decrease the chance of cross contamination. Once all my brews are fermented they go into glass secondary carboys. I have a cold room now that works as a great cool environment for cellaring the beer.

which was a wonderful group of beer drinking ladies! I am really looking forward to being part of the beer community in Nova Scotia, especially the women’s beer community. I am a very strong advocate of women in beer and want to support this in any way that I can.

Fun with Ingredients Local shops are my go-to sources of supplies. We are lucky to have a few options here in the maritimes that have a good selection of ingredients and they will also ship!

One of the more unique ingredients I have brewed with is the use of Sichuan peppercorns in my Tingles Stout. The inspiration for that brew happened when I was at Open Gate Brewery (Guinness Craft Brewery) in Dublin, Ireland. They had a Chili Stout on tap that was absolutely delicious but there was something unique about the taste of it and It wasn’t the heat from chili.

After carefully drinking a pint and dissecting each flavour, I concluded it was the Sichuan peppercorns and I knew I had to try and make my version of that beer.

Next on the list of ingredients that I would like to experiment with are different hop combinations to create a nice juicy IPA. I am a big fan of that style of craft beer and enjoy working with citrus forward hops so I would like to see what flavours I can create using some unique hop combinations.

Favourite Aspects of Homebrewing The SCIENCE!! I love how the deeper you go into the science behind brewing, the more it allows you to create unique brews.

Brewing is also just fun! There is something special about creating something yourself from scratch and then being able to enjoy the final product yourself and with others.

Final Thoughts This story of homebrewing with the family from a young age, to grow up with a passion in food sciences, and ultimately brewing into adulthood is one that touches the heart. I see fellow homebrewers around me teaching their children how raw materials can be made into something else with hard work, creativity, science and technology... And, as we all, know a whole lotta cleaning! Even when children are not of age to enjoy our favourite beverage with us they can still learn so much that may inspire their own journeys.

When Chelsea is not brewing, she is learning about the science behind brewing specific styles, drawing inspiration from her travel experiences along with her background as a Food Scientist to explore fun and interesting ingredient utilization in her recipe creations. She also makes wonderful eye catching food creations that will make you hungry and inspire your next meal idea.

In the future, a small scale Blichmann pilot system would be the dream! But next maybe on the list would be a better method of sparging and then eventually a kegging set up to accompany my bottling.

Homebrew Clubs from Eastern Canada I only just moved back to Nova Scotia May of last year, so due to the pandemic, it has been tough to join any homebrew clubs.

I have been part of some Homebrew Clubs in previous locations where I have lived. For example, when I was living in New Hampshire, I was part of the Brew Free or Die Homebrew Club and previous to moving back to Nova Scotia, I lived in PEI and was part of the PEI Brew Broads,

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CHELSEA FROM THE WEST BREWS MORE THAN THE REST COMING TO US FROM ALBERTA WE ARE BRINGING YOU AN AWARD WINNING PRESIDENTIAL HOMEBREWER THAT BREWS JUST ABOUT EVERY WEEK. WITH AN ABUNDANCE OF BEER, CHELSEA WAS ENTERING HER BREWS INTO COMPETITIONS (LOOKING TO DEFEND HER EDMONTON BOTY AWARD), WHILE ALWAYS SHARING HER CREATIONS WITH THE COMMUNITY - SHE IS THE POPULAR ONE AS SHE BYOB FOR EVERYONE TO ENJOY!

J

ust like Chelsea from the East, this Chelsea from the West is also making the wort come to a rolling boil! I am happy to introduce you all to Chelsea Tessier.

I am consistently enjoying reading and commenting on Chelsea’s Instagram stories and posts as she takes us on her brew day journey almost every weekend - I highly recommend following Chelsea if you are not already!

She takes the time to share stories with me while having a laugh and, of course, we talk about beer and brewing - I thoroughly enjoy

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our conversations! I have also been keeping note of all the recommendations she makes in her posts and I am really looking to try out the ingredient recommendations with my own brews. When someone brews as often as Chelsea does you can be sure she has tried and tested many ways to get what she wants out of her creations.

When she is not brewing, she is running the show at the Edmonton Homebrew Guild.

Helping others with brewing, organizing bulk buys - recently an Escarpment Labs yeast bulk buy, organizing meetings and competitions, consistently participating in the Guilds group chats and so much more.

So without further ado I will turn it over to Chelsea Tessier, and let her share with us her exciting Homebrew journey.

