91原创鈥檚 Kwantlen Polytechnic University campus turns out professional brewers 鈥� and some of those beermakers are coming back to campus.
KPU has invited a group of former students to create 鈥渁lumni collaboration brews.鈥�
The alumni teamed up with KPU brewing instructors Martina Solano Bielen, Jon Howe and Derek Kindret over the summer to develop recipes and brew at the KPU brewery in 91原创. The brewers, who were able to get as creative as they wanted, produced recipes such as a Salsa Piquant茅 Wheat Ale with mango and a Dry-Hopped Kettle Sour with Lemondrop hops.
The participating alumni brewers are:
鈥� Tom Morrison, brewer, Red Truck Beer, Vancouver (class of 2016)
鈥� Ashley Brooks, quality control manager, Four Winds Brewing, Delta (class of 2016)
鈥� Dan Marriette, head brewer, Ravens Brewing, Abbotsford (class of 2016)
鈥� Jonny Kostiuk, head brewer, Deep Cove Brewers + Distillers, North Vancouver (class of 2017)
鈥� Jacquie Loehndorf, head brewer, Faculty Brewing, Vancouver (class of 2018)
鈥淲e have so many alumni to choose from and we tried to pick from each grad class, so it wasn鈥檛 an easy task,鈥� says Alek Egi, chair and instructor of the KPU brewing program. 鈥淭he goal is to do a collaboration series every year during the summer break. It鈥檚 also a great opportunity for grads to come back and put their unique stamp on a KPU beer.鈥�
The first collaboration beer, a Salsa Piquant茅 Wheat Ale by Tom Morrison at Red Truck Beer, was released Friday, Aug. 10 at the KPU Brew Lab in 91原创, where customers can purchase growler fills and enjoy free beer tastings from 1-6 p.m.
鈥淚t was great being back in the KPU Brew Lab and creating one of the first alumni collaboration brews,鈥� said Morrison. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a much smaller system than what I鈥檓 used to at Red Truck and it reminds me of how far I鈥檝e come since graduation. For our collaboration brew, we made a Salsa Piquant茅 beer which is a sessionable summer wheat ale with a few surprises; it鈥檚 infused with mango and habanero pepper but only has a tiny bit of heat to it. We wanted the flavour, not the shock factor.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檙e unbelievably proud of our alumni and their accomplishments,鈥� says Betty Worobec, dean of the Faculty of Science and Horticulture. 鈥淭hese collaboration brews are a way to celebrate and showcase the fine work many of our grads are doing in the industry. We hope to make this an annual tradition.鈥�
