Niagara College Brewmaster students have a final project brewing to cap off their studies: a cottage-themed on-campus beer festival to showcase their beer-making and event-planning skills.
NC’s student-led Project Brew beer festival has become an end-of-term rite of passage for students in their final term Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Management program, since its official launch in 2015. This term, a class of 11 Brewmaster students are poised to make their mark before they graduate with their own ‘Hops by the Docks’ theme for the highly-anticipated Project Brew event, offering the public a taste of what’s on tap from the next generation of brewers.
“We so enjoy the chance to celebrate the accomplishments of our students,” said Associate Dean for the School of Wine, Beer and Spirits at NC. “Having a celebration open to the public makes it even better.”
The beer festival is expected to draw more than 400 guests to the College’s Daniel J. Patterson Campus in Niagara-on the Lake on Friday, April 14 (4:30-8:30 p.m.). The event will feature 11 individual Project Brew beers, designed and brewed by final-term Brewmaster students, as well as three collaborative class brews, on tap for guests to sip and savour.
For Brewmaster students, in addition to brewing their Project Brew beers – which is part of several of their classes – planning the Project Brew event is a key component of their Beer Sales and Promotions class, which covers everything from marketing and social media, to licensing, layout and design for the event, which are vital skills to those entering the beer industry.
“Hops By the Docks is a great opportunity for the public to get a taste of unique small-batch beers crafted by our Brewmaster students,” said Sarah Scott, Manager, Foodservices Operations for NC’s Culinary, Tourism and Beverage Studies Division, who co-teaches the class. “Our students aren’t only behind the variety of brews on tap at the event, they are responsible for planning everything from ticket sales and marketing promotions to recruiting sponsorship and volunteers for the event.”
Student Richard Lawson (Acton, Ontario), who chairs the planning committee for this term’s Project Brew, has created a Dragon’s Breath Ale for his Project Brew beer, which will be among student-crafted brews on offer during the event – a lightly smoked strong ale which he calls a “fantasy world beer,” inspired by a board game.
“I’m learning a lot from Project Brew about organizing a group of people and planning an event. I think it is good to take opportunities to try to improve my leadership skills as they will be helpful moving forward in my career,” said Lawson.
“I’m most looking forward to seeing my classmates get to share their beer with so many people,” he said. “As students, we put so much thought into these beers and I think my classmates will find it really rewarding to see people so excited about their beer.”
Nathaniel Perreault, who is originally from Walter’s Falls, Ontario, has created his take on a Flanders red ale – traditionally, a Belgian mixed ferment beer aged in barrels. The final product is a blending of different aged beers to achieve the desired flavour profile.
“I am attempting to replicate its profile by relying on a yeast strain that produces lactic acid. The rest of the malic and citric acid profiles will be achieved by the addition of black currants and choke cherries,” he said. “Both of these fruits were grown on my family farm and juiced at home before being added towards the end of fermentation.”
Perreault also took on the role of finding sponsors for the event. He looks forward to celebrating with his class at Project Brew and to sampling the brews they have created.
“The planning of Project Brew is a great opportunity for us to begin employing what we have learned before entering the workforce,” he said. “It is rewarding to check off milestones as we complete tasks knowing that at the end of the process there will hundreds of attendees enjoying all of our beer at an event that we organized as a group.”
Ellie Riches (Beamsville, Ontario) worked on website and poster design, a ‘passport’ for
Brewmaster students Ellie Riches and Oanh Thi Kieu Tran are among those who will have a chance to showcase their brewing and event planning skills at Project Brew.
the event and social media, in addition to brewing a Project Brew beer.
“I am excited to see how the day of will play out! This project has shown me how to manage my time really well. I ensured to meet my deadlines in a timely manner. I also learned how to work on a project with many other people, and the triumphs and difficulties that come along with that,” she said. “I love interacting with people and seeing the public learn and enjoy a fermented product. I’m excited to talk about my beer and maybe learn something new too!”
In memory of Brewmaster graduate Matt Soos
All proceeds from Project Brew benefit the Matt Soos Memorial Scholarship, in memory of Matt Soos, who graduated from the Brewmaster program in 2015. The scholarship was established by Railway City Brewing, and Muskoka Brewing, where Soos worked at the time of his passing, shortly after graduating from NC.
The $4,500 scholarship is awarded during the Winter term’s Project Brew event to a Brewmaster student who brews the best beer (which is judged by event sponsors each year). All Project Brew beers are entered for judging.
The scholarship is supported by Natterjack Brewing Company Ltd., founded by the family of Matt Soos in 2016 as a legacy to honour Matt’s passion for the craft beer industry. The Soos family is devoted to honouring Matt’s passion for creating uniquely flavoured quality beer.
The Soos family plans to attend and have organized a 40-passenger bus from Natterjack (based in West Lorne, Ontario) to attend the event. This term, judging will be done by the Soos family from Natterjack Brewing, who will also announce the winner at Project Brew.
“On the bus will be a few judges who will help narrow down all the amazing brews, to find the one that will receive the $4500 prize,” said Daniel Soos, brewer and owner of Natterjack Brewing Company Ltd., brother of the late Matt Soos. “We always say that every one of the beers is a winner, and it’s a challenging competition to judge.”
This year, Natterjack collaborated with Storm Stayed Brewing from London, Ontario – whose head brewer is NC Brewmaster alumna, Diana Salazar – to create a Coffee Vanilla Vodka White Stout for the event.
“Diana graduated the same year as Matt and were great friends,” said Daniel Soos. “Not only did we work with Storm Stayed but also various other businesses in the local communities to pick specific flavour profiles to best suit this brew.”
The winner of this year’s Matt Soos Memorial Scholarship will be announced by Daniel Soos on April 14 at Project Brew.
Brewmaster students Richard Lawson, Jon Tyrrell and Nathaniel Perreault are looking forward to welcoming the public to campus to get a taste of their class’ Project Brew beers.
Project Brew details
Project Brew will take place on April 14 from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Daniel J. Patterson Campus in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
In addition to a variety of unique craft beers, guests can also enjoy a selection of food prepared by NC Culinary Services (School of Culinary Arts), which will be available for purchase.
The event will be held outdoors in the campus courtyard (weather permitting). In case of inclement weather, it will be held indoors in the Student Commons.
While tickets for Project Brew are currently sold out, more tickets may become available closer to the event date (pending expanded outdoor capacity).
For the latest event details visit projectbrew.squarespace.com/