Chelsea Tessier o Instagram - @chelseatessier5 o Edmonton, Alberta o Edmonton Homebrewer’s Guild - President since 2019

o Homebrewing for 4 years and ~ once a week for the last 3 years

o Brews Beer and Cider

Let the Homebrewing Journey Begin

inspire and encourage homebrewers to enjoy and share in their hobby, especially women. I love putting on events such as off-flavour tastings, flavour mapping and our annual Mega Mash – which is a large brew on a commercial system that gets divided up between homebrewers to take home and put their own spin on the wort.

It’s a lot of fun and everyone in the Guild has been very welcoming since the first day I joined.

To learn more about the EHG visit: www.ehg.ca

Learning Through Competitions I have participated in homebrew competitions since I started brewing. I have found it a really good way to get unbiased feedback on my beer and to tweak my recipes to see how that improves them. In 2019 and 2020, I competed heavily in the Canadian BOTY circuit and have won 38 medals in National competitions, which include a Best of Show for my Brown ale and the Roxy Memorial Iron Brewer Trophy in 2018 with my Imperial Stout. One of my favourite unexpected homebrew experiences to date would have to be winning Rookie of the Year and Edmonton Brewer of the Year in 2018 and Edmonton BOTY again in 2019.

I hope to defend my title this year as we did not hold our annual competition in 2020.

I first got into homebrewing when my co-worker lent me her homebrewing equipment after I had mentioned a vague interest in learning the hobby. I earned my Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Waterloo and started a job out of school in an environmental science lab.

Science has always interested me and this was a really cool hobby that I could pursue and experiment with endlessly using my knowledge.

Since 2017, I have been a member of the Edmonton Homebrewer’s Guild (EHG).

I very quickly got engaged with the Guild and was voted in as Event Coordinator in 2018 and was later sworn in as President in 2019. I have been really motivated to create an inclusive culture in the club and to

CHELSEA W ITH HER M ASH PADDLE AN D INGREDIE NTS BREWERS JOURNAL CANADA

What Motivates and Inspires You as a Homebrewer?

What motivates me most as a homebrewer is seeing what other homebrewers are doing and how exciting it is for them. Trying other people’s creations and in turn having other people try my beer is very rewarding. Homebrewer’s have the advantage of trying some really unique recipes because messing up only means dumping 5 gallons of beer.

Recently, I’ve also been drawing a lot of inspiration from cooking shows. Some bakers definitely take cupcakes to the next level! They come up with the most interesting flavour combinations and it’s what inspired me to brew with turmeric. Also, taking a trip to Silk Road Spice Merchant always inspires me and I chose loomis as an ingredient challenge for an EHG competition based on that inspiration.

Brewhouse Progression Like most other homebrewers, I started off with very cheap equipment but quickly outgrew it. Additionally, lack of space in a tiny condo with two people living in a small space definitely created the need for creativity in stowing away equipment.

Luckily my better half also enjoys beer and is more than happy to put up with the keezer that takes up prime real estate in the living room.

I had started out with a small 15L stove top pot that is now actually my sparge water pot. I then purchased a 20 gallon pot to BIAB on the stove. When I got the pot home and put it on the stove, I instantly realized that the microwave above the stove did not give the pot enough clearance. Without hesitation, I decided that the microwave needed to go and so I retiled my entire backsplash to accommodate this. I later added a pump so I could whirlpool and graduated from carboys to a stainless steel fermenter that was properly temperature controlled.

That was when I noticed a huge improvement in my beer quality.

I am currently brewing on a Grainfather 110V system, which I won as a prize, and this transitioned me to electric brewing.

I really like the ability to more accurately control mash temperatures for more precise repeatable results and it fits well in my tiny condo as it gets neatly tucked away under a table when not in use.

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I ferment in a 7 gallon SS Brewtech Conical fermenter. It lives in a wooden box with a dedicated air conditioner unit mounted on casters. I don’t have air conditioning in the condo, but my beer sure does! I use corny kegs as secondary which then gets transferred into the keezer.

The next item on my wish list is a canner because I believe that is where I could see the most improvement in shelf stability of my beer. It’s also space efficient to stack cans in the fridge. I am often looking for places to stash refrigerated beer bottles because they are so awkward.

Ingredient Exploration I favour using locally sourced ingredients when I can. I source my malt through Origin Malting, Red Shed & Hammer Malt. I am a big enthusiast of the Escarpment Labs yeasts that I’ve tried so far and will buy their yeast whenever I can find it. I’ve even driven 3 hours to Calgary to get it! I buy most of my spices from Silk Road Spice Merchant in Edmonton. All other ingredients I buy at my local homebrew store in Edmonton: Winning Wines Plus.

