There are less than 40 certified beer judges across Canada who have achieved National Beer Judge certification – and now two of them are from Niagara College.
Adrian Popowycz, Professor and Program Coordinator for the College’s Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Management program, has recently earned the esteemed National ranking in the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP). Through his achievement, he joins NC Brew Student Liaison and part-time Professor Victor North, who earned National BJCP certification in 2017.
The BJCP is a worldwide certifying organization for beer judges, which is present in more than 60 countries with more than 7,500 active judges in the program. Less than 20% of all BJCP judges advance to National or higher, which requires a combined score of at least 80% on the in-depth technical exam and sensory test, along with 20 judging points earned at BJCP-sanctioned competitions.
“I am thrilled by this achievement; it means a lot to me on both the personal and professional perspectives,” said Popowycz. “My hope is that it will serve as some inspiration for our students.”
Craig Youdale, dean of the Canadian Food and Wine Institute, applauded Popowycz on his significant achievement. He noted that Popowycz has been connected to NC’s Brewmaster program since its inception, beginning as an industry professional offering guidance, to Chair of its Program Advisory Committee, to joining faculty as a full-time Professor in 2017.
“His leadership and passion for all things brewing is an inspiration for all our students and I am thrilled he has achieved this National ranking,” said Youdale. “This kind of growth in our faculty becomes an inspiration to our graduates to never stop on the path to greater knowledge.”
For Popowycz, it was a long journey to National BJCP certification, after writing his first exam more than 10 years ago. With few annual BJCP competitions held in Ontario and the opportunity to earn a maximum of one-and-a-half points each day of judging, he noted that it can take a significant period of time for candidates to accumulate required points. For many years, he also faced limited opportunities while he worked for breweries that were entered in many of the competitions, which rendered him ineligible to judge.
Once he became a professor in the College’s Brewmaster program, he began to teach sensory classes based on BJCP principles and help students prepare for their own tests. He was inspired by North, who was already a National BJCP judge, to continue pursuing the ranking.
The National ranking will enable Popowycz to be a Proctor for Niagara College BJCP Tasting examinations and will help expand opportunities for NC Brewmaster students to be certified, once the College resumes its annual on-campus BJCP exams.
“This will be a huge benefit to our students as having two National level judges on campus means that we’ll be able to host BJCP exams and competitions on campus,” he said. “Very exciting indeed!”
About Adrian Popowycz
Popowycz, who lives in Toronto, is a multi-award-winning brewer, both provincially and nationally, who has developed many unique beers that were firsts in Ontario. He joined the College with a goal to instill the same passion and excitement in his students that drove him to success in Ontario’s craft beer scene.
Popowycz has extensive brewing industry expertise (over 17 years in Ontario). His brewing career began after almost a decade of experience in the science and business sides of the biotechnology industry.
Early in his career, Popowycz expanded on his master’s degree in Organic Chemistry to include Protein Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Genetics. He moved to California where he took a leap from science to sales. At the height of the race to sequence the human genome, he gave talks and training sessions at various prestigious universities and research institutions across North America. He also worked in global business roles, including as Director of Business Development for a company in San Diego, California.
Becoming a brewmaster was one of his earliest dreams, and he decided to take a leap and pursue it with the support of his wife Donna. After leaving his established career, he moved to Germany to earn his brewing credentials at the world-renowned Versuchs- und Lehranstalt für Brauerei (VLB) in Berlin. He joined a small brewing start-up in Oakville where he honed his skills and quickly developed a positive reputation by creating some unique beers that were the first of their kind in the province. He then went on to work with other well-known craft brewers.
Popowycz was one of the first chairs of the Ontario Craft Brewers Technical Committee and was an early champion of NC’s Brewmaster program. He subsequently became chair of the program’s Professional Advisory Committee for six years before joining the College’s Brewmaster faculty.
In addition his roles as a Professor and Program Coordinator, he also serves as Research Lead for the CFWI Innovation Centre.
