Cheoljae Ma wasn’t shooting for the moon when he decided to change his career and move to Canada from Korea to pursue his brewing dreams at Niagara College; he was reaching for the stars.
Just over a year since that bold step across the globe, the third-term Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Management student is already a rising star in his class with a first-place win and $1,000 prize for his Full Moon Porter.
The win was from the Brewmaster program’s third-term Target Brew competition, which challenges students to brew a classic beer to style in a test of fundamentals to master traditional standards. Students select a variety of NC hops to use, create their beer from ingredients in stock at the Teaching Brewery, and must produce it using Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) style guidelines.
For inspiration on his Target Brew, Ma looked to his homeland. One of the biggest holidays in Korea, was occurring when he was making the beer for the competition: “Chu-suck “- named after the full moon, which is also a symbol of the festival.
Ma chose his favourite style of beer to create his Full Moon Porter, and its dark colour, lighter body, and rich flavours of bread and chocolate proved to hit the target with competition judges.
“I am very happy to have received such an unexpected award,” said Ma, who noted that it has been challenging to find scholarship opportunities as an international student.
“After working for a company for 10 years and doing work that had nothing to do with beer, I enjoyed learning how to brew beer, which I’m interested in … and I am very happy to have even won the honorable first place.”
“This was an enjoyable experience not only for me, but also my family, and it will be an important page in my future brewing career.”
Ma began home-brewing in Korea before deciding to seriously pursue brewing as a profession. “I thought my last chance to change my career was before I turned 40 so I made a bold decision,” said Ma, who now lives in St. Catharines. “I am very grateful to my family for respecting this decision and for being with me.”
Target Brew is a class project; students are assessed on their brew day with how they deal with issues and any discrepancies in what they planned and what happened to their brew.
“Target Brew reinforces their skills and is their college introduction to creating a recipe on their own,” said Brewmaster Professor Jon Downing.
Entry into the competition is voluntary and, entries are evaluated by staff as well as industry judges. This year, 13 students participated.
Brew Student Liaison Victor North, who is also a judge for Target Brew, noted how the Full Moon Porter stood out at the competition.
“Personally, I found it had a pleasant apple ester to it -that brought an impression of sweetness- which lent some sense of balance to this dark beer, as the beer finished otherwise biting and refreshing,” he said.
Target Brew is a valuable learning experience for students and helps prepare them for their next challenge, Project Brew, where they can be more creative with style and specialty ingredients.
“I think it’s always a benefit for students to have their beer put in front of members from the brewing industry from off-campus and entered into a real-world judging scenario,” said North. “I also think that financial prizes like the one awarded with Target Brew are always a benefit … money is very welcome to those who are busy studying and learning something new.”
The competition was sponsored by Canenpak (formerly Canada Kegs and Packaging). Sales Director Rod Daigle said that interest in supporting Target Brew competition and NC’s Brewmaster students is multifold.
“First of all, Canenpak recognizes that this unique, high-skills development program is instrumental and integral to the future of the brewing industry. These students are the future shining lights of the beverage industry in Ontario, Canada, and worldwide,” said Daigle. “Secondly, the innovations exemplified in the Target Brew submissions, coupled with the sustainability mindset behind the Brewmaster program, are very much in league with our own company mindset and direction at Canenpak.”
The award presentation for Target Brew took place on February 10 at the Teaching Brewery.
Second and third place Target Brew winners Gabriel Nieto (Grandpa’s Favorite) and Angela McCallum (Otto e Mezzo) were also recognized with certificates.