I love challenging myself to brew with unconventional ingredients. I’ve thrown whole carrot cake pieces into a beer and brewed a Date & Peanut Butter Porter. Recently, I made a Turmeric and Aji Amarillo Pepper Hefe. I added 10 g of whole turmeric and 1 dried aji amarillo pepper into the last 15 minutes of the boil and another dried aji Amarillo pepper into the keg while conditioning. It had a mild spiciness that was very pleasant. The peppers, banana and clove played really nicely together while the turmeric gave it a slight earthiness that mellowed in the background. I used 67% wheat malt in the grist that gave the beer a really full mouthfeel and the dictionary definition of rocky head. Next time around, I will double the aji Amarillo pepper and turmeric boil additions to get a little more character.

Currently, I have a beer inspired from a local Edmontonian competing in the Great Canadian Baking Show. He made a chocolate, apricot and fig Bundt cake so I was inspired to brew a beer version of this cake.

I created a red wheat ale base with 100% local Alberta malt –Lowe 2 row, malted wheat, biscuit, Vienna and roasted wheat from Red Shed and Hammer Malt. Citra and Mosaic were added at flameout and Citra to bitter. It will be soured with the Lalbrew Philly Sour yeast strain. I’ll be making apricot and fig puree from dried fruit to add

CHELSEA’S FERMENTER CHAMBER, KEEZER, AND AWARDS

into either primary or secondary. The beer is on day 3 of fermentation right now so I don’t have any final results.

Sharing Knowledge One thing that helped me better understand and improve my knowledge of homebrewing is taking the BJCP course. It taught me how to write and read competition score sheets and how to troubleshoot off-flavours in my own beer. For example, I brewed a heavily dry-hopped IPA and started tasting diacetyl about 5 days after transferring to the keg. I was able to add some active yeast to the keg to get rid of it and saved the batch of beer. It’s also given me the opportunity to judge the Alberta Beer Awards for commercial breweries which was a lot of fun.

At the moment, I’m reading The New IPA by Scott Janish and am learning a lot about the style and playing around with experiments.

I’ve accidentally proven true that brewing a beer with 31% chit malt and only 4% flaked oats will yield a brilliantly clear NEIPA.

Final Thoughts: With so many brews in the books for Chelsea, she has really taken our homebrew world by storm! From utilizing her background in the sciences and borrowing a co-workers homebrew gear, to exploring with fun and interesting local Canadian ingredients while sharing her love for the craft and helping fellow homebrewers in the community while leading the Edmonton Homebrewer’s Guild. Chelsea’s dedication, passion, kindness, and love for the craft shows in everything she does and I am looking forward to seeing what’s in store for this very talented brewer in the future!

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TRY THEM YOURSELF...

White SanAds Tropical IP

ATION

RECIPE INFORM

GALLONS BATCH SIZE - 5 OG: 1.060 SG FG: 1.010 SG ABV: 6.6%

GRAIN BILL

lb 13 oz) 2 Row - 4 kg (8 - 902 g (2 lb) Golden Promise 4 g (1 lb) Crystal 30 - 45 454 g (1 lb) Light Munich 0 g (14.1 oz) Flaked Oats - 40

LE:

MASH SCHEDU

C (149 F) 60 min at 65.0 O

O

E:

BOIL SCHEDUL

t 60 min: boil star ) of Mosaic oz 30 min: 28 g (1 en Pineapple lb 5 oz) of Froz 20 min: 596 g (1 ango oz) of Frozen M and 263 g (9.3 yo ) of Cascade Cr 5 min: 28 g (1 oz o Hop Hash ill ar (1 oz) of Am g 28 l: oo rlp hi W

NER CHELSEA MEIS HOME BREWING AT

:

FERMENTATION

ast L-200 Omega Ye Tropical IPA OY Pineapple 4.8 oz) of Frozen Add 589 g (1 lb ango oz) of Frozen M and 337 g (11.8

ING MILL A E LS CHE GRAINS

NOTES

Bring the fermentation to t ui fr ng di Ad place in cheese room temp and frozen fruit to ce the primary on lin bag. Add to us m a or h ot cl the juice s started (add ha n tio ta en rm active fe e next day, you also). Usually, th t ui fr e th om fr y and active ings are health th re su e ak m ary want to ave in the prim ing the fruit, Le uc od tr in re fo be for 4 days.

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G-IN WITH DOUGHIN ER HER FATH

BREWERS JOURNAL CANADA

Peanut Butter Port American Porter (20

RECIPE INFORMATI

BATCH SIZE: 5 GALL ON OG: 1.054 SG FG: 1.015 SG IBU: 27 SRM: 36 ABV: 5.2%

ON

GRAIN BILL

A)

er

MASH SCHEDULE:

60 min at 68.0OC (15 O 4 F) Add 907 g (32 oz) of chopped dates halfway through th mash (at 30 minute e s)

BOIL SCHEDULE:

2.6 kg (5 lb 11.7 oz) Prairie Pale (Origin Malting & Brewing 750 g (1 lb 10.5 oz) Co) Munich (Origin Ma lting & Brewing Co ) 350 g (12.3 oz) Wo od Fired Chocolate /BP Malt (Hammer 205 g (8.8 oz) Chino Malt) ok Pale (Origin Ma lting & Brewing Co 150 g (5.3 oz) Whea ) t, Roasted (Red Sh ed)

60 min: boil start, add 250g (8.8 oz) of Maltodextrin, add 17 g (0.6 oz) of Magnum 15 min: 23 g (0.8 oz ) of Northern Brew er 0 min: 23.2 g (0.8 oz ) of Northern Brew er

FERMENTATION:

SafAle US-05

Age for 7 days afte r primary Add 4.0 oz of pean ut butter extract dir

ectly into the keg

NEW YEAST STRAIN FROM ESCARPMENT LABS

BEER IN TH E MOUNTAIN S

R’S SSIE E T SE LSEA CHE EWHOU R B

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GADGET CORNER:

MILWAUKEE MW102 PRO+ PH METER THE MILWAUKEE MW102 PRO+ PH METER HAS WON FANS AROUND THE WORLD WITH ITS RELIABLE, FAST AND SIMPLE OPERATION AS WELL AS ITS TOUGHNESS. ACCURATE TO ± 0.02 PH WITH AUTOMATIC TEMPERATURE COMPENSATION. IDEAL FOR USE BY BREWERS, WINE MAKERS, GROWERS AND OTHER USERS WITH CHALLENGING PH MEASUREMENT NEEDS.

User Experience

I keep threatening that I am going to get serious about Brewing Water. It has easily been my Brew Years Resolution since 2018.

It’s a huge gap in my game and I’ve always known that when I give it the respect and effort it deserves my homebrew will be all the better for it. I decided to start on my journey to full out Aquaman by dipping my toe in via pH instead of diving all the way into water composition which scares the trub out of me if I’m honest. I like to refer to myself as a “Monkey that glues metal together with heat” from my days as a full time sanitary welder which I freely admit is a far cry from being a Chemist or a Biologist. pH adjustment has an impact at virtually all stages of a Brew. Achieving optimal pH levels for your Mash In and Sparge help with the enzymatic conversion. Sparging w too high a pH can actually have an impact on the clarity of the beer. In the fermentation process different yeasts like different pH levels and will perform accordingly.

Making it rain grain (aka plugging the pipes)

Company Info

F

or 30 years Milwaukee Instruments has been dedicated to helping hydroponics and greenhouse growers, winemakers, brewers, pool service technicians, reefers, educators and others raise their standards. We’ve made it possible for hundreds of thousands of professionals, enthusiasts, and beginners around the world move from difficult and inaccurate visual testing to accurate and precise digital analysis. Our instruments are manufactured in Europe.

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Calibration complete

Mash reading 15 min in

BREWERS JOURNAL CANADA

Cons o Only initial calibration fluid comes with

the unit. Single use and there is no rinse fluid o 3’ of cable is unnecessary given that the unit is portable and even if not generally we take the samples to it

Closing

Using the PRO+ to check the temp of my gravity sample

24 hours later!

pH monitoring and adjustment has a larger impact on certain styles than others and given Sheena’s great article last edition about seasonal brewing (To Seasonal Brew or not Seasonal Brew) I figured what better way to put a new pH Probe through its paces than with a Kettle Soured Berliner Weisse.

ing to cultivate the lactic acid with. I chose to “steep” it by tossing a few handfuls of unmilled 2 Row into the Hop Spider. 24 hours later I took a reading and it had not dropped at all. The PRO+ did its job. I hadn’t done mine.

I did a little more research, dropped the temp in my kettle to 36*C form 46* C, purged the Kettle’s headspace w CO2 and taped it all up. less than 24 hours later the pH had dropped from 4.5 to 3.42! I gave it another half day and went to my second boil when I got a reading of 3.36. Being able to grab a quick sample and knowing, not guessing, your pH instantaneously really made this brew special. Historically I tried using pH Strips but gave up on them and just went by taste. If I’m honest I’ve probably avoided this style because of not wanting to gamble on the level of acidity I was producing. Having this data on hand is what Brew4.0 is all about. Professional level intel for Homebrewers is Milwaukee’s sweet spot.

Most beers hover around the 5 pH level but if we were to call out a standard range it would be 4 - 5.5. The refreshingly tart Berliner Weisse lands between 3.3 and 3.7 and it’s a process to get it there. My first experience with the PRO+ 2 in 1 was during this very process. I used Reverse Osmosis (RO) Water and didn’t do any acidification prior to Mashing in. I wanted to use the PRO+ to read and adjust in real time and it was a fun/stressful experience. Stressful only because of the nature of free wheeling like this and not in any way because the Meter.

In fact the Meter was incredibly easy to calibrate and use. I took the 1st reading 15 min into the Mash and it read 5.11 which was already a little lower than the target conversion range of 5.2 - 5.4 so I adjusted with 2 tablespoons of Gypsum to bring it up a little. Anything between 5 - 6 pH will work so I didn’t stress on this step but I have since spoken to a good friend of mine that makes a mean Berliner Weisse professionally and he tells me that he likes to mash at 4.8 as it aids in head retention. I put that little nugget in my notes for the next brew.

I knew I wanted to get the pH down to the 4.5 before the 1st short boil (there are 2 boils in my recipe) because I read that this also helps w Head Retention and if you leave it high the beer will take ages to come down in the Kettle depending on how you are us-

brewersjournal.ca

I know this reads as a bit of a beginners guide to brewing a Berliner Weisse but that says something in itself. This instrument is so easy to use, and the info so incredibly useful that it’s hard not to focus on the outcome vs the data itself. The usefulness of the data is also why I hesitate to put the cost in the “Cons” as that’s directly connected to the value the individual brewer puts in the data gleaned from the instrument. I’d consider the +/- $160 CDN plus shipping a reasonable price considering how useful it was in brewing this style. Will it hold the same value in subsequent brews of different styles? I wholeheartedly believe so. Tuning in my Mash and Sparge/Pre Boil pH will only make the good bugs happier and isn’t that what we spend 5 - 10 hours brewing aiming for?

Reference: milwaukeeinstruments.com

Pros o Quick

and simple calibration o Accuracy of +/- 0.02 pH o Automatic Temperature Compensation o Easy to handle and operate o New sleek design o Probe storage sleeve to keep crystal saturated o Temperature probe for aux- 24 hours after using the Meter to make and validate process adjustments iliary uses

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FROM JANES AND JOES TO ALL-OUT PROS

Name: Barret Campbell Location: Spring Bay, Ontario Brewery: Split Rail Brewing Co. Time in Professional Brewing: Two years Job Title: Brewer Time as a Homebrewer: I was introduced to homebrewing by my Grandfather at an early age.

Picked it up again as a hobby while attending university.

Daily duties: Brewing, fermentation monitoring, packaging, daily sanitation and maintenance, quality control and lab work.

What made you go pro? What was it about Homebrewing that contributed to you wanting to do it for a living?

While homebrewing was an interest for me for a long time, it has been an enjoyable hobby with a rewarding end product. I didn’t think of it as a career opportunity until near the end of my undergraduate degree. At that point my brother was attending Niagara College as a winemaking student and he introduced me to the brewing program there. I realized then that I could make a living doing something that I truly enjoyed.

Interesting Homebrew Story I had the opportunity to make a homebrew and ferment it in a wine barrel. Of course, I enthusiastically agreed to fill the whole thing, with a Belgian Triple. It was about 4am on batch number 3 of 6 that I realized I might be an idiot. Still finished that brewing marathon though, and the beer turned out great.

What exciting things are you currently working on?

I’m really excited to be starting our barrel aging program at Split Rail this year. Our first barrel aged beer will be ready this coming winter for visitors to the bottle shop. The beer itself will be dark, strong, and rich; aged in red wine barrels and featuring cacao nibs contributed by our chocolatier neighbor.

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BREWERS JOURNAL CANADA